When picking up the Volvo XC40, it was rumoured that the weather was going to take a turn for the worse – hard to believe with the blue paint shining in the sunshine on the day I collected it.
The Volvo is a striking little car with its chunky design and nearly toy-like appearance. Big wheels and lots of trendy design features including a very cool little rubber Swedish flag on the front wing, just to remind the owner of the car’s heritage.
The driving position is very comfortable in the Volvo, and the quirky design makes it an intertesting place to sit.
Once in the Volvo, the coolness continues, with the chunky design and lovely touches of iron ore aluminium inlays all over the dash and steering wheel. The powered contour sports seats are comfortable and seemed to be infinitely adjustable to fit to the driver’s shape and driving position preference. 
There were some storage solutions that a certain other Swedish organisation would have been proud of, with a sliding storage area under the driver’s seat and completely concealed storage in the rear seating area. These, along with the standard storage, mean there is the ability to hide all of the clutter that can gather in a modern family car.
On the technology front, there is all you could need and more, with the near standard mobile phone mirroring options as well as wireless charging for supported devices.
The test car was also fitted with the winter pack, which includes a heated steering wheel, heated washer nozzles and heated front windscreen. These were very useful for the week in question, especially the heat nozzles which meant that when driving on slushy main roads I had the ability to clear the windscreen.
It also has all the driver aids possible on it, with adaptive cruise control, blind spot information system with steer assist, cross traffic alert and rear collision mitigation. So it seems that no matter what angle someone is going to hit you from, you will be given early warning and can hopefully avoid the impact.
The chunky styling of the baby Volvo is striking.
On the road
The test car came with a two-litre diesel engine that delivers 190bhp, and Volvo’s eight-speed automatic gearbox. The engine is very smooth and links beautifully with the gearbox to ensure smooth forward progress.
This was all well and good until the weather took a turn for the worse. With the forecast predicting extreme snow conditions, the only thing to do was to go on a long drive and see how the Volvo coped.
Leaving just as the snow was starting to fall, it was hard to have confidence in the small SUV, but the fact that it was designed and built in Sweden meant that I took a chance.
As I got further down the road, conditions worsened and once the road had become completely snow-covered, a twist of the ground condition knob to the snow position proved to make the little Volvo very sure-footed on the white stuff.
The XC40 is stunning-looking car in this blue colour.On occasion, disengaging the snow setting really showed how smart the system is as the car became a real challenge to keep out of the hedges in normal mode. It had an amazing ability to make driving on snow seem no more challenging than driving on a dry road. The only issue that I came across was when there were deep tracks and the Volvo started to drag its belly on the ground and thus lift the wheels off the ground.
No amount of technology can make a car move if the wheels are no longer in contact with the surface.
Once the snow cleared, the XC40 proved to be a great all-rounder with the ability to effortlessly eat up motorway miles and to get cross country with no drama.
The XC40 has been given many design and overall car awards over the last six months since its launch and, having spent a week driving it, I can see why. It was subjected to the most complete test that any car could undergo, with everything from sheet ice to beautiful sunshine.
In every possible condition, the little stylish Volvo proved to be very capable. This, along with its impressive styling and even more impressive interior with its cool design and Swedish storage solutions, make this one of, if not the best, car in this premium mini-SUV market.
Read more
AirCross is a case of style over substance
When picking up the Volvo XC40, it was rumoured that the weather was going to take a turn for the worse – hard to believe with the blue paint shining in the sunshine on the day I collected it.
The Volvo is a striking little car with its chunky design and nearly toy-like appearance. Big wheels and lots of trendy design features including a very cool little rubber Swedish flag on the front wing, just to remind the owner of the car’s heritage.
The driving position is very comfortable in the Volvo, and the quirky design makes it an intertesting place to sit.Once in the Volvo, the coolness continues, with the chunky design and lovely touches of iron ore aluminium inlays all over the dash and steering wheel. The powered contour sports seats are comfortable and seemed to be infinitely adjustable to fit to the driver’s shape and driving position preference.
There were some storage solutions that a certain other Swedish organisation would have been proud of, with a sliding storage area under the driver’s seat and completely concealed storage in the rear seating area. These, along with the standard storage, mean there is the ability to hide all of the clutter that can gather in a modern family car.
On the technology front, there is all you could need and more, with the near standard mobile phone mirroring options as well as wireless charging for supported devices.
The test car was also fitted with the winter pack, which includes a heated steering wheel, heated washer nozzles and heated front windscreen. These were very useful for the week in question, especially the heat nozzles which meant that when driving on slushy main roads I had the ability to clear the windscreen.
It also has all the driver aids possible on it, with adaptive cruise control, blind spot information system with steer assist, cross traffic alert and rear collision mitigation. So it seems that no matter what angle someone is going to hit you from, you will be given early warning and can hopefully avoid the impact.
The chunky styling of the baby Volvo is striking.On the road
The test car came with a two-litre diesel engine that delivers 190bhp, and Volvo’s eight-speed automatic gearbox. The engine is very smooth and links beautifully with the gearbox to ensure smooth forward progress.
This was all well and good until the weather took a turn for the worse. With the forecast predicting extreme snow conditions, the only thing to do was to go on a long drive and see how the Volvo coped.
Leaving just as the snow was starting to fall, it was hard to have confidence in the small SUV, but the fact that it was designed and built in Sweden meant that I took a chance.
As I got further down the road, conditions worsened and once the road had become completely snow-covered, a twist of the ground condition knob to the snow position proved to make the little Volvo very sure-footed on the white stuff.
The XC40 is stunning-looking car in this blue colour.On occasion, disengaging the snow setting really showed how smart the system is as the car became a real challenge to keep out of the hedges in normal mode. It had an amazing ability to make driving on snow seem no more challenging than driving on a dry road. The only issue that I came across was when there were deep tracks and the Volvo started to drag its belly on the ground and thus lift the wheels off the ground.
No amount of technology can make a car move if the wheels are no longer in contact with the surface.
Once the snow cleared, the XC40 proved to be a great all-rounder with the ability to effortlessly eat up motorway miles and to get cross country with no drama.
The XC40 has been given many design and overall car awards over the last six months since its launch and, having spent a week driving it, I can see why. It was subjected to the most complete test that any car could undergo, with everything from sheet ice to beautiful sunshine.
In every possible condition, the little stylish Volvo proved to be very capable. This, along with its impressive styling and even more impressive interior with its cool design and Swedish storage solutions, make this one of, if not the best, car in this premium mini-SUV market.
Read more
AirCross is a case of style over substance
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