What Car Is Best For Driving In The Winter?

When you think of and admire a car you probably imagine yourself driving it on clear, dry roads with the sun in the sky and little traffic to get between you and driving nirvana.

But the reality, especially if you live in the northern hemisphere is much different. Most of the driving we do is to work and back and for a lot of the year we drive to work and back in the dark. Ugh.

To make matters worse the roads are usually wet and slippery. When it's not been actually raining the mud and rotting leaves that litter the roads during the winter months hold all the moisture they can and offer zero traction. When it's raining you can hardly see out of your grimy windscreen and if the sun does come out it does so at such an angle it blinds you so you still can't see.

And then there's the cold. I know the world holds many and varied horrors but not many can be as bad as getting into a freezing cold car on an utterly miserable morning.  The windscreen is covered in condensation, the steering wheel is cold, any metal in the car (i.e. an Audi TT's gear knob) is literally freezing and you can't afford to breath because it steams up the windows.

Driving in winter is utterly horrible. But your choice of car can make all the difference.

I once commuted for a week in a Jaguar XFR-S. It was rear wheel drive and had so much power if the rear wheels could actually grip the ground they would have altered the speed of the earth's rotation. But the wheels couldn't grip because the week I drove it was in winter and the rear wheels gripped the road at 10% of throttle application only. Above that and they'd spin uselessly.

And to be honest all big, powerful rear wheel drive cars are pretty useless in such conditions.

Lighter rear wheel drive cars can be fun and controllable though. The winter proper has arrived in Sweden and @BuddaPSL is merrily driving his 200bhp rear wheel drive Subaru BRZ around.

She’ll be absolutely filthy again in about 10 minutes… #BRZ 🇸🇪 • pic.twitter.com/keaUTSsnGE

— Budda (@BuddaPSL) January 11, 2016

One thing you want in winter is a welcoming interior with great ambient lighting and heated seats that warm up quickly. My old Audi TT was heavier than the BRZ but had four wheel drive so it gripped well in any conditions. The interior was lovely and the leather seats heated quickly.

I drove my Lotus Elise to work the other day. The actual driving experience was epic. The chassis is so balanced and composed I was able to slide round corners without fear of losing control. Sadly the power of the heater is puny and I couldn't be bothered putting the roof on so my ears and nose had frozen solid by the time I got to work.

Front wheel drive cars work well in winter as long as they don't torque steer too much. Slippery conditions can aggravate even mild torque steer. My Volvo XC60 is a brilliant winter car but it does have a habit of losing grip at the front as I plant the accelerator coming out of a corner, or even on a grid cover or patch of mud or leaves if in a low gear in a straight line.

But otherwise the XC60 is almost perfect. It has a heated windscreen and heated seats. It has auto wipers and auto lights. In the darkness the interior is lit very subtly but very gorgeously. All the controls fall to hand and the seats are comfortable. You can set most things, including the heated front and rear windows and seats to come on at a certain level when you turn on the car.

Having driven almost every brand of car on sale in the UK today I'd say on balance Volvo makes the best cars for driving in winter, which is no surprise coming from a  Swedish manufacturer. But the XC60 wouldn't be my favourite car for winter driving.

Sure you can get a four wheel drive XC60 which would alleviate the grip issues but it doesn't account for the car's weight - and where that weight is held. It's an SUV which means the car is relatively tall and that can make it a handful to drive in dark, wet, slippery conditions on roads with at least some corners.

It is this which rules out all Land Rovers and Range Rovers which have equally lovely and well lit and warm interiors.

My perfect car for winter driving is the Volvo V60 Polestar. It's got the Volvo interior and is perfectly suited for harsh winters. But the weight is low down, the engine is epic and the drivetrain is a hugely grippy four wheel drive system.

It might cost a fortune but if you have a spare fifty grand I couldn't recommend a better car for driving around in during the winter months.

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid Review

Matt Hubbard reviews the Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid, which is actually a plug-in hybrid.

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

The future of motoring is slowly taking shape in front of our eyes.  The basics of car design will continue to be refined but will essentially remain as it is - seats, body, wheels, power unit. The fundamental problem in future cars comes down to one of energy storage both at car and distribution level.

