Volvo XC40 review

The Volvo XC40 is available with a choice of petrol and diesel engines with either a manual or automatic gearbox, and two- or four-wheel drive. There are also hybrid versions and even a fully-electric model.

If you do much of your driving in town, don’t be put off by the entry-level three-cylinder T2 petrol model. It’s the cheapest way into a Volvo XC40 but doesn’t lack the punch needed to haul about a family. The T3 model is the same basic engine but has a little more power – the T2 has 129hp and the T3 has 163hp. Both are reasonably frugal.

Then there are the B4 and B5 mild hybrids. These use a tiny electric motor to provide an unnoticeable amount of help for the engine to get slightly better emissions – there’s no option of driving them on electric power alone. They’re smooth and powerful (with 197hp and 250hp respectively) but the XC40 is better value with the three-cylinder engines.

If you have good access to charging at home or work and you plan to run an XC40 as a company car, you should seriously consider the T4 or T5 Recharge plug-in hybrids. They’ll travel around 28 miles purely on electricity when fully charged, but also have a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine to call upon when that runs out. The T4 Recharge has 211hp and the T5 Recharge 262hp.

You can improve fuel economy slightly on non-hybrid models by going for the eight-speed automatic gearbox, rather than the six-speed manual, but its operation is unintuitive (especially the left-right motion for manual mode) and it’s also a little bit slow to respond when you want a burst of acceleration. Still, the baggy six-speed manual isn’t the best, either.

The Volvo XC40 is designed to be very comfortable so has none of the sporty aspirations of models such as the Audi Q2 or BMW BMW X1.

That said, it doesn’t wobble like a blancmange in corners and the benefit of the softer setup is that the suspension absorbs bumps very well. It’s designed to be relaxing whether you’re in town or on the motorway.

Speaking of the motorway, Volvo’s optional Pilot Assist system provides comfort of a different kind by helping to relieve you of some of the monotonous concentration required for long journeys.

Using a mixture of cameras and sensors, it accelerates, brakes and steers the car for you; all you need to do is set a speed and keep your hands on the steering wheel. It’ll even steer the car through long, sweeping corners without any assistance from the driver. Buy Pilot Assist (part of the £1,550 Driver Assist pack) and you also get a blind-spot warning system and rear collision mitigation that’ll help protect your passengers if someone runs into the back of you.

In town, the Volvo XC40’s standard automatic emergency braking can help you to avoid low-speed front-end shunts, and the raised driving position gives you a good view forwards. The only downside comes in the form of two large pillars at the back of the car that obscure over-the-shoulder visibility.

They’re only a problem when you’re pulling out on the motorway though, because all Volvo XC40s come with reversing sensors that make parking a doddle.

If you really hate squeezing into tight spaces however, it’s worth paying for the optional 360-degree camera (it gives you a bird’s eye view of the car’s surroundings), and Park Assist that’ll reverse park the car for you.