By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 7, 2014) Let’s be blunt: The big changes in Volvo’s XC60 are confined to the area in front of the A-pillars. From there back, it’s the same platform first launched in 2008, and shared with its former family members, Land Rover and Ford. The reason for this change is simple: Volvo’s new family of Drive-E engines required a redesign of the front structure, and Volvo took the opportunity to tweak and improve the vehicle’s crash capability.



There won’t be a new from the ground up XC60 until after Volvo launches its modular vehicle architecture later this year with the launch of the new XC90. And that means you’ll only be able to get the new engines in Volvo’s front-drive offerings as adding all-wheel drive to this powertrain choice would have required extensive changes to the rest of the platform.

Volvo spent a lot of money (about $300 million updating the engine plant in Skövde, Sweden alone) on these changes, but got a lot in return. It now has an up-to-date engine family capable of meeting future emission and fuel economy standard that share nothing with Ford’s powertrain lineup.

Eight engine architectures are replaced by a modular family of gasoline and diesel motors that use 25% of the same part numbers, and 50% of parts built to the same concept. Only 25% of the parts are different between the gas and diesel engines. Assembly complexity and cost will be radically reduced once the 2.0-liter four-cylinder Drive-E engine family is used across the board.  Plus, their smaller size means it will be easier for Volvo engineers to package the hybrid drive system, including a plug-in model, into the same space.

In T6 form, the Drive-E engine uses both a Roots-type supercharger, and a single turbo with integral wastegate. The combination guarantees the engine has sufficient power from just above idle to the redline. The powertrain control unit controls the hand-off between the two units, ensuring there is what those in the political field might call “an orderly transition of power.”

It also is used to offer the driver three drive mode choices (Drive, Eco+ and Sport) that let him choose how the powertrain responds. Unlike similar buttons in other vehicles, the differences are not jarring. You don’t feel like someone back in Sweden purposely goosed the settings just to increase the difference between them. Instead, the changes are subtle and mature.

Drive is the default setting. It’s party trick is that it engages the engine’s stop/start function which shuts the engine down each time the XC60 comes to a complete stop. Of highest value in the stoplight to stoplight grand prix of city driving, this feature is good for an approximate 5% - 7% fuel savings under these conditions. When gaps appear in traffic, the supercharger’s instant boost momentarily overpowers the front tires until the traction control meters out just the right amount of power for the conditions, and thrusts the XC60 forward. Spool up the turbo, and the mid-size SUV will sprint from 0-60 mph in a claimed 6.5 seconds.

If you engage Eco+, on the other hand, you will notice that the first sacrifice you make is in personal comfort. The air conditioning is switched off, and engine braking is eliminated. This cuts down on parasitic drag, and presupposes that the driver is on top of his game and carefully monitors traffic speed and flow to minimize the time spent under braking or stopped at a light. Also, as if to prove its harmony with the thinking of the environmental elite, you can override the air conditioning’s default setting and opt for the “Damn the planet, I’m uncomfortable!” setting that turns the a/c back on. After all, you wouldn’t want to arrive sweaty at the “Eco Warrior of the Year” awards, would you.

Choosing Sport mode does away with this pretense by disengaging the stop/start function, engages full engine braking (necessary when you’re aggressively attacking the back roads on the way to you cabin on a former forestry preserve), and adjusts the engine map for a more aggressive throttle response. Fortunately, Volvo restrained itself, and didn’t make the difference between Drive and Sport similar to that between night and day. The throttle response is more aggressive, but it is in keeping with the XC60’s personality. There is no “Jekyll and Hyde” personality transformation here.

Unlike the S60 sedan, where trading some silence for a sporty sound track would be appreciated, the lack of supercharger whine, wastegate operation and a throaty exhaust note is appreciated. This, after all, is the default family car for up and coming young adults and families with a spare $40,000-$50,000 to spend on family transport. They are more interested in the build quality, materials, design, ease of use, cargo capacity and quiet the XC60 has to offer. The furthest thing from their minds is why it doesn’t sound like an escapee from Gran Turismo.

On this basis, the XC60 meets their needs. It has the sparsely luxurious design ethos you find in Ikea furnishings married to high-end materials, and seasoned with obsessive attention to detail. The center stack angles toward the driver, and is neatly arranged with four controls surrounding the climate and infotainment control pad, all set in a brushed metal bezel with tasteful aluminum accents. If it wasn’t for all the buttons, you’d think Apple’s Jonathon Ive had something to do with the design, though it’s doubtful he would have chosen the contrasting leather on the seats and door panels.

The well bolstered front seats are part of the $1,500 Sport Package, which also includes 20-in, Titania alloy wheels. That price does not, however, include heating elements for those seats To get the bun warmers you have to plunk down and extra $500, which seems a bit silly on a car whose base price is $40,050 and which , in this case, stickers at $50,725 with the $925 destination charge included. You get heated outside power mirrors with memory standard, but not heated seats. Odd for a vehicle made in Sweden and popular in cold climates.

There are other anomalies in the same vein, the most egregious being the inclusion of the window shade-style cargo cover, grocery bag holder (a flap on the cargo floor that folds up to hold grocery bags upright against the back of the rear seats), and cargo area 12 V power outlet in the $4,000 Platinum Package. It’s surprising that you have to pay extra for a cargo cover that used to come standard on every station wagon and most hatchbacks.

Do Volvo product planers believe that its inclusion in this grouping will make buyers more likely to accept the pricing and order the other items in this package just to get the roll-out cargo cover? Ditto the grocery bag backstop, which is a neat idea and one that Volvo should standardize as a feature that makes the user’s life more comfortable. Yet, for some reason, a large panoramic sunroof with power sunshade and metal paddle shift buttons with perforated plus and minus signs are standard equipment, while these more reasonable — and ultimately useful — items are part of an expensive option package. It doesn’t make sense.

On the plus side, open the hatch, fold down the rear seats, and you have a load floor as flat as Kansas. That’s a big plus when loading large, long or bulky items. Plus, the 40/20/40 split/fold rear seatbacks can be arranged to accommodate both cargo and people. So ski trips for four are a matter of folding down the narrow center section, and laying the skis on the load floor. Another interesting feature is the nicely finished under floor storage tray that sits atop the spare tire. No Plain Jane Styrofoam tub here. Instead you get a container that has a gray finish very close to that of the carpeting used throughout the vehicle, and that can hold a decent amount of wet gear or items you want to hide from prying eyes.

To be fair, I found Volvo’s XC60 to be a powerful, engaging, and pleasingly frugal vehicle with an interior that coddled without smothering you in overt luxury. It handles well, rides well, is quiet, and holds five comfortably. And while the new Drive-E’s stop/start function may be a bit annoying at first, by the time my week with it was up and I was on to another vehicle, I found myself waiting for its engine to shut off at every stoplight. Also, I never felt a as though I was cheated out of power and performance by the inline four under the XC60’s hood.

Truth be told, I actually began to miss the Swedish sport utility. It was a reaction I never expected from a vehicle about which I didn't expect to care. Fancy that.

The Virtual Driver