Petrol and diesel are relatively easy to extract and refine and extremely easy to transport and store. Once in the car it stays where it's meant to until it is used, at which point it is quick and easy to replace. Enough can be stored in a car to give a range of hundreds of miles without the need to refuel.

Petrol and diesel also have a large amount of energy stored within their mass, and extracting that energy is as easy as setting fire to it.

Emerging technologies and fuels have to match existing fuels in terms of storage, range and price - or else the market will not adopt them.

Electricity is in many ways a better fuel than anything else to power a car. It requires few moving parts in the drive train and will ultimately lead to lower running costs. It also provides a smoother driving experience and produces no pollution when it is used (although it sometimes produces lots when generated).

But mankind has yet to suss out the problem of quickly refuelling a car with electricity, and storing enough on board to match the range of a fossil fuelled car. Until that happens electric vehicles are folly.

And until that point we are stuck with hybrids which utilise electricity until such point it runs out, whereafter a petrol or diesel engine takes over. The two engines can also be combined for more and better power delivery.

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

Some companies (Toyota and Honda) have been making hybrids for years whilst others resisted (mainly due to being smaller companies with lower R&D budgets) and waited until the technology was mature enough that it cost less to introduce it.

Nowadays most manufacturers have at least one hybrid in their range. Some hybrids look the same as any other car and some look...different. Some cost a little bit more than a standard car whilst others cost the earth.

Volvo has taken the approach of making its hybrid V60 look the same as any other V60 - to an almost fanatical degree - but it does cost the earth.

Volvo has also taken the bold approach of giving its hybrid more performance than the rest of the range. Until the V60 Polestar came along the V60 Hybrid was the most powerful, as well as most expensive, V60 you could buy.

If you want to know what the standard car is like read my review of the Volvo V60 D3 here, and you can check out my V60 Polestar review here.

Visually the Hybrid is almost identical to any other V60. The only differentiators are small 'Plug-In Hybrid' badges on the front quarter panels, an extra fuel flap, a much higher boot floor and more badges on the door sills.

The extra fuel flap (under which is a plug) and badges mean this is a plug-in hybrid, which means you can charge the battery up (in around 3 hours) and it'll provide around 30 miles of purely electric motoring. That leads to an official economy figure of155mpg and emissions of 48g/km of CO2. Stunningly low but meaningless in the real world.

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

In practice the V60 D6 Hybrid is a sensible, practical, fast, economical, cheap to run car that costs a lot but has a few benefits over a standard car.

The only real inconvenience is the reduced boot area. My border collie came for a ride and wasn't too impressed with having to stoop down low in the boot. A V60's boot floor is quite high in the first place. In the hybrid, with even more height, it looks (and is) a bit ridiculous.

The battery and electric motor live under the boot floor - hence the height - and power the rear wheels which means in certain modes the car is four wheel drive. Of course, the diesel engine up front powers the front wheels.

The electric motor has 70bhp and the diesel engine has 215bhp. Select the Power setting and the V60 hybrid is a 275bhp, 471b ft, four wheel drive continent crushing estate car with the comfiest seats in the business and a fabulous interior.

Power and torque are felt from low down, with minimal lag away from the line. The gearbox is sweet and the steering slightly heavier than you'd expect. Steering feedback and handling are lacking in favour of a smooth ride and safe understeer but boot the throttle and it's fast, grippy and great fun.  With all that grunt you can overtake where you couldn't in most cars.

Select the Pure setting and it'll use the electric motor as much as possible, resorting to diesel assistance only when you press the accelerator more than about 50%. I found myself driving in EV mode through towns and villages and pressing POWER when hitting the 60 zones in between.

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

Trying not to allow the diesel engine to kick in gives an added dimension to driving the car. Gently does it on the throttle and keep momentum up as much as possible makes boring roads slightly more interesting.

In between Power and Pure you can just drive the V60 as a hybrid, with the diesel and electric engines operating independently or together depending on your speed and heaviness of right foot.

