2017 Volvo S60 Cross Country Review

The 2017 S60 Cross Country comes with a raft of standard safety features that include antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front-seat side airbags, side curtain airbags and whiplash-reducing front head restraints.

Also standard are a rearview camera, frontal collision warning and mitigation with automatic braking (includes pedestrian and cyclist detection), lane departure warning and intervention, Volvo's On Call system and rear parking sensors. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and front parking sensors are optional.

The S60 Cross Country has not been tested in government crash tests, although its nearly identical stablemate S60 earned a perfect five-star rating for overall crash protection, with five stars each for total front and side crash protection. In testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2016 S60 (we expect similar results from the essentially identical 2017 model) received the best possible rating of Good in all tests, including the moderate-overlap front-impact, small-overlap front-impact, side-impact, roof strength and head restraint (whiplash protection) tests. The IIHS also rated the S60's optional forward collision warning and mitigation system as Superior.

In creating the 2017 Volvo S60 Cross Country, a high-riding version of the S60 sedan, Volvo had a considerable head start. The company's V60 Cross Country is essentially the same thing in wagon form. Making a jacked-up sedan version was a simple cut-and-paste of the two concepts.

The main change made to the garden-variety S60 sedan is the S60 Cross Country's 7.9 inches of ground clearance, some 2 inches more than the standard car. While that lifted stance of the S60 Cross Country could come in handy on a rutted road, it also raises the car's seat height. Many drivers appreciate the better view this affords, as well as the easier access into and out of the seats. So even if you never drive off-road, the other benefits of "ridin' high" might appeal to you, too.

There have been other examples of a sedan with a healthy ground clearance before, most notably the 1980s-era AMC Eagle and the Subaru Legacy Outback of the early 2000s. But if this is your kind of car, only Volvo has you covered for 2017. That said, we'd also advise you to check out the V60 Cross Country wagon given that it provides the same advantages as the S60 CC but with the functional addition of more cargo capacity.

The 2017 Volvo S60 Cross Country is available in one well-equipped trim level. Highlights include 18-inch wheels, power-folding mirrors, front and rear skid plates, adaptive xenon headlights with automatic high-beam control, automatic wipers, a sunroof, keyless entry and ignition, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather upholstery, power front seats (with power lumbar), driver memory settings, 60/40-split folding rear seats, a rearview camera and rear parking sensors. Standard tech features include adaptive cruise control, a 7-inch display screen, Bluetooth, voice controls, a 12-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system, a navigation system and satellite and HD radio.

With so many features as standard equipment, options are few. They include the Climate package, which includes an enhanced cabin air filtration system and the following heated items: front and rear seats, windshield, steering wheel and windshield washer nozzles. The Blind Spot Information System option package consists of blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and front parking sensors. Nineteen-inch wheels are also available.

The 2017 Volvo S60 Cross Country is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine that produces 240 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive (AWD) is mandatory (unlike the S60, which offers both AWD and front-wheel drive). Power is sent to those four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

EPA fuel economy estimates stand at 25 mpg combined (22 city/30 highway).