Volvo XC 60 D4 Drive E

The new Volvo XC60 looks pretty much the same as the first iteration of 2009 but it remains contemporary and stylish. A new engine and some tweaks elsewhere have brought it right up to date. The two litre four  cylinder turbo diesel " Drive E " is part of the upgrade and it's a marvellous powerplant..

Almost inaudible and totally silent on the move, the engine flings you down the road with astonishing speed when sport mode is selected..Zero to 100 kph,in just over seven seconds is pretty impressive for a mid sized SUV. The eight  speed gearbox perfectly complementing its 133 kw and 400 nm of torque.
While on that, the Volvo engineers have managed to do away with torque steer when the accelerator is floored.. there's no tugging at the steering wheel.

The ride is a little on the firm side but you get used to it... and that  helps when pressing on into corners.. but there's some noticeable body roll when doing so.The XC 60 is front wheel drive only.
Inside the cabin, you'll get all the usual well crafted and designed Volvo comfort and convenience features.
The seats are just right, very comfortable and hold you effectively in corners .Rear seat legroom can be tight depending on the height of those in the front seats. Built in child booster seats, a Volvo trademark, will be welcomed by parents of small children.

The City Safe auto braking system now operates up to 50- kilometres an hour should a cyclist ,pedestrian or something else appear suddenly in front of the car. It will instantly apply the brakes for you. You will also enjoy the fuel saving stop/start engine idle feature, a crisp and powerful multi speaker sound system, blind spot indicators in the A pillars, lane departure warnings and active cruise control and a power tailgate, are among the many sought after elements in a car such as this,

Quality high powered Bi xenon headlights are  excellent and there are turn into corner lights as well, up front.

 

Unsurprisingly, the XC 60 is Volvo's best selling model worldwide and here in Australia it's holding its own against string competition from similar vehicles at Audi, Range Rover and BMW.
The D4 Diesel Drive E sells for around 65K

Peter Sellen