VolvoXC60

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Wednesday – Backseat Driver

 

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Jeremy David Cameron’s long-wheelbase Jaguar XJ is said to have cost in excess of £200,000. Equipped with armoured body panels and emergency oxygen, it’s a rather higher spec than our current test version.

That said, our Portfolio model is bristling with enough equipment to keep any aspiring politician happy. Writing this blog entry from where the PM might sit on the backseat, I’m surrounded by some pretty glitzy technology.

The rear seat comfort pack is a £2,750 option but allows the sumptuous seats to be electrically adjusted in all directions – perfect for finding the right position to view the monitor screens situated in the back of the front headrests.

The entertainment pack includes a beautifully tactile console (pictured) that can be removed from the centre armrest to operate DVD and music options. Three sets of wireless headphones are also provided so that the driver isn’t disturbed while passengers watch.

My feet are resting on carpeted foot bolsters – the kind  normally found in luxury limos and I can also electronically adjust the front passenger seat forward to provide more legroom. If the sun becomes too warm on the back of my neck, an electric rear sun blind swishes across.

The back of a Jaguar XJ is a very special place to sit. And although our test car costs £72,815, at least you don’t have to be a prime minister to justify owning one.

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday – Digital In All The Right Places

592114_JAG_XJ_240812_102Jeremy Jaguar isn’t the first manufacturer to ditch an analogue dashboard display for something entirely different. Back in the 1980s, my father’s Citroen CX had a bizarre rotating ball that spun slowly as the car picked up pace. Inside our XJ, the standard dials have been replaced with a digital dash that looks so realistic it takes a few moments to realise that you are staring at graphics, rather than the real thing.

It’s just one of many features inside the XJ that help make the cabin a design masterclass. It may not be as roomy as some of the German competition but this is a sophisticated and very grown up interior. Wood, high quality leather and soft-touch materials adorn the cockpit – and there are so many neat touches it’s going to take the next seven days to tell you all about them.

The ignition key alone lets other people know you have arrived. It’s a solid, chunky rock of loveliness that’s heavier than my wallet – not a problem if you can afford the £72,000 price tag of our sparkling white test car. Then there’s the rotating gear knob that sits proud on top of the centre console. It is tactile, easy to grip and dispenses with the need for any kind of transmission gearstick.

I sat in the passenger seat while Jessica drove us across the Cotswolds. The centre touch screen display may not be as high res as the dashboard but using wireless headphones, I was able to listen and watch television as she enjoyed the V6 engine to the full. Dangerous for the driver? Not so because some clever gadgetry means the driver can only see button controls for other car-related functions on the same screen that I was watching TV. Next time I’m going to sit in the back seat and let you know what David Cameron feels like in his armoured XJ…

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Final Thoughts on the Volvo XC60

Jessica The lasting impression I have is that of safety gadgets, should one be insulted that you might not manage to tell where the white lines are, or ultimately as a frazzled parent might your life be saved if you drop off on a motorway?  The cool design features lure you into feeling you are part of a sporty set, ultimately though you are driving a family 4 wheel drive and it is still a Volvo.

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ad735055-bbce-4079-865f-e838ca5df924Jeremy It’s the last day for our Volvo XC60 . With snow forecast for tomorrow I’m going to regret handing over the keys for all sorts of reasons. This is the model that buries the myth that all Volvos are boxy estates driven by conservative types. The flowing lines of the bodywork and beautifully crafted dashboard are light years ahead of Volvos of old – a pretty SUV estate that manages to put a smile on your face every morning. I think it looks sensational from most angles – apart from head on, which is about to be rectified with a new, re-nosed version due out this summer. Solid, robust and capable of 4X4-type forays into the semi-rough stuff, the XC60 is a thoroughly modern estate car that will tick a lot of boxes for most families. Arriving tomorrow at Car Couture is the new Jaguar XJ 3.0 Supercharged V6. Find out how we get on with the luxury saloon every day next week.

 

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Saturday – Car Couture Take Bronze (in a Volvo)

photo-3 copyJeremy We’ve heard all the stories about Cool Runnings but to clock up third place in the British Bobsleigh Championships might take some celebrating. Beaten to the top of the podium by Team GB 1 (currently fifth in the world) and the RAF, it wasn’t a bad effort for a couple of semi-fit journalists and two fortysomething ex-racers.

After two trial days training at the dry track in Bath, followed by two runs on the Innsbruck track yesterday, today we picked up bronze medals for completing the 1217 metre course in an average time of 54 seconds. And despite being spiked by the brakeman’s shoes  as he tried to jump in behind me, I can’t wait to do it again.

Team Volvo was a scratch squad put together by the Swedish manufacturer to see if it was possible to compete at the highest level in one of the fastest sports on the planet. Yes, the Lycra was cold and I’m bruised like a soft pear but what an incredible experience. Looking forward to coming home to a cold UK tomorrow.

