Volvo has built a car that can stop you crashing!
The innovative Volvo XC60 is a five-seat SUV that has recently won the Semperit Irish SUV of the Year award from the Irish Motoring Writers' Association. Apart from it being a good car, it has moved on the whole area of motoring safety with a clever radar-based collision avoidance system called 'City Safe'. It works in a similar way to Honda's CMBS system that is only available on certain versions of the CRV. The XC60 scans the foreground of the vehicle for any obstacles and below certain speeds will apply the brakes without the driver's intervention. The great thing about this system is that it comes as standard.
The XC60 is a rival for the BMW X3 and Audi Q5. The exterior is chunky and purposeful without being an out-and-out, in-your-face SUV. It's practical, with a boot that can hold just under 500 litres (to the window line) and with the back seats down the XC60 has a cargo area of 1,455 litres.
Available in 'S', 'SE' and 'SE Lux', the latest Volvo is not short of standard equipment. Even the base model gets 17'' alloys, front fogs, roof rails, cruise control and climate control. 'SE' adds hill descent control and auto wipers and a few other bits, while the top of the range 'SE Lux' gets tonnes of leather, heated seats plus park assist. The engine range features two diesel units that are the usual Volvo fare, namely the 2.4 (163bhp) and the D5 that pushes out 185bhp. XC60 comes with a manual gearbox as standard with 'Geartronic' optional.
A lot of drivers migrate to SUVs in an effort to feel more secure and with the XC60 we can expect even more people to want to get behind the wheel of this impressive type of machine. To say it is stuffed with safety features and driver aids to keep occupants as safe as possible is an understatement. There's SIPS (side impact protection), dual chamber SIPS airbags, dual stage airbags for the two front seat occupants, and IC (inflatable curtain), RSC (roll stability control), WHIPS (whiplash protection head restraints), BLIS (blind spot info system), DTSC (dynamic traction control), LDW (lane departure warning) ABS, EBD etc, etc.
Inside the five-seater is a comfortable place to be. The driving position is good and there is plenty of legroom front and rear. Anyone thinking of downsizing from an XC90 (seven-seater) won't feel hard done by at all. As ever with Volvo there is long list of additional specification 'Packs' that you can add on, so in reality you will never leave a Volvo showroom having paid just the base price as you will be tempted to add on a 'Winter Pack', 'Active Bending Winter Pack' (before you ask the main feature is headlights that turn in the direction of the steering), 'Family', 'Driver', 'Securit' or one of two 'Communications Packs'! The cheapest is €850 while the 'Communications Pack 1' costs €4,470. There is also an options list! XC60 prices start at €46,950.
Michael Sheridan
