Volvo V60 T4 1.6 Review: Estate of the Art

What we like:

Competitive pricing

strong performance from small engine

affordable to tax

stylish looks inside and out

practical boot

What we dislike:

Slight turbo lag at low speeds

uninspiring engine note

The V60 offers a reasonably sized boot of 430 litres in volume with the rear seat backs in place. The seat backs split/fold 40/20/40 if required with just a pull of a lever, freeing up a total load volume of 1241 litres. In comparison, the S60's boot offers less volume - 380 litres. When compared to the smaller V50, the V60 offers 13 litres of luggage volume more with the rear seats up but surprisingly, the smaller model offers more space when the seats are folded down - 1307 litres versus the V60's 1241 while the more practical and boxy V70 obviously offers more than both the V50 and V60 - 555 litres and a humongous 1580 litres with the seats up and folded respectively.

Unlike in the V70 or V50, the rear bench need not tumble forward for the seat backs to fold flat almost completely. Convenient features include small storage spaces under the boot floor and a load separator for the main load area as well as dog-friendly retractable nets that hook up to the roof from the rear seat backs. The boot also offers a retractable tonneau cover to separate your precious cargo from prying eyes. The loading lip is set at a convenient bumper level so that you need not need to overcome a loading sill to load larger or heavier items into the practical boot.

Up front, it is mainly standard S60 fare bar the smaller LCD screen for the infotainment system - well, it seems that the size of the LCD screen corresponds with the size of the engine in the case of the S60/V60.

The V60 signals the introduction of smaller, sub-2-litre engines for the Volvo range. The new 1.6-litre T4 motor is set to make an appearance in the V60's saloon sibling later in the year as well. Volkswagen has proved very successfully that engine downsizing is the way to go in our price and tax sensitive car market and hopefully, the highly competent V60 T4 will signal the same for Swedish brand.

Credits: Story and Photos by Raymond Lai