|
So you bought one of those
delightful Volvo C30 coupes and love its design
and dynamic dexterity. But now you're married and
either pregnant or close to signing final adoption
papers. Or you're an empty nester but soon will be
helping with some grandchild care. Either way, you're
fretting about dealing with a child seat and all
the gear that comes with it. And, truth be told,
you'd really like all-wheel drive and the sure-footedness
it provides in inclement weather.
Fret no more. There's a place for you to go. Or,
perhaps more accurately, there's a place for you
to stay within the Volvo vehicle family, and without
having to opt for a large sedan or sport utility
or station wagon.
Not only does the new-for-2010 Volvo XC60 provide
a natural step from your C30, but it advances Volvo's
historic tradition of vehicle safety yet another
giant step by offering, and as standard equipment,
City
Safety
"The XC60 is the safest Volvo so far,"
declares Thomas Broberg, Volvo's senior advisor for
safety engineering.
Volvo, the company that gave us three-point safety
belts and so many other passenger-protecting technologies,
has declared a goal of no deaths or even serious
injuries suffered by Volvo occupants by the year
2020. The next step toward that goal is City Safety,
which attempts to prevent low-speed collisions, and
if it can't prevent them, it does everything it can
to lessen the impact.
Hopefully, Volvo dealers will take advantage of
just how easy it is - all that's needed is maybe
25-feet of parking lot and a few tall plastic pylons
-- to demonstrate City Safety as part of an XC60
test drive, because no matter what I write about
it or what you see in a video presentation, you won't
believe what it does until you're actually behind
the wheel and see how the car attempts to stop itself
before a collision.
Even if it didn't offer City Safety as standard
equipment, the XC60 would come with all of the state-of-the-art
safety systems. Anti-lock brakes, dynamic stability
and traction control, hill descent control, a rear
fog lamp, airbags (front, side and side-curtain),
anti-whiplash seats and pre-tensioning technology
for the seatbelts at all five seating positions are
standard equipment.
The options list includes blind-sport alert, adaptive
cruise control (that maintains a safe distance between
your vehicle and the vehicle ahead), driver alert
control (that warns the driver if the car drifts
out of its lane), distance alert (a warning that
your car is getting too close to the car ahead),
dual outboard two-stage child booster seats with
adaptive seatbelts, even a trailer stability system.
As a bonus, all of that equipment comes wrapped
in an attractive package, a nicely proportioned compact
crossover utility vehicle with surprisingly pleasing
dynamic capabilities.
Primary design was done at Volvo's southern California
design studio. The design builds on the language
the studio developed nearly 20 years ago for the
ECC concept car that broke Volvo out of its box.
With the XC60, Volvo redefines its DNA to mean "Dynamic
New Approach."
As chief designer Doug Frasher explains it, the
styling starts with Scandinavian design themes. But,
he adds, unlike an IKEA table or even a Bang and
Olufsen audio system, an automobile has to flow gracefully
through the air while providing comfort and safety
for those inside.
Speaking of things inside, the cargo area was designed
so those IKEA furniture cartons can be stacked on
the floor.
Noting that Sweden and its neighboring countries
often have cloudy skies, Frasher said the design
also was inspired by the way Danish artists became
famous for capturing light within their paintings.
For the XC60, Frasher shaped the vehicle's surface
to reflect light in ways he hopes will delight those
who see the new Volvo on the road or in their driveways.
Delighting those at the wheel of the XC60 is a drivetrain
that incorporates a turbocharged, 281-horsepower
3.0-liter inline six-cylinder, a six-speed Geartronic
automatic transmission and fourth-generation Haldex
all-wheel drive. The XC60 weighs in at 4174 pounds
and is rated to tow up to 3300 pounds.
Estimated fuel economy is 16-mpg city and 22 highway.
Volvo officials say both diesel and gas/electric
hybrid power trains are anticipated somewhere down
the road.
We did a very long day's test drive on some of northern
California's most scenic and least straight roads,
winding along the coast and up
through the hills and the XC60 was amazingly
responsive, combining power and dexterity that belies
its utility vehicle architecture. Not only did the
XC60 not feel like a crossover utility, it didn't
feel like a tall sedan, but more like a sporty coupe.
Indeed, the C30 was used as a performance target.
The 2010 Volvo XC60 should be in Volvo dealerships
in late March or early April. Base price is $37,200
and includes leather seats with power adjustment
for the driver's and front passenger's positions,
satellite radio (with a six-month subscription),
Bluetooth hands-free cell phone connectivity, a high-def
radio with USB and AUX ports for things such as iPods
and, as a special introductory offer, the optional
Panorama moonroof will be included in the base price.
Also standard are front fog lamps, heated mirrors,
cruise control, tilt and telescoping steering column,
dual-zone automatic climate control, flat-folding
and 40/20/40-split rear seat, illuminate vanity mirrors,
hidden and locking under-cargo floor storage. Also
standard is free factory-schedule maintenance.
Dynaudio Premium sound system, Navigation, rear-view
camera, heated seats, a power tailgate and Xenon
headlamps are available either as part of an option
package or as stand-alone options.
|