I tested the EV mode and battery capacity on a run. On purely electric power I drove 6 miles round twisting country lanes and 14 miles at 65mph on the motorway before the battery was exhausted and the diesel engine kicked in. After another 20 miles the battery had replenished one third of its capacity which allowed me to cruise another few miles in EV mode.

You can feel the extra 200kg weight of the hybrid system when driving round bends but not so much when braking. The brake pedal feels strange at first as it is both battery regenerator and conventional discs n'pads brake.

Kes in the Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

The diesel engine is the old 2.4 litre unit which was never the most refined or economical of engines. The Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid is a fantastic car to drive - I'd happily own one if it didn't cost so much - but it could be improved massively by using the new D4 2.0 engine. In Power mode you'll average 35mpg if you drive enthusiastically.

Volvo has shown its hand and that means its hybrids will not be radically different cars from the rest of its range. Instead Volvo acknowledges hybrids as being a mainstream part of the medium-term future of motoring - so why make them different?

We'll see a hybrid in the new XC90 SUV and soon after most of the Volvo range be available with hybrid engines (and probably EVs too).  That this, the first Volvo hybrid, is such a good one bodes well.

As an experiment, and a car that will mostly be bought by early adopters who don't want to look too different, the V60 Hybrid is a resounding success that could be improved in a couple of areas, namely by using a better engine and by packaging the battery better.

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

Stats

Price - £46,675 (£54,075 as tested)

Engine - 2.4 litre diesel plus electric motor 

Transmission - 6-speed automatic 

0-60mph - 6.1 seconds 

Top speed - 143mph 

Power - 215bhp diesel, 70bhp electric - 275bhp total

Torque - 324lb ft diesel, 147lb ft electric - 471lb ft/640Nm total

Economy - 155mpg CO2 - 48g/km 

Kerb weight - 2058kg

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

Matt's Diary - Supercars, Busted Bearings And Dirty Hands

Since my last diary blog I've said farewell to a Jaguar XFR-S, hello to a Volvo V60 Hybrid, taken a passenger ride in an Audi R8, serviced a motoring journalist's Audi A3 V6 and discovered that my own car has a knackered wheel bearing.

Speedmonkey's Colin filling the Audi R8 with super unleaded

The Jag went back as the Volvo arrived. Driving two such expensive yet unique cars back to back gave me the opportunity to assess the strengths, and weaknesses of each. The 5-litre engine in the XFR-S is an absolute peach. It's so powerful you have to treat the throttle with absolute respect, and you'll never see much more than 15mpg.

On the other hand the Volvo has a bit of an old lag of an oil burner up front and a smooth electric motor in the rear.  The 2.4 litre diesel unit under the bonnet can also be found in the old XC90 and isn't very efficient or quiet in that - by modern standards, however the electric motor has enough go and the battery enough capacity that if you charge it up overnight you can treat it almost entirely as an electric car if you do under 30 miles a day.

In electric mode it obviously doesn't use any diesel but use both engines for max power and you'll see 35mpg. It's bloody quick in full hybrid mode though.

The Volvo is four wheel drive but the Jaguar rear wheel drive. With so much power the Jag's back end is overly lively whereas the Volvo is rock solid. In sub-zero temperatures and with ice on the roads I felt much happier driving the hybrid than I did the 550bhp super saloon. Who'd have thought that?!

My brother and co-writer, Colin, has an Audi R8 for the week and he came down from Cheshire to see me for the weekend in it.  He reported a super smooth cruise on the motorways and an average 26mpg. Not too bad.

It is possible that I was insured for it but we weren't willing to take the risk so I merely sat in the passenger seat for a few runs. It felt supremely well put together and the interior (with optional full leather pack) was rather sumptuous for a supercar.

Indeed the interior is all very sensible although the tech is getting on a bit now - the satnav doesn't take full UK postcodes for example.

The R8's interior

Still it was a wonderful experience cruising around my locale in the R8.

We then strapped a GoPro to the Volvo and went to shoot some video of the R8. Its V8 singing whilst he overtook me sounded awesome.

