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VOLVO V40 Cross Country Review

OUR TEST CAR: 2013 VOLVO V40 Cross Country T5 AWD Automatic

 
VOLVO V40 Cross Country - Page - 2
Despite the absence of any feminine presence inside the car, we’ve been contemplating the sky for a few minutes now. It’s all thanks to the panoramic sunroof, which feels just like that perfect pair of shades you always want to have around. It’s transparent enough to make a whole lot of a difference and yet tinted enough to never make you want to pull the curtains.

However, if you do cover it up, you can relax in your seat, even though this can feel a bit firm at times. Sitting here like this in the parking lot allows us to hear ourselves breathing, thanks to the excellent soundproofing. And since it comes with many stowage compartments sprinkled around the cabin, it’s easy to lose things in here.

However, you won’t care, because the entire atmosphere is warm, and when you expand things to the tactile level, you notice that the leather is a joy to play with. And the same goes for the metallic trim on the center console. This even has a cool name: Copper Dawn.

Everything about this Volvo V40 Cross Country seems to be a bit unconventional. For example, the suspension does let you know when you’ve exaggerated with the size of a pothole, but you can never say the ride is bad. The car finds an excellent compromise between this and the handling.

The V40 Cross Country doesn’t come with doors that make a vault-like sound when they close and doesn’t feel invincible while offroading. These are silly mantras, it doesn’t need them because it has its bespoke way of making you feel cozy and protected.

Body and Chassis

The Volvo V40 is rather generous in size for its class, being slightly longer and wider than its main German rivals, the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series. As for the V40 Cross Country, if we are to compare it with the Audi Q3 and BMW X1, which is a bit of a stretch, the Swedish model is slightly smaller.

Powertrain

The 2,522 cc of the T5 powerplant sound familiar and that’s because this is that “magnificent Volvo engine” that powered the past incarnation of the Ford Focus ST and RS.

While the latter took the unit up to 350 hp, here it delivers 254 hp and 5,400 rpm and 266 lb-ft (360 Nm) of torque between 1,800 and 2,400 rpm. There’s also an overboost function that releases an extra 29.5 lb-ft (40 Nm).

Sending the aforementioned power to all four wheels is a six-speed automatic Geartronic transmission that is built by Japanese company Aisin.

Road Connection

The Volvo V40 uses all-round independent suspension, with MacPherson struts up front. For the Cross Country, the engineers didn’t just increase the ride height by 1.57 inches (40 mm), they also installed new bushes for the subframe and made the front wheel spindles longer by 0.8 inches (20 mm). The rear subframe has also been tweaked and so have the track rods and link arms. The V40 Cross Country also features dedicated settings for the springs, dampers and anti-roll bars.

Stopping power


Regardless of the engine and gearbox used, the Volvo V40 Cross Country comes with braking energy regeneration. In its aim to boost efficiency, this works with a start-stop system, which is present on both manual and automatic models.

What’s more, the AWD-gifted T5 is the only version where you can leave downhill deceleration worries behind, being fitted with a Hill Descend Control system.

The Cross Country version of the Volvo V40 is sort of a gadget itself. Both the R-Design and the Cross Country are actually more elaborate packages that transform the car’s character, but the latter is a bit more complex and is the only one offered as a separate model. The premium you have to pay over what you’d spend on a Volvo V40 sits somewhere between EUR1,800 and EUR2,800, depending on the model.

There’s a problem in this puzzle though, as Volvo doesn’t also offer AWD on the diesel versions of the V40 Cross Country. Let’s hope that this follows the recipe of the V40, which received the extra traction on more models upon its launch.

Speaking of the financial side, the Volvo V40 Cross Country is a pricy car if we look at it as a compact. With the superior T5 petrol engine and AWD, the V40 Cross Country starts at EUR35,780 (19 percent VAT included).

Nevertheless, is we see this Volvo as a crossover, that things look good compared to its closest rivals, if we can call them so, the Audi Q3 and the BMW X1.

By the way, Volvo has done some research and it seems that this backs up the general idea that Americans like their cars with a boot. This means that, at least for now, the V40, in any of its forms, isn’t heading Stateside. In the US, you can still buy the C30, but we wouldn’t recommend it.

Going past the various trim levels, we were particularly pleased by the option to select a two-tone leather upholstery, as well as by the fixed panoramic sunroof.

