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Consumer Reviews for the Volvo XC40
Read recent reviews for the Volvo XC40
An awesome compact SUV part 1
Raoul Watson, 01/11/2019
2019 Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 8A)
This is the first Volvo I have ever owned in my life, my previous car was a 2015 Chevy Impala (see my review on the Impala). I always wanted a Volvo but always was apprehensive due to design and reliability reports from owners. The 2019 XC 40 however, seems to be a very solid crossover/SUV border lining a luxurious car.
1. Appearance: The 2019 Volvo XC 40 is a very handsome looking … compact SUV. It is the smallest version of the Volvo SUV and it seems a good crossover for "SUV beginners" like me. I like the fact that it is not too tall which would make entry a challenge.
Everything on the outside points to a very well thought off design. I was a little surprised that the placement of the side mirror on the side door is not a little bit further to the front. Because of this further back placement, when the driver looks at the side view mirror, there is a gap between the vehicle body and the mirror, which to me is a little annoying and takes a little getting used to.
2. Performance: The 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder 248-hp engine, 8 speed auto transmission is impressive. Just a little push on the gas and it goes from zero to sixty in about 7 seconds. The handling is nimble and almost sporty. The powertrain is quick and responsive but it has an annoying start and stop system. As with most newer cars, when you stop, the XC 40 idles the engine completely down to a point that the engine is shut off. This system would cause an abrupt jerking when restarting. The SUV would lurch forward when starting up from a stop light. It takes a while getting used to but I found out that it is better to release the brakes and wait two second before applying acceleration to avoid the lurching.
3. Safety: The XC 40 is loaded with the safety features found in luxury cars and as always, Volvo is synonymous with safety. ABS, traction, and stability control comes standard along with Volvo's City Safety package. This includes automatic emergency braking along with sensors to detect other vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other city perils in the vehicle’s path. It includes adaptive cruise control; forward collision warning; lane departure warning; blind spot warning (on the side mirrors); and rear cross-traffic alert making it the most complete crash avoidance system you can get. The optional Pilot Assist / driver assistance system is impressive. I tested it one evening and found that the system has good judgement identifying lane markings and responding to vehicles surrounding us. As a pilot I am not a stranger in trusting an "autopilot" system but with a car, because of the visualization interpretation, I would not be very comfortable trusting it 100%. For example, in NY the presence of highway construction means lanes are repainted so multiple crossing lanes would just confuse the pilot assist. So I would use it only on long distance good quality highways. The adaptive cruise control is convenient. It slows the vehicle during traffic slowdowns, and even stop the car to resume progress all on its own. With the addition of daylight running light of beautiful LEDs, all these safety features will give you a handsome insurance discount.
4. Ergonomics: In this department Volvo did not fare very well in my opinion. The human interface of the controls of this car is not always logical. For starters, the gear/transmission shifter it's horrible. It requires a two-step action. For example, to engage reverse or drive, one must move the gear selector twice; one to the back, then in the appropriate direction to select drive or reverse. This is extremely annoying during parking maneuvers and is very frustrating. Of course the argument could be that I should use the automated parking assistance but the shifter is just very unnatural for drivers. While you can operate almost every control from the steering wheel and the voice recognition is a nice addition, the central control screen is extremely convoluted and requires a high degree of learning curve. Coming from Volvo, particularly because it sees itself as a safety brand, the central control screen is just unsafe because it is almost impossible to operate safely while driving. There are too many unintuitive multiple taps, swipes and scrolls necessary to navigate the system. In addition, the system is awfully slow to respond. For example, changing a driver profile can take over a minute to load. If there are two things requiring a redesign, it would be the shifter and the control screen. The goal obviously should be to reduce the distraction and the precious seconds’ loss with eyes off the road to do basic functions as changing cabin temperature and audio source.
--see continuation on part 2 (5. Interior and Comfort, 6. Technology)
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