Once Colin had gone back to Cheshire I was visited by Graham King from OnlyMotors.  Graham has an Audi A3 with the 3.2 V6. He wants to sell it and had asked if I could service it beforehand. He wanted to observe the procedure so he could learn how to do it himself.

My drive is block paved and spacious and I enjoy getting my hands dirty so we arranged for him to bring the car over Sunday afternoon.

Graham arrived with all the parts I told him to buy - oil, sump plug with washer and oil filter and we set to it.  Car jacked up and on axle stands, cup of tea made, tools brought out from the garage.

It was a straightforward job - Audi uses quality components and materials which makes such jobs so much easier than if the manufacturer decides to make life awkward, like hiding the filter deep in the bowels of the engine.

The only faff was removing the large sump guard, which has about 12 fixings. The rearward ones had perished and a bolt twisted clean off when I removed it so I had to zip tie that part in place once I'd finished.

Tools ready to service Graham's A3 V6

After we'd finished I decided to take the TT for a spin as it'd been sat in the garage for 10 days. It was an absolute pleasure to drive and reminded me why I love it.

That was until the front left wheel made a hell of a racket and felt like it was going to fall off whilst flying through a hard right corner.  That reminded me that it'd been making some odd noises under heavy cornering last time I'd driven it.

Back then I'd suspected the bearing was on its way out, something now confirmed in my mind. Luckily I've got the Volvo for a few more days. My mate the mechanic will replace the Audi's bearing this week, hopefully before the Volvo goes back.

Last week's diary column turned out to be pretty controversial, but it was well read. I'll stay away from upsetting anyone for a while but if this is read by enough people I'll turn it into a semi-regular thing.

Cheers

Matt

Tweet

2015 Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid First Drive Review

V60 Polestar or V60 Hybrid? Which should I request when getting in touch with Volvo? Despite it being closest to my heart in terms of speed and handling I'd already spent a day with the Polestar. I asked for a V60 D6 Hybrid.

Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

So a Volvo V60 in Passion Red, visually the same as any other V60 R-Design, rocked up at chez Speedmonkey. Parked alongside the Jaguar XFR-S, which was going back to Jag the day the V60 arrived, it held its own in terms of looks.

Volvo got it right with the S60 and V60. It's a cracking looking car. The interior is better than those from the Germans and the new D4 engine is one of the best new diesels on the market.

But this didn't have the D4. It had the old 215bhp, 2.4 diesel, found in a few other Volvos and known as the D5, plus a 70bhp electric motor.

The diesel engine powers the front axle and the electric motor powers the rear. It can be a four wheel drive, front wheel drive or rear wheel drive car depending on what setting you select.

The settings are Pure, Hybrid or Power. You can also select Save, which saves electricity in the battery, and AWD.

In Power mode you get the full 285bhp and a massive 660Nm/471lb ft of torque. This makes the V60 Hybrid a fast wagon - it'll do 0-60mph in 6.1 seconds. Take-off from 0mph is instant, thanks to the electric motor, and top speed is 143mph.

You don't get anywhere near the claimed 155mpg in Power. The old D5 was never the most refined nor economical engine and in the V60 Hybrid in Power I've averaged 35mpg.

Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

Pure is more intriguing. It causes the car to run purely on electricity although the diesel engine kicks in if you apply too much throttle. Despite having driven around a hundred cars a year the only other hybrid I'd driven was the Range Rover and the only electric car was the Renault Zoe.

The V60 is attractive as it has a 30 mile range on the battery and a 500(ish) range on diesel. Despite overnight temperatures dropping to -5℃ the electric range I've seen has been 25 miles. Not too bad.

The driving experience is not too bad either. I can see a whole generation of young drivers learning in cars like this and driving just as I have been doing - easy on the accelerator, try not to brake too much, keep it smooth and flowing. Preserve electricity at all cost and see it as a failure if the diesel engine kicks in.

It's intriguing and it's fun and in real world driving conditions it's entirely relevant.

The V60 Hybrid is a year or so old now. Updated with a D4 and a slightly bigger battery it'd be even better than it is, but the one I'm running right now will do for the moment. I'm enjoying driving it far more than I thought I would.

