FIRST DRIVE: 2018 Volvo XC60 Malaysian review – RM299k-RM374k

The Volvo XC60 is perhaps one of the most important cars to Volvo and I saythat because the previous XC60 did tremendously well in many of its major marketsThis as you can tell is the second-generation XC60 and it looksnothing like the older model In fact, this baby is entirely new from the ground upThis very unit right here is the top-of-the-line T8 Twin Engine Inscription PlusIt’s fully imported from Sweden and is priced at RM373,888It rides on the new Scalable Product Architecture platform that’spurposely designed to accommodate a plug-in hybrid system but there’s also anon hybrid option like the T5 Momentum that we’ll be getting soonI’ve already done a full walk-around video of this car so if you want to watch that videoclick on the link in the description box below But for you first-timers I’llbriefly run things down once more On the outside the XC60 is basically a shrunkendown version of the XC90 Here in the T8 guise it gets this unique chrome grillewith the Iron Mark badge, 19-inch 10-spoke dual tone alloy wheels and dual exhaust pipesThe wheels can be upgraded to 21-inch items and we’re told that theprice of it together with the tyres starts from around RM15kThat’s not too bad right? Standard items include these full LEDheadlights with Thor’s Hammer LED daytime running lightsActually I keep calling it Thor’s Hammer but it doesn’t even look like it – it just looks like aweird T but it still looks good and very distinctly Volvo so call it whatever you want I guess?Keen observers will notice something different aboutthis car and that’s because it comes fitted with this exterior styling packFor RM8,288 you get this aluminiumfront and rear skid plates, silk metal side mirror caps as well as AMG style exhaust tipsThe real pipe is hidden somewhere behind so it’s still purely aestheticsTf you choose to go with this styling pack just keep in mind that afoot sensor for the tailgate release will be moved to the left side of the carjust under this sensor right hereNow I really like getting in and out of the car – it’s really convenientIt’s not too tall like the XC90, but just about nice enough for everybody to get in and out ofIt’s really convenient – Volvo says it’s because of this under wrap doordesign which makes the lower portion of the car here much thinner hence the convenienceIt’s great for older people too, except that the rear doorsdon’t open as wide as it should – shameIn here as you can probably already tell is quite swanky and veers towards the minimalistic side of thingsunlike the old car with the chock full of buttons, the dash here looks really nicevery neat and also very classy The only physical controls on the dashare for the media, front and rear defoggers and emergency signalEverything else is digitised into this 9-inch Sensus Connect touchscreen display includingthe dual-zone climate control With this you can access just about every featurethat comes with the car such as the active safety features, 360-degreeall-round view camera, head-up display adjustment and even the entire owners manualGood luck with that!The dashboard design as a whole probably won’t impressthose who prefer the German way of interior designing but I think thisapproach will age a little better Quality wise it’s right up there amongthe best in its class although I think new Audi Q5 which is not here yet by the waystill takes the cake for the best overall build qualityIf you know Volvo then things like this little Swedish flag on the edge of the seat is a givenbut here they’ve gone a step further by putting it into the chrome strip whichoutlines the metal mesh trim and if you find this combination a little bit toobland or not contrasty enough then I suggest you go with the open pore Driftwood trimIn other markets you get a choice of a two-tone interiorThe top part black and the bottom part white Personally I like that the most comparedto this all-black theme that we have here in this press unit simply because it’smore luxurious that way but at least Volvo is offering a maroon brown option for the seatsSpeaking of seats it’s unfortunate that we don’t get nappa leathersettling instead with this regular leather seatsIt’s not bad but it’s not impressive either, plus the grain on theleather makes it look rather cheap Comfort wise it’s supportive in all theright areas and there’s even an extendable thigh support for both seatsOver to the center this entire portion looks as though it’s beenlifted off the XC90 and only the Inscription trim comes with thiselectronic glass gear shifter The T5 Momentum will get the regular stick typeOh an interesting thing I learned is that this steering wheelis actually the R-Design steering wheel and there’s perforationon the sides and also explains why there’re paddle shifters as wellThe only thing missing is the R-Design badge down hereBut you know what I really really like about this car? It’s this 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound systemIt is literally hands-down the best sound system in its class and it’s onlyavailable if you choose the Inscription Plus trim – one way of telling if your carcomes with it is through this speaker this tweeter actually, from the top andthe yellow diaphragm in the speakers right hereI’m not kidding guys, this stuff is really the bomb and if you play lossless audio files through this USB portright here you’ll be able to hear every layer of a song and the instruments that make itJust get itBack here I’ve got the driver seat adjusted to my driving positionand as you can clearly tell there’s lots of legroom, good headroomand decent visibility out There’s only one air vent built into each side of theB-pillars right here and I don’t quite like how cheap it feelsAnd if you’re a restless guy like I am who fidgets a lot during a long-distance drive this narrowfoot well can be a little bit of a problem but otherwise I think it’s pretty livableThere’s no booster seats back here, just a couple of ISOFIX anchor mountsplus a nice little storage area for you to keep your phone underneathyour seats away from prying eyesFor practicality the XC60’s boot space is 505 litres large That’s only about 10 litres larger than the older modelbut still quite a bit smaller than the Mercedes-Benz GLC and upcoming BMW X3Ilike the fact that the seats can be electrically folded if you need more spaceto lug your stuff around and the models with the air suspension get theoption of manually raising or lowering the boot heightUnderneath the boot floor you will find a tyre repair kit and no, this car does not run on run flat tyresBefore we start talking about the driving experience let’s first talkabout the engine under the hood Primary propulsion comes from a 2. 