What is it?
This is the car you picture when you close your eyes and think of Volvo. Or at least it used to be, before the company reinvented itself as one renowned for premium SUVs.
The new V60 is the brand’s attempt to reconnect with that core audience, combining the practicality of an estate with the effortless Scandi elegance established by the Volvo XC60 and Volvo XC90, with which it shares a platform.
It largely succeeds on that first point: this is the most spacious car in its class, with 529/1441 litres of boot space putting it ahead of both the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate and BMW 3 Series Touring.
As for whether it’s as striking as its high-riding rangemates, that’s more subjective. But we certainly think those sculpted lines and raked edges looks the part. We said as much when the V60 received a full Autocar road test earlier this year.
That car was in entry-level Momentum trim and equipped with an automatic gearbox. Here, we're trying out a more luxuriously equipped Inscription model. Our test car has the same transverse, front-mounted 187bhp four-cylinder diesel engine driving the front wheels, but through a six-speed manual gearbox instead of an automatic.
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way to much
no need for more comments
Way too pricey
Even assuming that price is with a lot of options, with discounts a 330d M Sport Touring Auto can be had for under £33k, a 320d for under £30k. Whilst the 3 series is getting on a bit, that's a big price difference to justify.
Will86 wrote:
Any car is cheaper with discounts, thats what discount means - cheaper.
What exactly does this do better than a Skoda Octavia Estate?
Its nice enough, but its not that capacious, not particularly quick and is it really THAT much nicer a place to spend time.
Can anyone explain why anyone should buy this rather than an Octavia, pocket the change and go on several nice holidays?
£45k is an awful lot of money and doesnt appear to buy you anything that special these days...