The Volvo XC60 T6

By: Chew Chen Yang Cool… Now that is not something you usually associate with Volvo. Well, not for Gen X yuppies anyhow. Growing up, Volvos to the Gen X crowd were famous for their boxy silhouette and excellent safety. Today, with cars like the sporty C30 and stylish C70, the Swedish brand has shrugged off its stoic image and the latest addition to the family, the XC60 should further reinforce that.  At a glance, the XC60 looks like a smaller XC90 but closer inspection reveals it to be a lot more streamlined and sporty. It looks muscular without being too beefy and at the rear, the curvaceous tail lamps now flow seamlessly into Volvo’s ‘signature’ shoulders. Officially a crossover, the XC60’s target audience are those whose lifestyle involves a wakeboard rather than a baby pram. So performance would be an important facet when choosing a vehicle. Here the XC60 doesn’t disappoint. With a turbocharged 2953cc inline six cylinder producing 285bhp, the XC60 can cover the century sprint in 7.5 seconds. More importantly though, there’s 400Nm of torque from1500rpm to 4800rpm and that means in daily driving, there’s lag-free acceleration at your disposal. For drivers who have been brought up on a staple diet of say 120-ish bhp sedans, the XC60’s T6 performance will excite. Period.  

Dynamically, the XC60 handles well and corners can be taken at a decent pace although the steering could provide more feedback. More importantly, the ride is polished and hushed so making those trips to the East Coast of Malaysia for diving trips should be fun.

Passengers seated in the rear on long jaunts might complain a touch though. Rear legroom is not exactly generous but there’s plenty of headroom for all. Occupants up front get a better deal thanks to supportive, electrically powered seats. Volvo’s signature ‘floating’ centre console is present – and in a sporty move, canted towards the driver. When it comes to space, carting golf bags won’t pose a problem thanks to the XC60’s generous 490-litre boot. Finally, how can the XC60 be a Volvo without class leading safety? Enter City Safety. City Safety is the newest toy in Volvo’s safety arsenal. Using laser sensors positioned behind the rear-view mirror, it can detect vehicles and other objects up to 10 metres ahead of the car’s front bumper, and if it determines impact is imminent, it’ll automatically brake the XC60 to stop. It is designed to work up to 30km/h to prevent or minimise accidents which occur during slow traffic or city crawls. 

In a nutshell, if you’re looking for a cool “iCar” to match your iPhone and your multi-faceted lifestyle, you can’t go wrong with XC60.