Well, its a week since the new V60 arrived so I thought I would post about my initial thoughts.
Its in R-design spec so is lower and has bigger alloys - has a nice presence about it, and in passion red has had some admiring comments.
In replacement for the C5 it appears to have a similar footprint, but feels much smaller inside - the cabin is nice and snug and you feel secure, but having picked up a small kids bike this afternoon I hadn't expected to have to fold the back seats down. I understand why this model is not popular with the traditional Volvo brigade.
Build quality is good, but I am not sure its really far ahead of the C5, although I like the fact that the aluminium trim in the cabin is real aluminum and not painted plastic.
Seats are very good - not driven for more than about 45 mins in one go yet, but they feel like seats that wont give any back pain - lots of adjustment and very supportive.
The stiffer suspension and 18" alloys give a ride on the firm side of firm. Big contrast compared to the C5, and slightly annoying TBH - may get used to it, but if not, hey, its only an 18 month lease.
Its the DRIVEe eco model, so the big alloys and stuff make it a bit of a sheep in wolfs clothing - over the first 250 miles the trip is showing 50MPG against a book figure of 62. The C5 was getting around 52 against a book figure of 52, so I'm hoping that when it loosens up a little the numbers will improve. The stop/start is good and works well, although did surprise me when it started yesterday under its own steam for no reason
Gearbox is nice and slick with short shifts, steering is tight and responsive, and overall refinement is good. Nice and quiet at motorway speeds - on a par with the C5
Overall pleased with it, but has made me realize how good and underrated the C5 was
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Which engine is it in D terms ? "Our" V50/D4 177 bhp in fuel economy terms is returning around 45 mpg - which isn't bad.
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>> Which engine is it in D terms ? "Our" V50/D4 177 bhp in fuel economy
>> terms is returning around 45 mpg - which isn't bad.
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I don't think that Volvo give it a D derivative like the rest of the range. Its a 1.6 / 115 bhp - as you say, the more powerful models appear to be only a few mpg behind
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There is a tax saving though ?
I found the Volvo a convincing enough motor to have considered one as my 2014 car, that was before I bought this 3 Series though !
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 4 May 12 at 21:16
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I think the real world figures for most cars are quite a bit less than the official ones - unless you accelerate very slowly, never use air-con etc.
I wonder what your true brim to brim figures will be? I can easily get 46mpg in my 170PS Passat and I tend to be heavy right footed. I know I have also got a lot better on some journeys (50+mpg). And around town for short journeys when the engine is cold it can be lowish 30s mpg.
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How are you finding the pedals and footwell space, Mikey? It's one thing I really appreciate about my - sorry, our - old manual S60, that there's plenty of space for size 13s and somewhere to put either foot when it's not on pedal duty. The current V70 is less satisfactory as a manual having lost some of that, and I didn't really get on with the pedals in the new S60 I tried last year.
Have no fear about the seats. You will find you don't think of them as 'soft' or 'firm' - they're just 'right'. I can forgive a car a lot when it looks after me like that.
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>>The stop/start is good and works well, although did surprise me when it started yesterday under its own steam for no reason
Don't they do that if the heater/aircon detects more/less heat's required, or if the battery falls below a certain criteria?
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Number of criteria are measured in the BMW set-up, including battery level/loading air-con and external ambient temperature..
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Don't think Volvo estates have been cavernous since the demise of the 960. The V40 wasn't huge, and the V50 downright small in the boot area.
Be curious to learn in the weeks ahead if you find the 1.6D underpowered, or in fact sufficient for day-to-day use.
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WillDeBeest - foot space appears fine so far for my size 11's, however there is no rest for the left foot which may become annoying on longer routes
The stop / start has a long list of criteria in the handbook - thinking back, the air con may have been on so that's probably the trigger.
So far the 1.6 feels adequate, but the C5 before it was also 1.6, so its like for like, although on paper the volvo claims to be a fair bit quicker. I think that the volvo unit may in fact be a PSA one (anyone confirm this?), so they could be almost identical
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>>>stiffer suspension and 18" alloys give a ride on the firm side of firm. Big contrast compared to the C5, and slightly annoying TBH...
I'm constantly amazed how many folks I speak to who comment their car's good/excellent/fine.... but the ride's a bit hard. Great credit to Citroen in resisting that trend and making the C5 comfortable... for me that needs to be a given for a larger car.
Did you get the Volvo when it was a bargain Ling deal mikey? What colour did you have... oh see it's passion red... is that a metallic?
I've been casting around and thought I might look at the Hyundai i40 Tourer which is also a Ling bargain at the moment.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sat 5 May 12 at 10:32
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I knew that it was going to be firmer, just made me appreciate how good the C5 ride was. Mrs B hasn't really commented either, but I think that she preferred the C5.
Yes, I ordered the Volvo when it was a Lings special - its about £70 a month more now.
Its non metallic - because the lease is only 18 months the extra cost for metallic was about £25 a month, so not worth it IMO.
On the paperwork it appears that the Volvo is being subsidized by Volvo - there is a credit from them each month against the rental.
I like the i40 and would have considered one, but they appear to be on 4 year leases for the best deals - bit long for me.
