Can the Volvo XC40, going on its 5th year on the market, still wow us in a constantly evolving field of compact crossovers?
The XC40 has been around for about five years now, and it’s a tribute to its solid inherent design that it’s not beginning to feel dated. The first car built on Volvo’s shared modular CMA platform–which also carries the Polestar 2 and a couple of models from Chinese manufacturers Geely Xingrue and Link & Co–does a great job at turning what otherwise would be a fairly mundane small SUV into a legit driver’s car.
Much like the Mazda CX-5, which was maybe the first crossover to show us that SUVs could also have excellent road manners and feedback, the XC40 is cut from the same driver-centric cloth, but takes the concept upmarket a bit, in typical Volvo style. When judged on SUV merits it scores high marks—entry and exit are better than many or even most vehicles in the class, whose upper door frames are starting to require more and more of a perp-duck to enter the front seats. The XC40 is a vehicle that could easily be your happy place during a day on un-fun errands.
Ergonomics in the cabin are good, particularly for the front seat occupants. Rear seat passengers may feel a bit of a squeeze for legroom, but the rear seats are nice and deep. The front seat passengers are treated to a lot of clever and thoughtful functional additions as well, like a bag hook in the glove box, or the removable liners in the storage cubbies that make cleanup far easier.
Rear cargo storage is large and square and only gets larger and squarer with the rear seats folded. It’s no great surprise that Volvo and Ikea hail from the same lands, since there are so many thoughtful and practical design ideas included.
Well, except in the infotainment system. Like so many DICs these days, the menu system behaves like the designers didn’t even bother to look at a single other DIC and think that drivers might want even a tiny degree of standardization in menu trees. It’s a very “old man screams at cloud” complaint, and one that would largely be erased after a couple of weeks of use, but we still lament that some key features are hidden two levels deep in menus.
Powertrain-wise, the XC40 T5 we tested was adequate for any conditions you’re likely to find yourself in. The 248hp 2.0 turbo four is largely transparent at all but the most aggressive power demands—so much so that you may have a passenger or two ask you if its electric.
At a shade under $50,000, the XC40 occupies the more premium side of the crossover segment, but it works hard to justify its premium with solid usability and enough luxury touches to make it feel special, while still retaining a plausible air of function.
View all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