These join a long list of convenience features, which also includes a special function that allows you to program the car so that it’s all heated up at a certain time. You can even program this using a dedicated smartphone app.

Speaking of applications, Volvo presented an autonomous parking prototype V40 last month, with the vehicle even being able to drive itself in the parking lot. Nevertheless, the series production cars still require the driver to be inside the car for the automated parking function.

One might say that any report on Volvo's safety should be a part of Captain Obvious' notes, but you really can't feel the Volvo V40 Cross Country's protection aura until you get behind the wheel.

From the driver's seat, you'll feel protected, but never in a way that takes away the pleasure of driving. As far as the driving is concerned, it never tries to educate you, it only discreetly sets the correct dose for anything, so that you can drive it again and again.

The V40 T5 Cross Country we drove is especially interesting, since it doubles the aforementioned principles with the asset of always being there for you when you need some go. More importantly, it is the only Cross Country model with all-wheel drive.

The Euro NCAP structures were probably eager to tear the Volvo V40 apart when this arrived, but it was a sad they for them, as this would become one of the safest cars to have ever crashed into them.

The five-star rating is accompanies by a 98 percent score for adult occupant protection and a 75 percent for child occupant protection. Of course, there are also other cars that reach this point, but most of them go slightly downwards from here, whereas the Volvo V40 keeps its back straight. For example, this is one of the few vehicles that offers Good protection in the rather harsh side pole impact test. An important role here was played by Volvo’s Side Impact Protection System (SIPS). This directs the force of the crash away from the passengers and into the structure of the car.

What’s more, it gets an 88 percent rating for pedestrian protection and a 100 percent rating for the driver safety assist.

When it comes to the active and passive safety technologies that made the aforementioned ratings possible, we'll focus on Volvo's new developments for the V40.

We got to play with Volvo's City Safety, which helps avoid rear-end urban crashes, when we drove the XC60. Well, Volvo went through the hassle of analyzing insurance claims on the model, noticed that the system really made a difference and, for the V40, made it better. City Safety now works up to 31 mph (50 km/h) compared to 30 km/h (19 mph).

And in case you've wondered why those utilitarian-looking windscreen washer nozzles aren't hidden, it's because the space under the rear edge of the bonnet is occupied by an industry-first pedestrian airbag.

When times get rough, this inflates and not only protects the pedestrian’s head from hitting the hard points at the base of the windscreen, but also raises the bonnet, thus offering superior protection overall.

We tried mocking the car and even made fun of it in front of its friends, all in an attempt to make this airbag deploy, but it didn't work. Volvo.

In all its premium aura, The Volvo V40 Cross Country is very honest - it manages to perfectly deliver what it promises in its name, being an excellent crossover. The car is brilliant inside the city, good on the open road and decent when you run out of tarmac.

This juggler personality is the best part of the Volvo V40 Cross Country. This is also what makes us recommend the car compared to the standard Volvo V40. As a bonus, the crossover genes also make this one the prettier of the two non-identical twins.

The V40 Cross Country also seems like a better choice than the V40 R-Design. Whereas the latter feels a bit too tight for the Volvo badge, the Cross Country is a perfect representation of the brand. It’s also one that makes it a good alternative to what the Germans have to offer.

Things become a bit complicated when talking about the competition though, as Audi and BMW make you choose between compacts and crossovers, while the V40 Cross Country offers the best of both worlds. The car offers all the advantages of such a vehicle, but in a package that feels more compact and “car-like”.

As for the worst part of the car, this is the fact that it also likes things premium when it comes to the price. The V40 Cross Country starts at a little under EUR27,000, but our T5 AWD test car, which was about as loaded as possible, costed almost EUR40,000.

You can solve the problem by opting for a D2 or D3 diesel powerplants, but none of the oil burners, not even the more potent D4, come with all-wheel drive. Volvo is hoping that you won’t care about this and has also thrown in a well-sorted interior to please you.

The Volvo V40 Cross Country is its own distinctive class and entering its world makes one feel confident and relaxed.
THE END
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autoevolution Jun 2013
77
History
7
Exterior
7
Interior
7
In the city
8
Open road
7
Comfort
7
Tech facts
7
Gadgets
9
Safety
10
Conclusion
8
84user rating 83 votes
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