Autos Craze – Autos Blog

2010 Volvo XC60

Thinking of buying the 2010 Volvo XC60? Don’t make the purchase before knowing all the facts. This review will tell you all that you need to know.

Photo by jacksnell

First up, Volvo has always made major emphasis on safety features. That is why in practically every Volvo car; you will find features like safety cages, three-point seatbelts, and even child door locks. In the 2010 Volvo XC60, much has not changed in respect to safety. Volvo has taken major advantage of electronics to give you high-tech safety solutions – there is distance alert system, and also City Safety – which means that the brakes are automatically put on if a low-speed collision seems likely.

The XC60 is one of Volvo’s new models – there is lots of cargo room, and the car can seat up to five people. You’re sure to love the rounded edges and the sporty style – these make you think the car is a crossover, with no SUV DNA apparent. The luxury elements in the interior of the car are apparent, which make it well worth its price.

The car has a panoramic sunroof – which gives you a rather airy feeling in the cabin. There is also a floating console, which is inlaid with blond wood – that is actually a recent Volvo signature piece. Everyone will be struck by the attention to detail and design, check out the climate controls – these have fan buttons in the silhouette of a seated person. But you will definitely be surprised by the navigation system – the interface is a little bizarre. Volvo has a problem with integrating an optional navigation system with the rest of the car’s electronics – thus they have decided not to integrate it at all.

Instead, you get guidance and maps with the help of a colorful LCD, and the monochrome display on the top of the dashboard shows you the information on audio and phone. The map also shows you traffic flow and incident information. If you dig around in the navigation systems, you could find an option to automatically avoid traffic problems – but that’s only under route guidance. That is why it would perhaps be a good idea to make use of the navigation system just for unfamiliar destinations. When you go for route guidance, you see reasonably good graphics for upcoming turns, but the street names are not read out.

The XC60 has a turbocharged 3-liter inline direct injection six-cylinder engine, turning all four wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission engine. However, the driving experience of the 2010 XC60 is a bit boring. Put your foot down on the gas, and the car goes – that’s all there is to it. But considering the car is, after all a family wagon, perhaps it’s a good thing.

But you would be impressed by the fact that there is no turbo lag – however the automatic transmission can take a little bit of time to downshift, when fast speed is needed. The car has 281 horsepower and 295-pound-feet of torque – so it’s highly unlikely that you would want more push on the XC60. There is a manual mode on the transmission, but with automatic, you’d find the right gears quite easily.

The car is great to drive on city streets, because the maneuvers are pretty darn easy. There is a fantastic blind spot warning system available – which turns on a warning light if another car happens to be in the XC60’s blind spot on either side.  This is really beneficial when it comes to city and freeway traffic. City Safety, as mentioned before, is the signature feature of the XC60.

Photo by Mark Dalzell

The Technology package brings in driver aid features and makes them more useful for when you’re driving on faster roads.

There is a lane departure warning system – which works pretty well on this car. If you let the car drift over a lane line, or change lanes without signaling appropriately, the system warns you with a continuous beeping sound. You should definitely try out the adaptive cruise control – which is another feature of the Technology package. This feature uses forward-facing radar to detect vehicles in the lane ahead, and then reduces the speed of the XC60 to match the other vehicles’ speed.