Volvo V60 2010 Review

Volvo V60 wagon

Not so much
>> Smaller cargo area than Volvo buyers might expect
>> As we discovered, the safety technology is fallible
>> Vertical dash panel too close to your knee for comfort

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine and Drivetrain: 3.0/5.0
Price, Value, Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.5/5.0

About our ratings

OVERVIEW

Volvo has tried to give its midsize wagon the appearance of a coupe – even it means upsetting traditional Volvo buyers who, God forbid, actually want a wagon with some usable space. It's a risky move from the conservative carmaker, but one it makes no apologies for.

"From the design viewpoint the focus was on making the car as close to a coupe as possible, while retaining that handy extra space at the rear," says Örjan Sterner, head of exterior design for the new Volvo V60.

"Our wagon does not aim to compete with the traditional estate car. For the customer who wants a lot of load space, there is our V70 or XC70."

It's a good thing, then, that the Swedes are geniuses at flat pack furniture, because you won't be getting any big antique cabinets in the back of this wagon.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

It's the best thing Volvo could possibly do because even the Germans are undercutting each other dramatically these days. They're just cleverer at hiding the $5000-plus bonuses in the boot.

So, if the V60 wagon has a starting price that limbos under the $50,000 mark when it arrives in Australian showrooms later this year and early next year, that will at least put Volvo in the ball park – instead of being hit for six before potential customers even get to the Volvo showroom.

But even with a sub-$50,000 sticker, the V60 may still face an uphill battle. As with the Germans, the V60 also has a lengthy and costly options list.

While such a sharp starting price will undercut similarly-sized vehicles from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, the V60 will also need to compete with the cheaper yet stylish Golf and Passat wagons. The other elephants in the room – and rivals Volvo may not have considered before – are the new Skoda Octavia and Superb wagons. With their massive cargo carrying capacities, the VW-owned Czech brand is a strong chance to pick up disaffected Volvo customers who want more space – and want to save up to $10,000.

For Volvo Australia, the V60 wagon -- and its new S60 sedan stablemate -- can't come soon enough. The brand has spent this year effectively without a contender in the medium-size luxury market. Just nine Volvo S60 sedans have been sold in the first eight months of 2010.

As a result, Volvo's sales growth of 9 per cent year to date in Australia is barely more than half the growth rate of the total new-car market (up 15 per cent). Meanwhile Audi is up 22 per cent, Mercedes is up 16 per cent, and Volkswagen is up 23 per cent. Even BMW, which charges more for its cars than Volvo, is up 10 per cent.

"Price is yet to be announced but we are confident we will have a very competitive offer out there," says Volvo Australia spokeswoman Laurissa Mirabelli.

"If you look at where the German cars are at we expect to be somewhere near them or slightly under them."

A 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder (149kW/300Nm) and 3.0-litre turbo six-cylinder (221kW/440Nm) will make up the petrol options – but a super-frugal 1.6 turbo four-cylinder petrol is also under consideration.

The 1.6 is available in two guises thanks to computer trickery: a 112kW version and a 134kW version. Both engines have the same torque: 240Nm. And a brief test drive of this engine during the launch of the V60 wagon in Italy showed it to be a stronger performer than its modest engine capacity suggests.

The 1.6 was not on the consideration list for Australia because Volvo executives, judging the engine on its vital statistics alone, were concerned about the performance of such a small engine in a (relatively) big car. But the enthusiasm of the group of Australian journalists who sampled this engine has prompted Volvo to reconsider the 134kW version of the 1.6 for Australia.

Meanwhile two five-cylinder turbodiesels, a 2.0-litre (120kW/400Nm) and a 2.4-litre (151kW/420Nm) will make up the oiler options. A new generation 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel should be introduced early next year.

In Australia all engines will be backed up by a six-speed twin-clutch automated gearbox that was developed by Getrag and the Ford Motor Company. It is similar to the Volkswagen DSG gearbox but gearshifts seem smoother, particularly at low speeds and when manoeuvring on hills at parking speeds.

