MacGuffin
Forum Addict
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
- Messages
- 8,329
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- Wilhelmshaven, Germany
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- '17 Ford Mustang GT Fastback
Today I want to review my first Volvo. It's the brand new XC60 D5 with the 5-cylinder diesel engine that generates 185 HP and comes with a 6-speed automatic.
I have always wanted to try out one of them Volvos to see, if Volvo drivers know something I didn't know, when they chose their car over an Audi, a BMW, a VW or a Mercedes.
As far as I understand, Volvo consider themselves a premium brand. The XC60 is set to compete with other small premium SUV's, like the VW Tiguan, the Audi Q5, the Mercedes GLK or the BMW X3. Tough competition. So let's find out how premium this particular Volvo is.
First of all I want to point out that I really like the design of this car, even though it looks a bit odd from certain angles.
I also really like the ride comfort. It swallows practically everything bad roads have to offer without ever bothering the driver. Only very hard bumps get through.
Unfortunately that's where my positive impressions end. Because there are many things wrong with this car.
It all starts to go wrong, when you enter the car and try to adjust the seat. Height and distance to the pedals are quickly adjusted and so is the position of the steering wheel. But then you'll get stuck while trying to adjust the angle of the back rest. Let me illustrate the problem:
This is my sitting position. I'm 1,91 m tall and the seat has to be pushed back to the maximum in order to give me enough leg room. Now where is the wheel to adjust the angle of the back rest? Hmmmm...
Ah, there it is
No kidding: There is no room between the seat and the B pillar for squeezing your hand through (I tried it with some colleagues and even the girls couldn't get it adjusted, while sitting in the driver's seat). So in order to adjust the back rest, you have to step out of the car, open the rear door and turn the wheel. Then sit down in the front again and see, if it's good. If not, step out again and repeat the procedure. You get the picture.
Then there are the seats. They are, for lack of a better word, crap. Complete and utter crap. They look okay at first, if you just look at them:
But they seem to be made completely out of the same kind of foam, that was used for the mattresses of the bunks I slept in during my service in the German air force. They are way too soft, they're too short for supporting my thighs and they offer no side support whatsoever:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31p9ArYSfZA[/YOUTUBE]
Only the head rests are fine. So in corners you hold on to the steering wheel for your life, which is a problem, because the steering wheel doesn't have much grip either and the car hates corners. But let me get back to that later.
Also the armrest between the seats is mounted far too low to lean your ellbow on, so no support there, too. But don't worry: The seatbelts are so sensitive, that they lock you to the seat on almost every bumb in the road and in many corners
So you are forced to drive slowly and I don't like to be told by my car how I have to drive.
Next thing I noticed: It was impossible for me to find a really convenient sitting position, because the foot rest for the left foot is too narrow and when you lean your leg on the door, you have to tighten your mustles all the time, or your foot will rest at an awkward angle.
Too narrow foot rest, which is strange, because there is enough space.
Also the overdesigned interior takes its toll: They seem to have deliberately placed hard edges everywhere I could rest my knees against. The result is that you cannot really relax while driving, because you're constantly shifting your position. This is not a comfy car for long journeys -- at least for people of my height.
You bump your knee on the left thanks to the fancy interior door shapes...
... and you bump your knee on the right, no matter what you do, thanks to that "hovering" center console.
So what about the trim and the overall interior quality feeling? Well, that's ok actually, even if the plastic in the doors does look a bit cheap:
Nothing rattles or squeaks, though, and you feel like being inside a solid, protective environment.
However, the next thing I tripped over, was this:
This is a health and safety warning about not letting yourself getting distracted by the navigation system while driving. It pops up every time you start the car and it says you have to acknowledge with the "ENTER" button or use "BACK" to quit the system.
So far, so good, but where the heck are the "ENTER" and "BACK" buttons?