The only downsides I can see are the price, which at a £47k without options is too expensive, and the 'old' engine.

If this is the future I'll be pretty happy.

Stats

Price - £46,675 (£54,075 as tested)
Engine - 2.4 litre diesel plus electric motor
Transmission - 6-speed automatic
0-60mph - 6.1 seconds
Top speed - 143mph
Power - 215bhp diesel, 70bhp electric - 275bhp
Torque - 324lb ft diesel, 147lb ft electric - 471lb ft/640Nm
Economy - 155mpg
CO2 - 48g/km
Kerb weight - 2058kg

Volvo V60 D6 Hybrid

Can you guess where the battery is located?

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

Fleet - My First Ever New Car Will Be A Volvo

In my last fleet update I said I was going to buy a Golf GTi Mk5. In typical car enthusiast style I've changed my mind yet again.

You may recall I said I needed to sell my Audi TT and buy something with four seats and that, through a process of elimination, it was going to be a Mk5 Golf GTi.

In the same article, going through the various options, I said, "Not an SUV - I don't want one if it isn't a Range Rover or Volvo and I can't afford either."

For some of us the choice of car we run reflects the essence of our soul. We may not think we care what the neighbours think of what's sitting in the drive...but we do. And not just the neighbours. We care about what everyone thinks about our choice of car. When we're sitting in miles of traffic on a congested motorway we care what every other driver thinks about the car we're sitting in.

We want our wheels to be an extension of our personality, to show to the world that we carefully thought about it and selected a machine that not only provided for our needs but that differentiated us from every other person who has ever bought a car.

To a petrolhead choosing a car is a very important decision.

Which is why we can never make our bloody minds up.

Whenever I've driven a press car I've asked myself if I would want to buy that car for myself, my family, my circumstances. With most the answer is no. This is generally because it is too underpowered, too small, too impractical, not refined enough, because I could not afford it or for some small reason that renders a generally good car unfit for my personality and needs.

For example using purely forensic analysis the Toyota RAV4 is an amazingly capably car that I would never buy. Not because it's a Toyota (I'd buy a GT86 if it had decent rear seats and a hatchback boot) but because the interior isn't up to snuff. It's functional but has no flair.

Similarly the Maserati Ghibli fails on two counts - that of not being special enough for a Maserati and being outside my budget.

If I were choosing a car based purely on my personality I would buy a Lotus Evora or a Porsche 911. But neither has four seats, both are too expensive for me and neither would be suitable for ferrying the dog around.

Talking of the dog, she comes most places with me. Some cars are dog friendly and some are not. Mine has to be.

I chose a Golf GTi Mk5 because I couldn't afford a new car.

But, like any addict, I kept returning again and again to my obsession - the new car pages. I read my own reviews, I read the back pages of Autocar, I checked the financing on various cars.

Technically I could afford to lease a car but wasn't confident financially that I could make the payments over the two or three year contract. I've just never been comfortable signing up to something that commits me to be paying out dozens of months hence.

But then I realised something. The TT was paid for by a loan and until recently I was making monthly finance payments on my Triumph Street Triple. The bike is now 100% mine and if I sell the TT I can pay back the remainder of the loan.  Therefore, at minimum, I can afford the combined sum of the two, which is £370.

So, with renewed vigour, I spent hours searching leasing websites for a car with a low initial payment and monthly payments below £370.

The obvious choice was a Golf R. It was at number one in my top cars of 2014 and there are some seriously cheap deals available, but such is its popularity that if I placed an order in December 2014 it wouldn't even leave the VW factory in Wolfsburg until August 2015. I'm too impatient to wait that long.

Outside of a Golf my favourite car (that fits my needs) of the past couple of years is the Range Rover Sport, but monthly payments of that are in the area of £800.

An Evoque would be a substitute of sorts and is more affordable but for some reason lease payments are quite high.  Plus, if you want a Range Rover then you buy a Range Rover, not an Evoque.

