Volvo

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Tuesday – Hands Free

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Jeremy It’s impossible scribbling about the V40 without coming back to safety features. So today I set out to test the Park Assist Pilot – the system that allows the car to steer itself into a parking space.

Now, I’ve been lucky enough to drive a Formula One car, scream around Le Mans in a race-winning Peugeot, and hitch a seater with mad motorcyclist Robbie Maddison but I think I was more nervous about letting a car park itself with me in the driver’s seat.

With Pilot switched on, I drove the V40 along a quiet road with parked cars either side. The system actually identifies a space that is big enough and once I had come to a stop, I took my hand off the wheel, engaged gear and gently accelerated.

I was parking between a 2011 Range Rover and a Fiat 500 – so I was quite anxious not to ding either. The steer wheel automatically starts to turn as the car goes backwards, slowly, slowly putting you perfectly into the space.

When the V40 comes to a stop, all I had to do was engage first gear and again, the steering was done for me. It took two reverse moves and two forward to complete the parking operation but it worked perfectly.

That said, I can park equally as well and much quicker! However, if you aren’t a great parker and like the reassurance of Pilot, it’s probably well worth the money.

 

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Monday – Am I About To Crash?

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Jeremy Collision Warning – a system that you would imagine should be fitted to every new car by law. Just like ABS brakes, which has been around for decades but was once a very novel idea, Volvo‘s Collision Warning may well be a standard fit in the future.

It’s quite simple. Sensors on the front of the V40 detect, alert and automatically brake the car if it risks colliding with a vehicle in front. However, before that happens, the driver gets an loud audible warning and a red light flashes at the bottom of the windscreen – so he can brake or avoid the problem first.

It all sounds brilliant and very sensible. Except it isn’t foolproof. The problem I discovered today while driving in to Gloucester was this. If you are approaching a bend with a car parked on the corner, the alert system detects that vehicle and triggers the audible alarm and flashing red light.

I can totally understand the benefits of the system but the fact it is triggered unnecessarily is very distracting for the driver. As safe as the Volvo is (and the list of safety features is way too long to print here!), this is one that could do with a little tweaking.

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Sunday – Comfortable Cruiser

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Jeremy With the safety car out at Silverstone, the British Grand Prix has been running at ‘road car’ speeds. Not sure I’d want to be out there in the V40 though – mainly because even in R-Design trim, the Volvo lacks a little precision going hard into a corner.

Unfortunately, as much as I like the look of the Volvo, the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 are both much better drivers cars. That’s a situation confirmed by the V40’s rather soggy clutch that doesn’t really encourage you to push the V40 along on a twisty A-road.

The ride itself is on the soft side – which makes the V40 a more comfortable long distance cruiser than a spirited drive. If you are buying a V40 to sit on the motorway all day, that is definitely the right call because it has a big car feel and a very quiet cabin.

 

 

 

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Saturday – Start Me Up

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Jeremy I’ve got no idea what car Mick Jagger drives but it probably isn’t a Volvo. I know he stuffed his DB6 in a well-publicised accident in London in 1966 but even a quick tweak of the internet hasn’t come up with any more recent answers.

I should ask Jessica because she had a dance with him a few years back – I can see him in an S-Class, an Aston or one of the very latest Range Rovers that ooze quality from every rivet. You’re right – he probably has all three.

If he didn’t want to get spotted leaving a gig then the V40 would do the job. It’s fairly anonymous if he doesn’t want to get seen and, if he does, well it also rather cool in a kind of ‘man of the people’ something different type way.

Driving the V40 around this weekend, it’s turned plenty of heads. The profile looks long, low and very slippery, while sitting in the driver’s seat, it’s a very well thought out cockpit. I’m feeling less than anonymous.

Right, I’m off to watch the Stones do Glastonbury. The great unwashed will be passing my door tomorrow night and Monday on their way back home. If you are one of them and see Mick climbing into something interesting, do let us know…

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Friday – Sweden vs Germany

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Jeremy There’s something endearing, likeable and rather ‘safe’ about the V40. Stepping into the cabin this morning was like getting reacquainted with an old friend. The last Volvo I owned was an 340, back in the 1980s. It was my father’s choice – he was paying – as the one car even I couldn’t get hurt in.

I traded the 340 in for an Alfa Romeo as quickly as possible and quickly regretted it. My student grant didn’t extend to major rust treatment on a monthly basis… Had that first flirtation with Volvo been a secondhand V40, I would probably still be driving it now.

V40 is the replacement model for the S40 and V50 and it needs to be good to beat the best of German. Well, it certainly has a more distinct look than a VW Golf, or the exceptional Audi A3. It probably holds it own about the BMW 1 Series too, although I have to say, I think the new Mercedes A-class might be the winner for best design.

From the rear, the V40 in R-Design trim looks amazing. The twin tailpipes and small rear screen tick lots of boxes. Nose on, it’s on a par with the German competition. Which begs the question, is the V40 good enough to tempt Audi/BMW/VW drivers away from their normal car purchase?

That could well come down to the driving experience and I shall give my verdict on that tomorrow…

 

 

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Thursday – Super-Safe Hatch

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Jeremy Our V40 is going to require some serious understanding if we are going to get the maximum out of it over the next seven days. Why? Well, underneath that long, lean profile is a car packed with the very latest in safety equipment.

I’ve just spent half an hour in the car swotting up on everything – and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface. However, the key feature I can’t wait to try is Park Assist Pilot, which will parallel park the car for me without any need to touch the steering wheel! I’m sure every car will have this feature in the future but I still can’t believe it will park better, or more safely than me.

