Safe, stylish and smart
Written by Neil Pagulayan
Volvos have a reputation of being the safest brand on the road, with many innovations that are now part of many other brands standard safety features. Sometimes though, that safe brand image also affects perceptions about its design.
In the past, Volvo’s designs were also some of the most conservative, inextricably tied into the structural safety aspects of the vehicle. Yet with Sweden now being known for its design, Volvo can’t be called boxy or boring anymore.
Enter the new generation of Volvo, as embodied by the new XC40 built on the new generation compact modular architecture (CMA) platform.
R-Design extras
The first thing you’ll notice is that the XC40 has more curves, far from traditional straight lines on past Volvos. The R-Design is the sporty XC40 variant with a gloss black color accent.
Up front, you’ll notice the prominent headlights with hammer-shaped daytime running lights. These flank the aggressive glossy black R-Design grille. It includes a solid black roof with glossy black integrated roof rails, power retractable glossy black side mirrors, front and rear glossy black skid plates. It rolls on 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 235/50 tires. Around back, you’ll see the dual integrated tailpipes.
It lights up as you unlock it, with illuminated door handles with ground lighting and welcome/approach lights.
Powerplant
Under the hood is a Euro-6 compliant, four-cylinder turbocharged 2.0L gasoline Drive-E Engine. It puts out 247-Hp at 5,500 rpm and 350-Nm of torque at 1,800 rpm. This is mated to an eight-speed Geartronic Automatic Transmission which puts power to the road through it’s AWD system.
Modern interior
Inside, you’ll be greeted by a sporty dark interior, front and rear seats are perforated fine Nappa leather/Nubuck textile upholstery in charcoal with contrasting stitching.
Distinguishing it from the regular trim is the three-spoke R-Design sport steering wheel with paddle shifters, R-Design gear knob, and the sport pedals.
In front of the driver is the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. The speedo and tachometer are simulated analog displays with customizable trip info.
In the middle of the dash is the what Volvo calls Sensus; their unique approach to connectivity, entertainment, navigation, and car control systems. It’s basically an intuitive, all in-one centralized control area for entertainment, connectivity, navigation, services, and control.
Behind, you get 460 liters of luggage space which is flat, and when you fold the rear seats forward, it grows to 1,336 liters.
Three kinds of Intellisafe
The XC40 wouldn’t be a Volvo without its Intellisafe suite of preventative safety systems.
The City Safety suite alone is already comprehensive. It comes with collision avoidance and mitigation with intersection support; pedestrian, cyclist and animal detection; front and rear collision warning and mitigation support; driver alert control; lane-keeping aid; Run-Off Road Mitigation with Road Edge Detection; Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with steer assist; and cross traffic alert. It also includes a 360-degree camera.
To make sure passengers are wearing their seatbelts, there’s seat belt detection with a graphical indicator for all seats.
The Protective Safety suite features are pre-prepared testraints, Run-Off Road Protection, dual-stage driver and front passenger airbags, driver’s side knee airbag, Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) and Dual Chamber SIPS Airbags, Full Length Inflatable Curtains, Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS) for Front Seats, post-collision auto braking and unlocking, a collapsible steering column, brake pedal release and energy absorbing seat cushions.
And the Child Safety suite features a power child safety lock, passenger airbag cut-off switch, ISOFIX attachment points on the second row outer seats, power windows with pinch protection and an Integrated 2-stage booster cushion on the second row center seat.
Was there any doubt that safety systems would outshine the other features of this Volvo? You also get an electronic parking brake with auto-hold function, Hill Start Assist (HSA), Hill Descent Control (HDC), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
Engaging drive
There’s no doubt that this may just be the safest Compact SUV locally available, but that doesn’t mean it drives like a brick, in fact, far from it. It benefits from its stiff sport chassis and drive modes (Eco, Comfort, Dynamic and Off Road) to suit your moods or driving conditions.
I tried all and decided to settle on comfort as the power was still readily available, but not as immediate. The XC40 didn’t seem so angry off the line, which goes without saying. It was still pretty composed in Dynamic mode, but I wanted to enjoy the ride, not needing to get where I was headed in a hurry.
Its electric power steering feel was adjustable. Set on its lightest made easy work of tight spaces in the city. Steering was accurate and on twisties, there was very little body roll. The paddle shifters made quick up and down shifts fun.
Like other brands with a start/stop system, it gets a little annoying as it doesn’t seem to work well with our kind of stop and go traffic. Sometimes it just decides to turn off the engine just as the cars ahead of you decide to move.
Its premium entertainment system sounds pretty good with crisp highs and punchy, but not booming bass. It has decent staging with sounds up front and not around or behind you. It’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible. If your mobile is connected to the net, certain apps like Yelp, Glympse, Weather, TuneIn, Google’s Local Search, and WIkiLocation to name a few can use that to go online. There’s also a wireless charging pad in the tray under the center console where you can wirelessly charge your phone while streaming music or taking calls hands-free.
Overall, you get a lot more than just a spacious five-seater compact SUV. You get a vehicle which will actively and passively keep you safe on your daily drive.
The color of the XC40 we drove was Bursting Blue Metallic and priced at ₱3,895,000. Now before you think it’s priced a lot higher than its competitors, just know that it has more than double the safety features and that’s a lot of peace of mind when your loved ones are your occupants.