The Volvo V60 cements Volvo’s place among premium car makers – it’s a high quality, tech-packed, spacious and stylish estate that offers a different take to the established BMW 3 Series Touring, Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes C-Class rivals.
Where the others focus on driver appeal, the V60 offers a more comfort-orientated approach. It rides well, even on the 19-inch wheels of our test car, and is super-quiet with laminated side glass on top-spec Inscription models.
• New Volvo V60 D4 Inscription review
Inside, there’s the typical Swedish laid-back approach with comfortable seats, lots of space in the back and the boot and an easy-to-use 9-inch touchscreen that dominates the dash. The design is brighter than in German rivals, and although quality is impressive, it’s not quite up to the latest imperious Audi standards.
Volvo has made a name for itself with some of the best-looking interiors in the business and the V60 is no different. In fact, it’s very much the same as the other SPA-platform cars (XC90 and XC60, plus S90 and V90) dominated by the excellent 9-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash, with a few supporting buttons beneath. Only Tesla does it better.
Ahead of the driver sits a digital dashboard, with vertical air vents either side of the centre screen and a delightful ribbon of very Swedish veneer running the full width of the dash. Quality might not quite be up to the hewn-from-solid standards of the Audi A4, but we can’t believe anyone will be disappointed.
What you might be disappointed with is the number of headline grabbing tech items that are on the options list – Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for example.
The exterior takes the V90 theme and adds a little dynamism to it. So the front looks more athletic and the sides a little more swoopy and toned. The rear tailgate is more vertical than on the V90, too, helping towards those class best capacity figures.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
That nine-inch (well 9.3 to be precise) portrait touchscreen sets the class standard – not only for design, but ease of use too. Sat-nav comes as standard – just as well as you have to pay extra to be able to connect your Android or Apple smartphone to the car seemlessly.
The menu is intuitive and the screen responsive – and there are a few built-in apps for you to use, including music streaming service Spotify. To make the most of the music, we’d heartily recommend upgrading to the Bowers and Wilkins audio system – crafted by the British brand to produce one of the best in-car sound systems we’ve experienced.
Volvo has taken a different approach to rivals with the V60. Rather than go chasing the driving dynamics of the BMW 3 Series, the V60 takes a more relaxed approach. It’s quiet, comfortable and relaxed, riding over the Spanish roads of our test drive well, even on the optional 19-inch wheels of our top-spec test car.
The suspension isn’t as stiff as in some rivals’, which pays off in terms of ride comfort, but not so much when it comes to handling. It’ll stiffen slightly if you bother to delve into the various drive modes, but most people will (wisely) just leave it in the comfort setting.
The car corners safely and with confidence, but you don’t quite get the level of feel you get from the BMW or Audi through the steering wheel and suspension. For most people most of the time, though, they’ll enjoy the quiet calm of the Volvo, especially on the motorway where it’s an impressive cruiser.
It’s on the motorway where you’re most likely to use the Volvo’s excellent Pilot Assist autonomous features – the car will keep a set distance from the vehicle in front once you’ve set the speed you want to travel at (this is the same as other adaptive cruise control systems), but it will also keep you in lane and steer you around gentle corners. You have to keep your hands on the wheel at all times though, ready to take over if needs be – otherwise you’ll get beeped at by the safety systems. However, it really adds a degree of relaxation to longer journeys and the system works well.
Visibility is good, making the V60 easy to pilot around town, while the auto gearbox of our test car did a good job of blurring shifts. If you do want to shift yourself, a manual box is available, while R-Design models will get paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
Engines, 0-60 acceleration and top speed
Performance from the 188bhp D4 diesel is strong if not stunning – it’ll get from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds with decent mid-range performance, too. It’s a relatively quiet unit other than at idle, surpressing diesel clatter well and adding to the general peace and quiet in the cabin.
It’s a Volvo so it’s going to be safe, right? Absolutely. Nobody takes safety more seriously and the V60 has the very latest safety kit on board to try and avoid a crash, then protect you if the worst happens.
The car will help you avoid head-on crashes if you stray out of your lane, it will detect pedestrians and animals in your path and prevent you from pulling out in front of oncoming traffic if you need to turn right across lanes. Then there’s the usual round of driver aids and speed limit warnings, airbags and ISOFIX mounts.
When it comes to keeping customers happy, Volvo finished a respectable 13th in our 2018 Driver Power survey, coming some way above Audi, Mercedes and BMW.
Warranty
All Volvos come with a three-year/60,000 mile warranty, which is about average for this class.
The V60 sets a practicality benchmark in the compact executive class. It’s a bigger car than key rivals and it makes the most of those sizable dimensions inside. Boot and passenger space are better than you’ll find elsewhere.
Size
At 4,761mm long and 1,916mm wide, the V60 is longer and a touch wider than its rivals – and much larger than the model it replaces. It’s 180mm shorter than the V90, too. You also sit a bit lower in the V60 than the V90 – in keeping with Volvo saying this is its most dynamic car yet (although some way short of a BMW 3 Series on that score).
Leg room, head room & passenger space
Space in the cabin is good, with a six-foot passenger able to sit comfortably behind a six foot driver with an inch or so to spare. Foot space is a little tight if the front seat is in its lowest position, while the centre tunnel further restricts things, especially if someone is sat in the middle seat. Here, shoulder room is okay, but you’ll struggle to adopt a knees together pose due to that tunnel running down the middle of the car.
As with all Volvos, there’s plenty of storage space in between the front seats, in the glovebox and door bins.
Boot
The more upright boot door in the V60 pays dividends when it comes to luggage space – at 529-litres (rising to 1,441 litres with the rear seats folded flat – a process that couldn’t be easier) it’s the biggest in the class and that’s achieved while retaining a pretty sleek looking exterior.
The rear seats fold electrically in some models and fold completely flat with headrests automatically tucking out of the way. And in true Volvo fashion, plenty of details have been thought through – like the fold up shopping area with elasticated strap to stop your groceries flying around the boot. That’s especially handy as it’s a long way to lean in to get any eggs that have rolled to the farthest reaches of the load bay.
The D4 diesel V60s claim an economy figure of 67.2mpg – a figure that’s pretty much on par with similarly-powered engines in rivals. CO2 emissions of 122g/km are reasonable, too, although we’d expect better figures from the lower-powered D3 diesel models, not to mention the plug-in hybrids. What used to be called Drive-e technologies in Volvo such as stop-start technology are all now incorporated in all Volvo’s four-cylinder engines as standard.
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