Tell you what? Let's make this a riddle. Here is a detailed shot of the interior, as seen from the driver's position. See if you can find where the "ENTER" and the "BACK" buttons for the sat nav system are (and no, the ones with the phone symbol are not the right ones). I put the solution behind a spoiler tag
The most funny part, however, is the guidance system itself. It's an act of comedy actually. The poor woman in there got confused at the very first Autobahn crossing. It went like this:
"In 500 meters, turn right to go left on the A29. Now right. Go left. Go right. Turn right to enter the... Turn left. Enter the A29. Now right. Go left."
And all that without a pause. Honestly, it was just one continous babble. She only calmed down, when I finally hit the new Autobahn.
The whole sat nav system and its controls must have been designed by a drugged designer of assembly manuals at IKEA.
And then there is the radio. There are strange distortions every now and then, as if for a fraction of a second it it is overlayed with another station.
The sat nav screen is already too small and then they split it in half to guide you. Why??? Also, why using an extra screen for the audio system?
Now about the engine: The 5-cylinder diesel actually sounds quite good (at least when you don't rev it too high). It has its own soundscape and I thought for while what the sound reminds me of, until I got it. It sounds like a motor boat, specifically like one of those inboard runabouts they like to use in movies like "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGr4ntnLwhM[/YOUTUBE]
However, the engine is not what I would call lively. There is a huge starting lag, before the car finally gets moving. Together with the sluggish automatic gearbox and its sometimes mysterious gear changes it effectively prevents any kind of sporty driving: As soon as you push down the pedal a bit more, the gearbox shifts down and revs like crazy in low gears. However, if you push your foot down quickly -- nothing happens for an agonizing second, until it shifts down.
The system seems to try to prevent you from using the torque of the engine. And when you lift your foot from the accelerator again, it takes about 3 seconds or so for the car to realize that the acceleration is over and that it now can switch into a higher gear again.
This technology is not up to date and cannot even slightly compete with the engine/gearbox combinations in the latest generations of Volvo's German rivals.
So what about suspension? Well, it is stiff enough to keep you steady and planted on the Autobahn even at 200 km/h (which is also the top speed of the car). Actually that is the only environment the XC 60 feels good in, because you mostly go in a straight line and are inside a car with good ride comfort and relatively low noises.
Curvy country roads, however, are not its domain. You have to constantly correct the steering in corners and if you try quick changes of direction, you get the impression that the rear end wants to break out. It doesn't feel safe. Not even in town, when you for example want to take a corner quickly, because the light just turned to yellow.
Maybe I am too harsh. Maybe I'm just disappointed because I really wanted to like this car -- I tried hard to like it for 4 days -- but it simply didn't live up to my expectations.
And sorry, Volvo, but this is not premium quality. This has too many flaws and in sum they add up to a not very pleasant overall experience. The very least would be to put decent seats in. Then at least the passengers would have a comfy, practical car with lots of boot space and a smooth ride. But the way it is now, I wouldn't want to have the XC60 as a car I have to live with every day.
Volvo has to do better than this -- a lot better -- in order to really compete with other premium brands.
Especially when you consider that this particular car is only 2 months old and has already completely lost its "new car smell", replaced by a distinct odor of cold cigarette smoke (!)
P.S.:
Some "biggies" I took and didn't want to go into the waste basket:
The instruments look like in a Mercedes -- only cheaper.
Steering wheel is too slick and doesn't have enough grip.
I have always wanted to try out one of them Volvos to see, if Volvo drivers know something I didn't know, when they chose their car over an Audi, a BMW, a VW or a Mercedes.
As far as I understand, Volvo consider themselves a premium brand. The XC60 is set to compete with other small premium SUV's, like the VW Tiguan, the Audi Q5, the Mercedes GLK or the BMW X3. Tough competition. So let's find out how premium this particular Volvo is.
First of all I want to point out that I really like the design of this car, even though it looks a bit odd from certain angles.
I also really like the ride comfort. It swallows practically everything bad roads have to offer without ever bothering the driver. Only very hard bumps get through.
Unfortunately that's where my positive impressions end. Because there are many things wrong with this car.