Then my mind flashed back to the Volvo XC60 I'd driven to Paris in the summer. Volvos have the best interiors in the business and the XC60 is practical, comfortable, has an incredibly smooth ride and is more refined than most German cars. At the time I thought if I could afford one I would buy one for myself.

Remember what I said above? The only SUV I'd buy is a Range Rover or a Volvo. The XC90 is getting old and the new one is too expensive for me but I was wowed by the XC60.

Volvos used to be square and safe, then Ford bought the company and ruined it. Since shaking off Ford's shackles Volvo has emerged as a left field contender to the German big three. Having driven most of its product I've been consistently impressed by them.

I checked the lease pages. A few companies were offering staggeringly cheap deals, around 30% off. I found a deal from Stoneacre Motors for an XC60 D4 R-Design and emailed an inquiry.

A couple of days later and I'd placed an order for the car, in Power Blue with the optional winter pack, rear parking sensors and rain sensitive wipers. It's in my budget and will be delivered in early March.

Aside from a couple of company cars which I didn't choose this will be my first ever new car. I can't wait.

Oh, and as the XC60 isn't exactly a driver's car I'm already thinking that I should keep my oar in with a cheap MX5 Mk2. But first I've got to sell the TT.

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

Battle Of The Hot Hatches

Hot hatches are back with a vengeance. After years in the doldrums we're now awash with them.  Here are my fave five.

If you're in the market for a hot hatch here are my thoughts on my favourites. The links take you to the written reviews and the video reviews are below. They are the Volkswagen Golf R, Vauxhall Astra VXR, Audi S1, Renaultsport Clio 200 Turbo and Volvo V40 T5.

Volkswagen Golf R - Crushingly capable

Audi S1 - By god it's quick

Vauxhall Astra VXR - Manically insane

Renaultsport Clio 200 Turbo - Frantic and fun, deserves a better press than it has

Volvo V40 T5 - Proof that you can have speed as well as comfort

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Review

Matt Hubbard reviews the Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav Optimised by Polestar

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

In Volvo-land the 60 is the BMW 3-Series size car and S means saloon, so the S60 is a mid-size saloon.  D5 is the most powerful diesel engine which is currently a 2.4 litre 5-cylinder. R-Design is the sporty trim level that adds suspension upgrades as well as design touches. Lux Nav add extra kit and satnav. Optimised by Polestar adds a remap with a few more horsepower and torque.

The test car is at the top of the S60 range and the price reflects that, it costs £35k. Add in some serious options (because it's a press car) and the on-the road price is £42k.  That's a whole chunk of change. Is it worth it?

The S60 starts off on the back foot because it's front wheel drive whereas the 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class are rear wheel drive, as will be the latest party crasher the Jaguar XE. The Audi A4, however, is also front wheel drive.

Looks-wise its a winner.  The shape is familiar 3-box saloon but it's svelte with it, with a low looking roof and a shallow rear window line that slopes down all the way to the boot. It pulls this coupé-alike trick off much better than the BMW 3 GT does.

A crease runs along the waist of the car from headlights to rear lights, bulging ever so slightly over the wheels.

In all it's a cracking looking car that really stands out in Rebel Blue. The 18" alloys come as part of the R-Design package.

Step inside and shut the door and you're presented with an interior as comfortable and luxurious feeling as any of the competition. The materials in particular are high quality with a squidgy covering to the upper dash which in other cars is often harsh plastic.

It's not a particularly big car but rear seat occupants have a reasonable amount of space with room for three adults abreast and legroom for 6-footers. The boot too is very long but isn't particularly well packaged - there's a spare wheel and the cover, which is flat, doesn't cover the width of the boot so there are spaces either of side of it.

The seats are monumentally comfortable, and clad in Alcantara and just the softest leather I've experienced. They're supportive and need little adjustment to get comfy.

The driving position is great with a deep footwell and a steering wheel that has lots of adjustment.  

As with any modern, well-specced car there are a lot of things it can do and lots of ways you can control it all, the trick is to make the various inputs feel second nature after a short explore.  If you have to resort to the manual that's a failure as far as I'm concerned.

It's worth explaining in some detail how it all works. If you're not interested then skip the next five paragraphs.

