Volvo unleash their stylish Sportwagon

Friday, 26 November 2010 09:00

I think of Volvos and big, boxy estates come to mind driven by Barbour clad country-folk with the dogs in the back.

My Nana has always extolled the virtues of the Swedish brand due to driving them way back in the 60s, my parents own one, so would being invited to test drive their latest offering help me to change my opinion.

I took my seat on the small propeller jet that was to fly me to Southampton. As the country had been experiencing stormy weather, I left a wet Manchester to be greeted by an even wetter and blustery Southampton. And they say that it always only rains t’up North!

I arrived at The Wellington Arms in leafy Baughurst, a quaint pub voted 2nd best place to eat in the country by The Times newspaper and I can assure you serves the most amazing food! The car park looked like what I imagine an Ikea car park looks like in Sweden on a Sunday – Volvos everywhere.

This was the media launch for the Volvo V60, an estate version of the S60 saloon, or as Volvo prefer to call it, a Sportwagon.

On first impressions it looked sleek, stylish and more like a sporty number than what it actually it is, with it’s saloon windows, tapered coupé like tail and buggish distinctive LED lights. This wasn’t an estate of old, this had curves and lines to rival that other Swedish export, Britt Ekland, when she hit the movie screens in The Man with the Golden Gun back in 1974.

I settled into the V60 driving seat, my body heaving a sigh of relief, as the plane was uncomfortable and this was like sitting on a seat made of feathers; Volvo do cosiness extremely well. After adjusting my driving position it was time to start the car.

What seems to be popular nowadays is the start/stop button, the turning of a key becoming seemingly redundant. So once I’d slotted the key in, it was time to press the button and start the Swedish Sportwagon.

I drove away in their diesel version, the D5. With its 205 bhp, I expected it to be more powerful than it was as it tended to be a bit sluggish But I suppose the reality was that I was driving an estate not some little hot hatch.

Engine choice is like that of the S60, with five petrol units ranging from the 150bhp, 1.6-litre T3 to the 304bhp 3.0-litre T6.

Diesels include the popular 163bhp 2.0-litre D3 and the 205bhp, 2.4-litre D5 twin-turbocharged, five-cylinder diesel with six-speed automatic transmission all-wheel drive. The revised, 5 cylinder diesel engines supposedly offer better economy and torque.

The ride is firm, although the steering could do with being sharper as I had to readjust the wheel mid-corner on a few occasions. Cabin noise is fairly quiet, even though the surrounding roads were being resurfaced and laid bare. Considering what you would usually get when hitting a raised manhole cover!

Visibility is fine looking infront, there is even a 180 degree camera on the grille to help with manoeuvring out of crossings with a limited view. My only gripe is that the over the shoulder vision was limited due to the rear headrests and this is partly due to the low roof.

Despite all this I sailed along and what I love about the Volvos is that feeling nicely cocooned in the cabin, on the outside it could have been a monster truck.
I felt safe and knew that in any accident I would probably escape unharmed and this is in part to the safety features which have been added to this car.

Volvo have long been the innovators of safety design since 1927, pioneering the 3 point seat belt and the side impact air bags and the V60 has safety features in abundance.
The award winning City Safety technology is standard – if the vehicle in front suddenly brakes and sensing that a collision is likely to take place, it will pre-charge the brakes to help the driver avoid an accident by braking, or let the driver steer away from a potential collision. The Pedestrian Detection will self brake, should you fail to spot someone in the road. The Brake Driver Alert Control helps if you’re tired or distracted, there’s a Blind Spot Information System and also BLIS, which alerts drivers if vehicles run across lane markers without indicating. Whether they are helpful additions for driving is debatable. Who is in the driving seat?

All these can be operated on the colour screen, featured on the brushed metal, centre floating console and there is no need for lots of complicated and unuseable buttons – it is all clean, functional and incredibly simple to use.

For passengers it’s very comfortable, Volvo have a minimalistic approach to luxury and it works everytime.

If you want to truly use it as an estate, sorry I mean sportwagon, then the rear seat back rests can be folded flat and split into a 40-20-40 configuration offering 1241 litres of space. The front passenger seat also folds down, so any winter sports enthusiasts can put all their skis in the car. There is also lockable under floor storage too, these Swedes think of everything!

Just a few of its rivals are the Audi A4 Avant and the Mercedes Benz C Class Estate. With prices starting from £24,000, it is slightly cheaper than the German marques and does offer a whole host of safety features.

The V60 will always appeal to the outdoorsy types, but taking its styling from a saloon, this will enable Volvo to increase its market and there will definitely be buyers parting with their cash for this car. Volvo has a deep history rooted in producing cars that are sturdy, very reliable with a reputation for longevity and this model is no exception. And I no longer think of them as cars shaped to hold a washing machine, but ones that are incredibly stylish, sophisticated and safe.By Olivia Gauch

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