It all starts to go wrong, when you enter the car and try to adjust the seat. Height and distance to the pedals are quickly adjusted and so is the position of the steering wheel. But then you'll get stuck while trying to adjust the angle of the back rest. Let me illustrate the problem:
This is my sitting position. I'm 1,91 m tall and the seat has to be pushed back to the maximum in order to give me enough leg room. Now where is the wheel to adjust the angle of the back rest? Hmmmm...
Ah, there it is
No kidding: There is no room between the seat and the B pillar for squeezing your hand through (I tried it with some colleagues and even the girls couldn't get it adjusted, while sitting in the driver's seat). So in order to adjust the back rest, you have to step out of the car, open the rear door and turn the wheel. Then sit down in the front again and see, if it's good. If not, step out again and repeat the procedure. You get the picture.Then there are the seats. They are, for lack of a better word, crap. Complete and utter crap. They look okay at first, if you just look at them:
But they seem to be made completely out of the same kind of foam, that was used for the mattresses of the bunks I slept in during my service in the German air force. They are way too soft, they're too short for supporting my thighs and they offer no side support whatsoever:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31p9ArYSfZA[/YOUTUBE]
Only the head rests are fine. So in corners you hold on to the steering wheel for your life, which is a problem, because the steering wheel doesn't have much grip either and the car hates corners. But let me get back to that later.
Also the armrest between the seats is mounted far too low to lean your ellbow on, so no support there, too. But don't worry: The seatbelts are so sensitive, that they lock you to the seat on almost every bumb in the road and in many corners
So you are forced to drive slowly and I don't like to be told by my car how I have to drive.
Next thing I noticed: It was impossible for me to find a really convenient sitting position, because the foot rest for the left foot is too narrow and when you lean your leg on the door, you have to tighten your mustles all the time, or your foot will rest at an awkward angle.
Too narrow foot rest, which is strange, because there is enough space.
Also the overdesigned interior takes its toll: They seem to have deliberately placed hard edges everywhere I could rest my knees against. The result is that you cannot really relax while driving, because you're constantly shifting your position. This is not a comfy car for long journeys -- at least for people of my height.
You bump your knee on the left thanks to the fancy interior door shapes...
... and you bump your knee on the right, no matter what you do, thanks to that "hovering" center console.
So what about the trim and the overall interior quality feeling? Well, that's ok actually, even if the plastic in the doors does look a bit cheap:
Nothing rattles or squeaks, though, and you feel like being inside a solid, protective environment.
However, the next thing I tripped over, was this:
This is a health and safety warning about not letting yourself getting distracted by the navigation system while driving. It pops up every time you start the car and it says you have to acknowledge with the "ENTER" button or use "BACK" to quit the system.
So far, so good, but where the heck are the "ENTER" and "BACK" buttons?
Tell you what? Let's make this a riddle. Here is a detailed shot of the interior, as seen from the driver's position. See if you can find where the "ENTER" and the "BACK" buttons for the sat nav system are (and no, the ones with the phone symbol are not the right ones). I put the solution behind a spoiler tag
No success? Don't worry, I had to search for about 10 minutes in the user's manual to finally find them. They're here:
No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The buttons are mounted on the back of the steering wheel, where you can't see but just feel them with your stretched fingers.
No one in his right mind would ever look for them there, because there is an unwritten law of car operation, that you have to be able to see the buttons you push. They even added a miniature joystick back there, which you have to use to navigate through the sat nav system. Oh, how I suddenly love the BMW iDrive...
I can see why they did that, though. They probably thought: "Let's make it different and put the sat nav controls at a spot, where the driver can keep both hands on the wheel while using them".
Good thought but not completely thought through, because it simply doesn't work: Fiddling around with buttons you don't have in your field of view, is a lot more distracting than having to use buttons on the center console.
I tried to use the sat nav while being on the Autobahn and it's almost suicidal. It is amazingly distracting, so I gave it up after almost running into another car a couple of times. It also doesn't help, that the monitor is way too small.