The controls are well placed and after a short while in the car everything feels where it should be. On the steering wheel itself you can control the stereo, phone, speed limiter and (adaptive) cruise control. On the stalks you have the usual lights (automatic if required) and wipers but there's also a dial and button to control the trip computer and display items.

The electronic dash can be set for eco or performance displays. Performance is best as it shows a huge digital speed readout in the centre of the screen with revs surrounding it.  Turn the dial on the left hand stalk and various info is shown such as mpg, average speed, speed in km/h in little windows either side of the speedo.

The central screen has a whole host of menus and options from sound system (loud, clear, DAB, FM, Bluetooth, CD) to elements of the car such as how long the lights stay on after you've turned the car off.  You can, for instance, alter the headlights so they work on European roads without dazzling oncoming drivers.  

Talking of lights Volvo's adaptive headlights are the most effective I've tested. Only once in a week, with the nights drawing in, did they briefly dazzle someone - when I drove down a bumpy road and they didn't dip fast enough.

The only two elements of the screen and tech in the car that are substandard are the fact the screen isn't a touchscreen and has an input system that can sometimes feel clunky, and the satnav's traffic management (and subsequent route redirection and ETA) are based on TMC which is not as good as TomTom's or Google's.

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

The car starts with a push of a button, and the key can go anywhere but Volvo has provided a handy space in the dash for it.

The engine is quiet at idle. The gearbox has a soft, fluid feel and the ratios are well spaced.

On pulling away the engine note rises through the usual diesel clatter to a lovely off-beat thrum when pushed, the result of having five cylinders.

It has lots of power and torque and a flat power curve once the turbo has kicked in at 2,000rpm. It'll pull in all gears as long as you keep the turbo spinning and carries on to a high, for a diesel, 5,000rpm.

In fact it feels faster than the stats show, perhaps because of the Polestar tuning. It really is a quick car that has lots of grip, despite being front wheel drive.  Torque steer can be an issue though in small left, right tugs on the wheel as you accelerate hard in lower gears.

The steering is light and has adequate, if not outstanding, feel and feedback. 

The S60 is good fun on twisting roads. It doesn't understeer much, rather it stays neutral in most conditions.  The R-Design's suspension is slightly firmer than in other trim levels but still soaks up the vast majority of road surfaces with aplomb.

It really comes into its own on flowing A-roads and motorways where its brilliant ride and composure make for a soothing experience. Stick it in top gear and overtake on a swell of torque, turn up the stereo, select adaptive cruise and watch the miles go by as it returns 40 to 50 mpg despite having 347lb ft of torque.

So, is the S60 as good as the German competition?  I think it is.  It has the looks, the driving experience, the tech, the comfort, the style - but does it have the image?  That's up to you.

Stats:

Price - £35,395 (£42,260 as tested)

Engine - 2.4 litre, 5-cylinder, turbocharged diesel 

Transmission - 6-speed manual 

0-62mph - 7.4 seconds 

Top Speed - 143mph 

Power - 230bhp 

Torque - 347lb ft / 470Nm 

Economy - 62.8mpg 

CO2 - 119g/km 

Kerb weight - 1,658kg

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

2014 Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav First Drive Review

I'm running a Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav for a week. Here's my first drive review

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

The loan of the S60 was arranged in a hurry. The days before it was delivered I'd been busy and the day after it was delivered I set off on a 400 mile round trip to see a punk band consisting of old school mates I hadn't seen in 27 years.

As such I had no idea of the price or even stats of the car and only looked them up before writing this review. It was quite a refreshing experience as knowing everything about a car and it's competition can lead to over-analysis when driving it.  You write the review in your head and sometimes decide what to say almost too early.

So, rather than being judgemental I soaked up the experience. When it came to looking up the stats some surprised me.

I wasn't surprised at the price. It's an expensive car.  The S60 range starts at £20,620 but the test car was the fully loaded, top of the range R-Design Lux Nav and cost £35,395. Add in various options and the price on the road was £42,260.

Volvo is pitching its product directly at the German Big Three of Mercedes, Audi and BMW and, as such, Volvos don't come cheap.