0 litrefour-cylinder engine that’s turbocharged and supercharged to produce 320 hpand 400 Nm of torque That alone is more powerful thanmost of its rivals in the class so that really says something and on top of thatthere’s an electric motor mounted over the rear axle producing 87 hpand 240 Nm of torque Together the plug-in hybrid system makes about407 hp and 640 Nm of torque That’s a lot a lot of power on paperbut it doesn’t really feel like it because the very nature of this car issupposed to be as fuel efficient as possible instead of chasing down someMercedes-AMGs or some sports cars But the power is there as a really nice bonusThe cool thing is you know that the car is capable, you know that it cando 5. 3 seconds to the 100, but when you’re cocooned in this much luxury you justlose all the care in the world – you don’t want to speed so much in a car like thisbut it’s good to know that it can I spent about 4 days with the carand every night I leave it to charge around 7 to 8 hours to get a full chargejust to be safe – Volvo says depending on the charging output when you get 2 to 7hours but I just leave it overnight because that’s my routine and Volvo saysyou can get 45 km on a full charge Realistically though, I’m getting35 and the instrument meter here the battery gauge in fact is pretty accurateNow I believe the discrepancy has a lot to do with the car’s weight because thisthing weighs 2. 1-tonnes But if you ask me whether I feel theweight driving this car around, honestly I don’t because it’s really powerfulThe easiest way of telling whether your engine is alive or not is to turn your audio downand even then sometimes I find it difficult to tell because it’s justreally quiet and then is a mark of a well-made plug-in hybrid systemAfter spending so much time with the car I find that the 8-speed automatictransmission still has some way to go before it’s properly fluid in theway of gear shifts – I think the gearing ratio can be adjusted to make full useof the power band and it’s not quite BMW in a sense but it would be perfect if it isAnother thing I don’t quite like about the car is braking feel andhonestly I feel that it’s one of the car’s weakest links – it’s a realchallenge to modulate the brake pressure it’s either I brake too little or too muchit’s very difficult to get that sweet spot and it can be very annoyingwhen you’re in stop and go traffic And sometimes when you brake you get a lotof oscillating movements especially when you want to park your car and you feelthat there’s a little bit more space for you to drive upfrontYou know it’s funny how Honda can do such a wonderful job with the City and Jazz HybridSo Volvo I honestly think and feel that youshould do something about this – you should pay a little bit more attentionto the braking department But having said that it’s considerably better thanthe XC90 so there is some progress to give Volvo some creditIn terms of steering, there’s not much feedback at all from the road but it’s not unusualbecause it’s a Volvo after all and honestly it doesn’t bother me as muchthe turning radius is actually pretty decentdespite riding on 19-inch wheels so that bit got me a little bit surprisedas for ride quality this car is fairly comfortable – we have a hump coming up here andyeah damping is not too bad – it absorbs the bump really well and based onprevious experiences models with the air suspension will tend to be a little bitmore plushy compared to the dynamic chassis that will come with the CKD versionsThe downside to this is that like I said earlier you get a lot ofrocking motions so I guess it takes some getting used toThe body tends to roll a fair bit more at higher speeds compared to the Mercedes-Benz GLCbut not at the expense of traction so that’s not a cause for concernthe CKD versions will not get air suspension at all no matter which modelyou choose, not even the top trim so the ride will be stiffer but we really haveto drive that first just to be sure Last but certainly not least is the safety systemIt’s the whole deal and you get everything Volvo has to offer includingmy favorite Pilot Assist system – simply click on the button here on the leftside of the steering wheel and what it does is it basically drives on its ownat speeds of up to 130 km/h and it can even steer for you if you’ve got thelane keeping system on It’s quite literally the best thing ever and it’sgonna make all that long-distance driving a lot more pleasant, a lot moreconvenient and a whole lot less tiring Just think of Pilot Assist as a moreadvanced version of adaptive cruise control and you won’t be far offspeaking of which this car also gets adaptive cruise controlBy the way the Pilot Assist feature that’s available on the Mercedes-Benz S-Classand BMW 7 Series and granted its smoother on them bothbut they’re not really in this price range and category are they?The very fact that Volvo has decided to put Pilot Assist in a car like this and in a price range like thisis commendable and I don’t think any other SUVs out there has this featureNevermind SUVs not even carsTo top it all off, there’s other stuff like City Safety, pedestrians, cyclists and large animal detectionas well as blind spot monitoringSo at the end of the day the XC60 T8 Twin Engine packs a lot of powera lot of safety tech and a lot of style That’s a lot for you to consider and rightfully sobecause I think in my opinion the car is a lovely place to be in and if I hadto choose it would be this over the Mercedes-Benz GLCBut it’s also worth knowing that this car is 20% more expensive than the GLC 250 but this hasthe added advantage of a plug-in hybrid system, at least until the GLC 350e comes alongThe good news is the CKD versions will be rolled out in April and pricingfor that starts from RM298,888 for the T5 Momentumto RM343,888 for this version, minus the air suspensionFor that kind of money what car would you rather buy?That’s all for this round of review – thank you for watching, this has been Matthewand I will see you in the next one

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