A beautiful minimalist interior and a colossal boot with room for four suitcases – the Volvo V60 is the car you never knew you wanted
Volvo's newest creation is the latest in Scandi chill-pill design
“WHEN I grow up, I want a Volvo” said no one, ever.
How about in your twenties? Seriously, mate, is that even a question? In your thirties? Still no. But in your forties? Oooooh, yes please.
It’s like there’s a special switch in your brain. All of a sudden you need a Volvo in your life.
You see them at the garden centre (yep, that’s your Sundays now) and marvel at all the space.
“Did you see that, luv? Ten bags of compost, a bird table and a wooden bench, all in the back of that Volvo. Incredible.”
You admire them at the school gate, delivering all the little darlings all happy and safe.
And then you glimpse that beautiful minimalist interior and you promise yourself: “I’m defo having a V60 estate next.” Yes, you are now officially middle-aged and middle-class.
Of course, safety and space have always been Volvo trademarks. But it’s the new-generation Scandi chill-pill interiors that make them so goddamn desirable these days.
It started with the big-daddy XC90 SUV and has trickled down to the XC60 (World Car of the Year) and the XC40 (European Car of the Year).
Needless to say, the new V60 has the same elegant furniture-like cabin crowned by that upended iPad. And the few buttons that do remain are finished like pieces of jewellery.
Strictly between you and me, the interior designer is ex-Bentley and Bugatti and she’s a Brit. She nailed it.
Other things to note. It is full of light and air. The rear leg-room is class-leading. The panoramic glass roof is nicked off the V90, so it’s big. The boot is bigger too, up 99 litres on the old V60 to 529 litres.
That’s good. Four suitcases. Bigger than a BMW 3 Series Touring, Mercedes C-Class estate and an Audi A4 Avant. But it doesn’t have the Beemer’s split tailgate.
So, what’s it like to drive?
I’d say more comfortable than Labrador blender. The 2-litre diesel we tested (190hp, front-wheel drive, eight-speed auto) is composed and well balanced but the auto has very little appetite exiting a corner.
Maybe paddle shifts on the R-Design trim will cure that.
For more beans, you’ll want the 250hp T5 petrol or the all-wheel-drive T6 and T8 petrol-electric hybrids to follow. They’ll have plenty of zip — the T6 is 340hp, the T8 390hp — and both can box off 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds.
As well as doing 28 miles on pure electric. Now, I can’t possibly finish a Volvo review without talking safety. Well, unsurprisingly, this is the safest Volvo ever. As uncrashable as technically possible.
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Key facts: Volvo V60
- Price: £32,810
- Engine: 2-litre diesel
- Power: 190hp, 400Nm
- 0-62mph: 7.9 secs
- Top speed: 137mph
- Economy: 64mpg
- CO2: 117g/km
- Out: September
It will even try to help avoid a head-on collision. I’ll take Volvo’s word for that one. I didn’t fancy playing chicken with a lorry.
So, there you have it. Turn 40, buy a Volvo and wake up to the realisation that you have turned into your dad. Finance from £299 a month.
BMW's golf tournament
BMW bosses will be watching their own golf tournament through their fingers this weekend.
They’ve put up a £90,000 M5 as a hole-in-one prize at the BMW PGA at Wentworth and a £125,000 i8 Roadster for an albatross (holing the second shot) on the par five 18th. Four cars have been won in the last three tournaments so they’re asking for it.
In the Pro-Am yesterday, Vinnie Jones and TalkSPORT’s Georgie Bingham finished top celebs in second.
Rory McIlroy captained Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Teddy Sheringham to third. Pep Guardiola, Matt Le Tissier and Peter Schmeichel were 13th, led by Tommy Fleetwood, above with Pep.
Can I just add that my lad, playing with Ross Fisher and Sir Steve Redgrave, finished five shots better in sixth? You can’t win ’em all, Pep.
