modern,do-it-all, petrol or diesel four-pot modular
engines, whether Jag’s Ingeniumor BMW’s B series,
has muchcharm,and they all feel like the pursuit
of refinement, response and character has been
cynically subsumed by the ability to save as much
in developmentand production costs as possible.
In the T5’s case, its woolly response, weird spiky
delivery and coarse, unenthusiastic top end mean
drivingit quicklyholdsprecious little appeal.
Frankly, a switch to electric power can’t come
soon enoughfor powertrains such as this one. Surf
a narrow band of mid-range torque and it’s rapid
enough.However, the engine’s issues are made
worse by an automaticgearbox that simplyisn’t the
slightest bit interested in enthusiastic driving.Shift
manuallyand the changes are slow and clumsy, or if
the conservative electronics don’tlike it, they don’t
happenat all.Yes, there’s a Dynamicmode,but that
also triggers the stiffer, ‘sporty’ dampersetting,
whichis not pleasant. The Individualmodedoesn’t
allow you to select softer dampers, either. So I leave
the car – and hence the ’box – in Comfort, and that’s
completely non-sporting.Dynamically, well, perhaps
we’ll tackle that next month,but to summarise, it’s
the worst of both worlds, not the best.
Positives? I still thinkit looks great: a really
handsome estate withoutthe pushy overtones
of the Germanopposition.I find the seats very
comfortable, and overall it seems nicely screwed
together. The hugely expensive optionalBowers and
Wilkins sound system is effective (althoughnot so
great that I can recommendspending£2500on it),
and there’s plenty of storage space and neat little
design touches. I so hopewe soon discover some
hiddentalents, but I fear on current form the V60 is
destined to leave us disappointed with whatit could
have been, but sadly isn’t.
AdamTowler(@AdamTowler)
Date acquiredApril 2019Total mileage
3450 Mileage this month 875 Costs this
month£0mpg this month25.4
WON’T LIE, I FEEL A BIT SORRY FOR
our Volvo. Whilewe waited for our long-
termer to arrive, the Swedish brand sent
evoa stream of different V60s,V and S90s,and even
some of its incredibly popularSUVs, and it wasn’t
difficultto identifythe properties that make these
cars so successful in the UK and beyond. In particular,
I thoughtthe humbleD3-engined V60 Momentum
was simplya pleasant, effective estate car. Quiet,
comfy, frugal, and unprepossessing in an attractive
way, it was a tool for a job and a fine complementto
a garage that included somethingthat was actually
interesting to drive. I would recommendone, and
indeed have already doneso to others.
The troubleis, our V60 is a T5, and an R-Design
with sporty bits at that, and with this comes the
expectationthat it’s going to have a certain amount
of driver appeal.And so far, I have to say, it has
exhibited precious little of that.
Where does it all go so frustratinglywrong?
Let’s start with the engine.A 247bhp turbocharged
‘four’ sounds promising,but this is a desperately
joyless unit. To be fair to Volvo, noneof these
I
‘A switchtoelectric
powercan’tcome
soonenoughfor
powertrainslikethis’
VolvoV60T5R-Design
The Swedish estate has still to reveal its driver appeal
FastFleet