Let's analyse the test car's name to see what you get for your cash.

S60 means it's a 3-series size saloon.  It's a good looking car and in Rebel Blue looks pretty fab.

D5 means it gets the top of the range diesel engine which is a 2.4 litre inline-5.  It's been around since 2009 and will be replaced soon with one of the new 4-cylinder, 2-litre Drive-E engines.  This will be cleaner but the current D5 is a 5-cylinder and has a lovely off-beat engine note.

It's also powerful.  In standard form it produces 212bhp but the one in the test car was "Optimised by Polestar" which means it gets a remap and more horsepower and torque.  Combined with the rather fluid 6-speed manual gearbox the S60 D5 feels like a fast car, more so than the stats suggest.  It also returns a decent 62.8mpg on the combined cycle.

R-Design means this car gets an upgraded steering wheel, sporty trim (such as a 'silk metal' grille and chrome wing mirrors), a suspension upgrade and sports seats.  The seats in particular are wonderfully comfortable and supportive and have patches of the leather so soft it's almost like Kangaroo leather.

Lux means you get a bunch of options included, such as the 18" Ixion wheels, heated, folding mirrors and active bending xenon lights.  The lights are amazingly effective at night, you can leave them on full beam and a shadow is cast over oncoming vehicles so as not to dazzle the driver.  It's not infallible but is one of the best systems I've experienced.

Finally, Nav gives you the standard Volvo satnav via the infotainment screen. It's a good system but with a rather infuriating input by which you select the postcode or address by a dial and buttons.  Volvo needs a touchscreen in future.

The infotainment system also has Bluetooth and digital radio and access to options for all the various safety devices, a lot of which come as part of the £1,900 Driver Support Pack which also includes the fabulous active cruise control.

The S60 is quite spacious with supremely comfortable seats and delivers a refined driving experience that's verging on sporty.  It's more a cruiser than a sports car but you can have fun throwing it around your favourite back roads albeit with some torque steer as it is front wheel drive.

As mentioned above it feels faster than the stats suggest. 347lb ft of torque is not insubstantial and you feel a proper surge of power when flooring the accelerator.  The suspension evens out most road surfaces and driver communication is on a par with Audi, if not at BMW levels.

In terms of practicalities there are cupholders, deep door pockets, a big space under the armrest and a full sized glovebox in the front.  The central armrest in the rear has integrated cupholders.  The rear legroom is reasonable and the 60/40 split seats fold flat so you can carry large items in the boot.

For a do-it-all saloon the S60 really does feel as good as the German competition, and outperforms them all in various regards, most notably in terms of sheer comfort and refinement. Whether you think a Volvo's cachet is as high as the German's, and can justify its price, is up to you but, for me, it is.

See also - Mercedes-Benz C250 BlueTEC AMG-Line Review

Stats:

Price - £35,395 (£42,260 as tested)
Engine - 2.4 litre, 5-cylinder, turbocharged diesel
Transmission - 6-speed manual
0-62mph - 7.4 seconds
Top Speed - 143mph
Power - 230bhp
Torque - 347lb ft / 470Nm
Economy - 62.8mpg
CO2 - 119g/km
Kerb weight - 1,658kg

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

Volvo S60 D5 R-Design Lux Nav

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design Revealed

If want a new Volvo XC90 and didn't manage to bag one of the 1,927 First Editions (which sold out in 48 hours) you'll have to make do with an XC90 R-Design, Inscription or Momentum

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

Here, for the first time, are photos of the Volvo XC90 R-Design. It sits at the top of the range alongside the Inscription.  R-Design is sporty and Inscription is luxurious - get it?  The base model is called Momentum and will cost around £45,000.  No prices have been released yet for the Inscription or R-Design.

To these eyes the XC90 looks better in blue than it did in any of the launch colours, the shape, the creases, the curves all look sharper and easier on the eye.

The XC90 production line will start in earnest in May 2015 and first deliveries will take place in July.

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design wheels

2015 Volvo XC90 R-Design wheels

By Matt Hubbard

Tweet