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Friday – Team Volvo On Ice

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Jeremy Our XC60 is returning 44mpg and the company’s new V60 diesel hybrid can up that to 150+mpg but there’s one Volvo that goes even better than that. The Team Volvo bobsleigh needs no fuel and is emission free – provided you are heading downhill on ice that is.

 

Today we took our first look at the daunting Igls bobsleigh track in Innsbruck – 1217 metres, 14 bends and a lot of testosterone. The British Bobsleigh Championships start on Saturday and Team Volvo clocked up a decent 56.04 seconds on the second of two runs. It means we qualify for the main event tomorrow with seven or eight other entries.

 

Hurtling down a tube of ice at 78mph is obviously an assault on the senses. Sitting back in my hotel room, I’m aching in places I didn’t know I had. Tomorrow it will be hard to crawl out of bed for the main event but the camaraderie in this sport is incredible. Jessica will be disappointed to be missing all that Lycra but at least the spiked running shoes are uber cool…

 

 

 

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Thursday – Swapping the XC60 For A Bobsleigh

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Jeremy This isn’t some new dealer incentive but a chance to go very fast down an icy tube with my eyes shut. Volvo has invited Car Couture to take part in the British Bobsleigh Championships in Innsbruck this weekend. Jessica was suddenly ‘otherwise engaged’ and so I’m scribbling this from Gatwick Airport. Hopefully, I won’t do a John Noakes flip the thing over – but I’m pretty sure I will have my eyes shut. Volvo sponsors British bobsleighing and, at the moment, the UK No. 1 team is fifth in the world.

The XC60 has just averaged 47mpg on the run down from Wiltshire, which I think is more than respectable for an SUV. And those blind spot warning lights on the doors are proving very useful – especially with kamikaze courier motorcyclists on the M25. Now Saab is no more, I’m also give my ‘Most Comfortable Seat’ award to the R-Design set in our XC60. Let’s hope the bobsleigh is equally as relaxing…

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Wednesday – Tails or heads?

Jeremy I’m just back with my mutt Malin from his morning constitutional… While the XC60 is laden with safety equipment, the automatic boot door is not as dog friendly as I thought it would be. For example, if I’m opening the boot on a busy road using the keyfob, I need to grab the dog’s lead before the door fully opens and he heads off into oncoming traffic. Closure involves pressing a button on the bottom of the doorframe. Fine? Well, it is if you don’t own a dog with a long tail. It’s similar to trying to close an overstuffed suitcase, without leaving any items poking out of the side. I spend an anxious few moments trying to keep his tail inside the boot before the lid locks in place. Malin thinks this is great fun and is now trying to stick his head out of the ever closing gap instead. Apart from that, automatic boot opening is brilliant. I see other shoppers watching with tailgate envy at the supermarket – so it must be good…

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Monday – First Impressions

Jeremy I’ve just driven the XC60 across the Cotswolds on what could possibly be the first day of Spring. SItting in the office, there’s a glorious sunset sinking over the bonnet and my log fire seems strangely out of place, for the first time in months.

My first time behind the wheel and I’m still getting used to all safety kit in the XC60. This is a car just bristling with technology which I have yet to get my head around. I’m not sure it’s as pretty as a Range Rover Evoque but on first impressions, the Volvo is bolted together just as well and has a more practical interior.

Around these parts, every other car is a 4×4 and the XC60 certainly doesn’t look out of place in the supermarket car park. It may not be as big as a BMW X5, Audi Q7 or the new Range Rover but less is more these days, isn’t it?

So far, so good in the XC60 anyway. Looking forward to getting back behind the wheel tomorrow..

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Tuesday – It’s no dummy

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Jeremy I have just driven our XC60 to London-based Rootstein, who are  the Rolls-Royce of mannequin makers in the fashion world that Jessica frequents. It’s a bright, sunny day and the doors of their Kensington fashion studios are highly polished and squeaky clean. Fortunately, the mirror image is sparkling enough to reflect the XC60, as it rolled driverless down the road behind me…

TheXC60’s  multi-function key has six options but not one of them can ‘apply handbrake’ remotely from where I watched gaping. The irony is that the XC60 is otherwise so incredibly safe it almost dispenses with the need for birth control. However, for some strange reason, is equipped with one of those push button handbrakes that screams ‘accident’ every time I don’t apply it.

W14 is fairly flat so I was able to out-sprint Usain Bolt before any damage was done. Then I used the front blind spot camera to squeeze into a parking space, with rear sensors on standby and the pedestrian airbag ready to bounce anybody who is unfortunate enough to get in my way.

For the drive home, I was able to relax in the knowledge that blind spot indicators would alert me if somebody overtook, lights at the foot of the windscreen would flash if the computer decided I was too close to the car in front. If XC60 doesn’t like my iPod playlist, I’m certain it would have probably switched to a more middle-of-the road David Grey too.