Going Cross Country in the Volvo V40

WHAT’S in a name? I didn’t know what to expect when I went to pick up the Volvo V40 Cross Country last week, but I suppose I expected an estate or something rugged looking.

What I got was a classy-looking car similar to the V40R I drove a few weeks back with just a few

‘cross country’ touches.

The Cross Country is certainly is a lot chunkier than the V40R, there is more ground clearance and with metal skid plates at front and rear and silver sills at the side, it did have that cross country look, but somehow I still expected a bit more.

Not cross country, well only one way to check it out, take it off-road. I was pleasantly surprised, the D3 diesel model I drove had 150 brake horse power and it didn’t disappoint. The Continental Contisport Contect tyres were able to master the rough terrain I drove on and it certainly proved that this car can go

‘cross country’ if required.

The official colour of the model I drove was Raw Copper and it certainly grabbed the attention of a few onlookers. Inside the front and back seats were brown and beige and looked gorgeous. Overall brown and beige is used to great effect to create a classy look for the interior.

Volvo has always had a great reputation for safety and the V40 is officially the safest car ever tested by the Euro NCAP. It achieved a 5-star rating and it also got the highest score ever recorded by the crash test regime. There are so many airbags for your body, your knees and a side impact protection system. Hopefully you will never need to use all the airbags, but it’s good to know that they are there if required.

You also get various other safety additions, like

‘city safe’ which will see the car stop automatically in slow-moving traffic if a pedestrian walks out in front of you. I also like the way the side mirrors fold in; very useful when parking in a tight road or lane.

There is plenty of room for five adults, but if you have only two back seat passengers, they might opt to use the centre arm rest which is very comfortable. The boot is a decent size, but once again no spare wheel.

Two roof rails add to the chunky, country feel. But while the drive was smooth and the car was comfortable, somehow I expected something more, looks wise, for a car that says

‘cross country’ on the rear. But I suppose it’s all about perception; when I first saw the car I didn’t think it would go cross country but it certainly didn’t let me down in the rough. And it’s fairly green with C02 emissions of only 137g/km, which equates to e280 road tax.

Prices for the V40 range start at

?¬29,095, but the Cross Country automatic version with lots of extras that I drove will cost you

?¬40,654. A lot of money in these hard times, but then Volvo customers tend to be very loyal.