One standard feature on V40 I hope I don’t get to try is the under bonnet pedestrian airbag. As part of the Driver Support Pack, there’s also full-speed collision warning, which alerts the driver to a potential impact,  plus blind spot monitoring, road sign information and much more!

This has to be the safest car I’ve ever driven. I’m sure it’s going to shout something nasty if I spill my coffee or listen to crap music on the radio. It’s that sophisticated I’m just wondering where the next warning signal is going to come from…

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Tuesday – Cool in the Cotswolds?

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Jeremy After a week driving the sublime Jaguar XJ, it would be easy to assume the arrival of a Korean SUV might leave CarCouture a little flat. However, first impressions of the new Santa Fe are extremely favourable. On the outside, it cuts a thoroughly modern look, with more aggressive styling, lower front bumper and a stylish hexagonal grille.

Inside, it’s pretty sorted too, although there’s a good deal of plastic trim and a centre console that may not be to everybody’s taste. The console packs in a lot equipment on the Premium model but even the infotainment system is common-sense straightforward and easy to use.

Fitted with a 2.2-litre diesel engine, modifications to the new model mean it is 120kg lighter. The Santa Fe is certainly no slouch with smooth power delivery from the automatic gearbox and low noise levels inside the cabin.

This seven-seat version has two fold-flat seats in the boot. It looks a little tight for adult headroom in the back row but folded down, there’s a huge boot area. The dog loves it – whether adult passengers will feel the same in Row 3 remains to be seen. So far though, the Santa Fe is holding its own in the Cotswolds…

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Monday – A Thoroughly Modern Jaguar

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Jeremy I’ve taken to parking the XJ front-end on to my office window. The white paint job doesn’t offend me any more – even if the bling grille looks as ostentatious as a Breitling Superocean watch. Parking it nose first also means I can ignore the back-end – the only blemish on an otherwise sublime executive saloon.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the high, box-like bottom of the XJ makes me wince each time it peeps into view. It reminds me a lot of the brilliant BMW 6 Series – a car only flawed by a rear-end of equally disproportionate proportions. I love the rear lights of the XJ but the metal bits inbetween are a letdown.

The XJ cockpit is near faultless. A heady mix of high quality leather, discreet chrome and a low-slung dashboard, it has buttons and dials in all the right places too. The massaging front seats are the height of opulence but once you’ve used them for a week, you wonder how you are going to survive a long journey ever again.

It’s just as luxurious in the rear and every bit as upmarket as the best of Mercedes or Audi. The boot space is a little lacking – perhaps another reason why they should redesign that rear-end asap.

XJ is a fantastic, high quality machine that in 3.0 V6 guise is as good to drive as anything on the market. Sort out that heavyweight bottom and it would be difficult to match.

 

 

 

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Saturday – Tara Fitzgerald In Our XJ

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Jeremy You might imagine an actress who has starred in films like Brassed Off, Sirens and Hear My Song would be used to climbing in to luxurious limos like CarCouture’s XJ. However, Tara Fitzgerald loves her old Volvo estate and admits to us that she hasn’t been in anything quite as swanky as the Jaguar in years.

“I walk as much as I can around London but when I go down to my house in Cornwall, we cram everything in to the Volvo.”

I collected Tara from Milton Keynes, where she is currently staring in an RSC production of The Winter’s Tale. We are supposed to be walking and talking in the countryside near Silverstone, for a feature in the Financial Times. Then it started raining and didn’t stop.

By the time we return to the Jaguar, the Waking the Dead actress has boots caked in mud, a sodden coat and is drenched. “That’s the trouble with a car as posh as this – you feel bad about making the seats muddy and spoiling the leather.”

I show her the XJ’s massaging heated seat button and ask if she likes the car. “It’s incredibly plush but when I think of a Jaguar, I have a certain image in my mind and it isn’t shaped like this car.

“Maybe Jaguar wanted to move on from the classic design but this model doesn’t stand out in the crowd. I wouldn’t have known it was a Jaguar until you told me.”

Tara is about to star in the third series of Game of Thrones on Sky. “It’s the biggest production I have ever worked on. There were about 100 people on set and it has been filmed in incredibly exotic locations all over the world. However, they shot my scenes in Northern Ireland!”

Would she buy an XJ? “It’s not really my sort of car. I love the interior and the gadgets but I’m used to something slightly more practical.”

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Friday – Supercharged Smooth

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Jeremy Something strange has been happening in the XJ. When I pull away from a junction, big cars in the rear-view mirror become small very quickly. What’s odd about this is that I’ve not really been trying that hard – the ZF eight-speed gearbox has remained in ‘Drive’ and so far, I’ve only slipped into ‘Sport’ once.

What’s even more impressive is that the new V6 engine is so smooth. It feels totally unflustered and glides away at pace without a hint of strain. Jaguar has a long history of building performance cars but the XJ encapsulates the company ethos in one slick machine.

There will be purists who bemoan the loss of the 5.0-litre V8 engine in the XJ but the 3.0 makes the saloon a much more sensible prospect in the current age of austerity. Besides, it still produces 335bhp and CO2 emissions have been cut to a more respectable 224g/km.

The XJ is also so very easy to drive. There’s minimum fuss whether you are bumper to bumper in town, or opening up the throttle on a A-road. The sound from the exhaust isn’t quite the rumble of the old V8 but an 825W Meridian sound system more than makes up for that.

Right, I’m off to Milton Keynes to perform chauffeur duties for CarCouture’s celebrity guest. CarCouture will reveal her verdict on the XJ over the weekend.