Considerung all this, that annoying "safety warning", wich greets you at every engine start, is a prime example of real life satire
No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The buttons are mounted on the back of the steering wheel, where you can't see but just feel them with your stretched fingers.
No one in his right mind would ever look for them there, because there is an unwritten law of car operation, that you have to be able to see the buttons you push. They even added a miniature joystick back there, which you have to use to navigate through the sat nav system. Oh, how I suddenly love the BMW iDrive...
I can see why they did that, though. They probably thought: "Let's make it different and put the sat nav controls at a spot, where the driver can keep both hands on the wheel while using them".
Good thought but not completely thought through, because it simply doesn't work: Fiddling around with buttons you don't have in your field of view, is a lot more distracting than having to use buttons on the center console.
I tried to use the sat nav while being on the Autobahn and it's almost suicidal. It is amazingly distracting, so I gave it up after almost running into another car a couple of times. It also doesn't help, that the monitor is way too small.
Considerung all this, that annoying "safety warning", wich greets you at every engine start, is a prime example of real life satire
"In 500 meters, turn right to go left on the A29. Now right. Go left. Go right. Turn right to enter the... Turn left. Enter the A29. Now right. Go left."
And all that without a pause. Honestly, it was just one continous babble. She only calmed down, when I finally hit the new Autobahn.
The whole sat nav system and its controls must have been designed by a drugged designer of assembly manuals at IKEA.
And then there is the radio. There are strange distortions every now and then, as if for a fraction of a second it it is overlayed with another station.
The sat nav screen is already too small and then they split it in half to guide you. Why??? Also, why using an extra screen for the audio system?
Now about the engine: The 5-cylinder diesel actually sounds quite good (at least when you don't rev it too high). It has its own soundscape and I thought for while what the sound reminds me of, until I got it. It sounds like a motor boat, specifically like one of those inboard runabouts they like to use in movies like "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGr4ntnLwhM[/YOUTUBE]
However, the engine is not what I would call lively. There is a huge starting lag, before the car finally gets moving. Together with the sluggish automatic gearbox and its sometimes mysterious gear changes it effectively prevents any kind of sporty driving: As soon as you push down the pedal a bit more, the gearbox shifts down and revs like crazy in low gears. However, if you push your foot down quickly -- nothing happens for an agonizing second, until it shifts down.
The system seems to try to prevent you from using the torque of the engine. And when you lift your foot from the accelerator again, it takes about 3 seconds or so for the car to realize that the acceleration is over and that it now can switch into a higher gear again.
This technology is not up to date and cannot even slightly compete with the engine/gearbox combinations in the latest generations of Volvo's German rivals.
So what about suspension? Well, it is stiff enough to keep you steady and planted on the Autobahn even at 200 km/h (which is also the top speed of the car). Actually that is the only environment the XC 60 feels good in, because you mostly go in a straight line and are inside a car with good ride comfort and relatively low noises.
Curvy country roads, however, are not its domain. You have to constantly correct the steering in corners and if you try quick changes of direction, you get the impression that the rear end wants to break out. It doesn't feel safe. Not even in town, when you for example want to take a corner quickly, because the light just turned to yellow.
Maybe I am too harsh. Maybe I'm just disappointed because I really wanted to like this car -- I tried hard to like it for 4 days -- but it simply didn't live up to my expectations.
And sorry, Volvo, but this is not premium quality. This has too many flaws and in sum they add up to a not very pleasant overall experience. The very least would be to put decent seats in. Then at least the passengers would have a comfy, practical car with lots of boot space and a smooth ride. But the way it is now, I wouldn't want to have the XC60 as a car I have to live with every day.
Volvo has to do better than this -- a lot better -- in order to really compete with other premium brands.
Especially when you consider that this particular car is only 2 months old and has already completely lost its "new car smell", replaced by a distinct odor of cold cigarette smoke (!)
P.S.:
Some "biggies" I took and didn't want to go into the waste basket:
The instruments look like in a Mercedes -- only cheaper.
Steering wheel is too slick and doesn't have enough grip.
Last edited:
