4x4 review: Volvo XC60 R-Design puts safety first with style a close second

I’LL BE straight with you. I didn’t go off-road, I didn’t drive it up Schiehallion and the closest this Volvo XC60 R-Design got to adverse road conditions under my charge was when it encountered a discarded fish supper on Leith Walk. And I can report to you that it handled the situation marvellously.

But the majority of buyers of this so-called “compact” 4x4 are, like me, going to be more interested in the sexy styling, the comfortable seats, the decent fuel economy and the spine-liquefying sound system than the 230mm ground clearance, the 22 degree gradient approach angle and its ability to safely negotiate water up to 350mm deep.

This is a 4x4 for normal, well-off-but-not-obscenely-rich people. It’s too refined to be a mountain rescue vehicle, though it will handle pretty much anything the Scottish winter throws at us, and it’s too understated to be a pimp-mobile or Chelsea tractor, though the version we drove was bursting with goodies such as heated seats, that thunderous stereo and a Bluetooth pairing system that actually works.

Volvo’s age-old reputation for safety is practically a cliché. If Darwin is to be believed, in a few millennia, the only car drivers around will be genetically predetermined Volvo-buyers. And the company isn’t letting up in its quest to ensure that the only safer people on the roads are tank commanders.

I had neither the cojones nor the job security to test its City Safety crash prevention system, so we’ll just have to take Volvo’s word for it. The Swedes tell us that the car is fitted with a bunch of lasers that scan the road up to six metres ahead. If it detects an obstacle such as another vehicle and calculates that a crash is imminent and inevitable, the system applies the brakes to bring the car to a complete stop – as long as you’re doing less than 18mph. If you do more than that, you’ll crash, but the impact will be reduced, they tell us.

Another great Volvo innovation is the blind-spot information system, or BLIS. When something pops into your blind spot, an amber light by the wing mirror switches on. A little irritating at first, but in no time it becomes a reassuring assistant, especially on multi-lane motorways.

The R-Design boasts a firmer suspension and chassis than previous XC60s, while the steering is responsive and gives plenty of feedback – all of which makes what is a pretty chunky car feel a lot smaller and lighter than it actually is when being driven.

One gripe is the counter-intuitive handbrake switch (push to engage, pull to disengage – why let more than a century of car design get in the way?). It is neither conveniently located – you have to actually lean forward to use it – or befitting of a car this size; you just don’t want to be pushing such a weedy little switch when you’re parked on a slope facing the local nuclear research facility. And if Peugeot can come up with an automatic hill-start assist brake for a manual car, why can’t Volvo?

The version we drove – the manual six-speed 2.4-litre diesel D5 – comes in at a not-very-competitive £45,500, but you can cast off some of the unnecessary options such as the £1,500 “convenience pack”. This waste of money, materials and human endeavour makes things harder to see in your rear-view mirror at night, provides a net for your shopping, and switches your wipers on if it’s raining (even though you shouldn’t be on the roads if you can’t do that for yourself). They do try to lure you in with the awesome sound rig and excellent Bluetooth system but you can buy these separately.

Without any options, it’s a perfectly good £36,000 car with a much sharper financial edge against the likes of Land Rover and BMW equivalents, and, long-term, it should also be cheaper to service and maintain.

If you’re looking for a solid, stylish and refined 4x4 with a sporty attitude and you don’t want a Range Rover Evoque because soon everyone and their dog will be driving one, the Volvo XC60 R-Design is well worth a look.