The return of the C5 was fairly painless - Citroen used Manheim to perform the collection and inspection. The guy took about half hour and gave a printed form of his findings - 3 items classed as damage.
8" scratch along front corner of the bumper caused by a bramble bush I clipped in a narrow lane, kerbed front alloy by Mrs B, and a dink (and paint damage) to the rear wheel arch where one of the little darlings opened Mrs B's car door into it.
Told me the cost to rectify with smart repairs was £140 (this was shown on the printout he left), but that as the car was going straight to auction and the value was low it was quite likely I would hear nothing further. He told me they were unlikely to have the work done as it was small, and would probably not make the car worth more in an auction
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I rented one of these the other day so I could measure and make a dog box for it. There's not much room for a dog box, as it's a very low roof and a funny shape hole.
It said on the back 'D3', so don't know what that means (3 cylinder diesel) but went ok. The steering was strangely dead in the ahead position, but then reacted quite quickly when moved a little - all a bit artificial. Both the clutch and the gearstick felt all rubbery. The magic floating console thing also creaked over smooth swedish roads.
Overall it seemed ok, but I certainly wouldn't spend £26K ish of my own money on one.
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Dave,
It's the 155 bhp version of the five cylinder 2.0 engine
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 5 May 12 at 15:43
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Dave - do you know which spec it was? I ask as mine is the R Design spec which has a different power steering set up.
Agree about the height in the boot - I put the back seats down yesterday and hadn't realized how tight it was back there. Apparently volvo are marketing it more as a tourer, and say if you need space then get a V70
The interior on mine feels pretty tight and I will be surprised if it develops any rattles or creeks, but I am also not sure that I would part with £26K for it, however on a lease at £249 a month there is not much else to touch it
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Very pretty car the V60. Actually, there are a few estates around at the moment which are more than easy on the eye. A neighbour has just recently bought a Hyundai 140 estate ( is that right, or is it "eye"40 ? ) Anyway, that looks good too. Earlier today we parked next to a new Focus estate and even that was a pleasing design. The previous model Foci were not nearly as comely. The Volvo is particularly nice though.
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I agree that there is quite a lot of 'comeliness' in modern estates, but in some cases the comeliness restricts rear vision by having upswept (or sometimes downswept) metal where ideally there would be glass; or it restricts load space. Both in the case of the V60, although as Mikey points out Volvo might reasonably point you in the direction of the V70 as an alternative.
Can an estate be comely and practical? Purely subjectively, I'd say Mercedes estates like yours, Humph, manage it pretty well, as does the Skoda Superb.
(It's the i40, by the way, rather than 140. Sounds a bit like an East End Austin.)
Last edited by: Avant on Sun 6 May 12 at 17:51
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...Volvo might reasonably point you in the direction of the V70 as an alternative.
They might well, but you might be disappointed when you got there. I wasn't as disheartened as I should have been when Mrs Beest vetoed the V70 on the grounds of its vague steering and poor autobox, and that was because it's short of space in the rear seat, as well as less capacious behind it than its dimensions, and its maker's reputation, had led me to expect. Curiously, even magazine reviewers still praise the V70 for its space; I can only suppose they've not tried to fit tall people or serious cargo in one, because it's comprehensively outscored by the competition from Skoda, Mercedes and Audi.
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I have never thought that estate cars are up to much in aesthetic terms, preferring the more subtle lines of some of the larger hatchback models. There are the odd exceptions, of course, and one that comes to mind is the most recent Mondeo estate, which is more appealing to the eye than the equivalent saloon or hatchback.
I used to have a friend who was a merchandiser for Mars. He loved his Cortina estate - bags of space for POS material and suchlike.
:)
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Nicole was a merchandiser for Cadbury for a while, you have no idea of the quantity of creme eggs that will fit in a Clio Boot....
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Point taken, WdB - Volvo estates aren't as versatile as their public image might suggest.
It must have been about 30 years ago that some of us who sang in the Bach Choir volunteered to take some timpani, or kettledrums, into Wormwood Scrubs prison for a concert (captive audience....). The biggest went into my Renault 20, one into a Maxi, but none would fit into a Volvo 240 estate, as the tailgate opening was vertical and too narrow. A lady with a brand new Renault 5 offered to try, and the last drum fitted comfortably into it (and would have gone into Nicole's Clio). Renault 5s often inspired affection in their owners, not least on that occasion.
I often thought about a Volvo, but had six more Renaults after that 20 - this was before the quality slump in the early 2000s.
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Friend of mine had an unusual thing in so far as it was a sort of posh Renault 5. I think I remember it being called a "Monaco" model and it having a 1.7 litre engine. He bought it new and kept it a very long time. Mind you, it was brown so I don't suppose he could have sold it very easily even if he'd wanted to.
A small thing I remember about it was that in order to afford the repayments on it, he had to give up smoking. However, he couldn't quite deal with the thought of not having some cigarettes available in case he had an emergency lapse of willpower. Resultantly, he bought and kept an unopened packet of Benson and Hedges and a lighter in its glovebox for all the years he had it. He never did smoke again but held the superstition that if he ever threw his "security" packet out he'd start again.
He used to get a family sized tent and camping gear in the back of that car. Not sure where the people sat when he did though.
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Volvo - New Volvo 1 week in - R.P.