Here's a quick rundown of each of the confirmed engine's economy and performance (consumption and performance for the 1.6 are not yet available):

A pram, some shopping or flat-pack furniture will fit in there fine, but not all of the above – or anything too tall or wide.

At least the V60 has one neat trick: as is the case with the S60 sedan the front passenger seat can fold flat to create a long narrow load space along one side of the car, although I'm not sure what the front passenger's airbag does in this situation. On impact do you end up with a bicycle out the back window?

To save you scouring the internet, we've done the searching for you and compared the cargo space of the V60's likely rivals, plus a few others that provide an interesting comparison, including two other models from the Volvo fold. (The only figures we couldn't easily find, oddly, is the amount of space available in Volvo wagons when the back seats are down).

Load space asaide, the V60's packaging is identical to the S60 sedan. Check out our international launch coverage via the link in PRICE AND EQUIPMENT above.

A likely five star ANCAP rating wouldn't really do this car justice, hence the reason in the independent crash test body has revised its rankings to include collision avoidance technology in the future.

Meantime, the V60 can warn you when you're about to wander from your lane, stop the car if you're about to rear-end the vehicle ahead, slam the brakes to avoid a pedestrian, and look over your shoulder on your behalf to check if there is a car in the driver's blindspot. Other carmakers have some of these features – but none have all of them.

The only catch is, most of the whiz-bang technology is optional, but that's the price of progress says Volvo.

Here's a rundown of what's available:

As with all its safety features, Volvo says the pedestrian warning is a support system and is not designed to take control away from the driver – or introduce complacency.

The Carsales Network got to sample how fallible the technology can be. During a demonstration of the pedestrian warning using an inflatable dummy, the car either failed to brake or braked too lightly on three out of 12 test runs. It turned out that an aluminium panel discreetly placed at the feet of the dummy to help the radar 'see' became dislodged after it blew over in a breeze.

The radar needed the aluminium reflector to work in the simulation because it saw 'through' the plastic dummy. Volvo insists that the system works on real humans because of the body density.

Indeed, during development of the technology Volvo's active safety expert Jonas Tisell put himself in the pedestrian dummy's shoes. He stood in front of a car equipped with the pedestrian warning system while it was travelling towards him – and survived to tell the tale because the car braked in time.

COMPETITORS

So not only is Volvo up against anyone wanting a big prestige wagon, it is also up against anyone wanting a big prestige wagon at a cheaper price.

The V60 is caught in a pincer movement between the top-line BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi wagons on one side of the price bracket , and the more affordable Volkswagen Golf and Passat wagons on the other.

Throw in the cheeky Czech brand Skoda, and the Ford Mondeo wild card, and the V60 doesn't have the market to itself after all.

ON THE ROAD

Although the early signs are positive, experience says it's not as sharp as, say, a BMW, when it comes to corners – or as composed over bumps as a Mercedes-Benz. Generally speaking, however, the V60 is more than a fair compromise between handling and comfort – depending which engine you choose.

The diesel model sampled felt too nose heavy (a common complaint of diesel-powered cars) but the lighter, petrol engine variants felt much more at ease in corners.

In particular, the 1.6 turbo tested was a pleasant surprise. It's not going to win any performance car awards, but for an urban commuter that also feels nice on the open road, it was a sweetie. Fingers crossed that variant makes the boat to Australia.

My biggest complaint is the centre section of the dash which houses the air-conditioning and audio controls. It's a nice piece of design but it bothered me because my knee kept rubbing against it. I'm curious as to how this may play out on your knee caps in a side-on crash. Volvo insists it has done hundreds of real tests and simulations and has not found any adverse affects. But I find this unusual. Most other carmakers don't have such a pronounced obstruction in the knee area and, given Volvo's expertise in safety, my concern is that form may have taken over function just one step too far.

Is it a deal-breaker for me? Probably. Will it bother other potential buyers? Probably not.

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