| Week at the Wheel | Volvo XC60 D5 |

Inside & Out:

The Volvo XC60 is a classic case of show-stopping-concept-becomes-watered-down-pastiche. The concept, unveiled in Detroit in 2007 was a spaceship of an SUV - squat, sharply lined, almost alien and covered in futuristic detailing. By comparison, the production version is boring really. In fact, first impressions are of a car so obviously middle class and safe that it's a surprise the entire cabin isn't fashioned from Tupperware and recycled Marks & Spencer carrier bags.

But it grows on you, and from certain angles it starts looking a bit, well, racy even. The precise phrase Volvo uses to describe the XC60 is 'small premium utility' car, which doesn't actually mean anything, but we also know Volvo thinks of this car as a coupé-SUV crossover - which doesn't make much sense either, to be honest. What it actually is, we think, is a sort of mid-sized 4x4 sports... oh, whatever. It works, ok. And it works because it's small enough to look compact from the outside and feel manageable from the driving seat, but big enough to deal with the needs of any 2+2 family. Easily, in fact.

What at first appears plain and uninspiring turns out to be an ergonomically pleasing and tactile piece of cabin design. There are masses of adjustment to the driving position, the button count is kept to a pleasing minimum and the materials are top notch. There are some notable gripes though: the satnav is archaic and its controls, nestled behind the steering wheel, are ridiculous and counterintuitive. There's a red warning light on top of the dash that flashes and emits a terrifying bark whenever it likes to - usually when a car is turning left in front of you; and the lane departure warning system is, arguably, superfluous.

Honourable mention to the other superfluous feature of the XC60 though: the radio tuner. That's right; perhaps in a nod to Volvo's traditional audience, the XC60 will allow you to use a rotary dial to manually find a radio frequency. How quaint. The rear view mirror also tells you your direction of travel - useful if you find yourself lost at sea, perhaps while trying to find a signal for Radio Falklands.

Engine & Transmission:

The five-cylinder D5 diesel engine fitted to our test car certainly sounds the part, with its deep, expanding high-rev growl, but it does nothing below 2,000rpm, which really hinders its flexibility. The 2.4-litre unit has 295lb.ft of torque and 183bhp, but the former figure comes between 2,000- and 2,750rpm, when really we'd like it to do that at least 500rpm earlier. Get it in its narrow power band and its 9.0-second 0-62mph time feels about right, but outside that zone it's a big flat disappointment. Economy is ok though; we struggled to get the fuel gauge to move much during our week with the car, making its 37.7mpg figure seem almost conservative with CO₂ of 199g/km reasonable too, given the XC60's size.

There's nothing particularly noteworthy about the six-speed manual transmission, which is a positive thing because it does its job admirably, with a tight feel across the gate. It's a good job too, because you'll find you're using it more than you'd like to ideally, again because of that lack of torque below 2,000rpm.

Ride & Handling:

The XC60 really does excel in the ride and handling stakes, and it's on this basis that it stakes a claim - albeit a very mild one - as a coupé-SUV crossover. Basically, there's far more grip and far less body roll than you'd assume given its proportions, making it feel much smaller - and much more enjoyable - than many cars of this ilk. In any situation, be it on the motorway or covering the crack-strewn concrete of the nursery run, the XC60 is composed and refined. Wind gush and tyre rumble are minimal and the harshness of even the harshest surfaces is resolved before it transmits into the cabin as disturbance. An abundance of feel there isn't, obviously, but surprising amount of cornering composure there is.

Obviously it's not actually a coupé, but the highest praise you can give the XC60 is that it's much more entertaining to drive than you might expect either a Volvo or an SUV to be.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

This Volvo sits slightly below the premium players rather than vying to compete with them like-for-like, which pragmatically means it offers more equipment at a slightly cheaper price. So, while it competes with the likes of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5, it has more parity with the Land Rover Freelander 2.

To buy a car identical to our test mule will set you back a whopping £33,985, but it's furnished with a comprehensive raft of optional extras, including £2,000's worth of satnav, £1,000's worth of surround sound and £650's worth of 18-inch alloy wheels. Choose your options wisely and it's easy to keep things under £30k, which seems reasonable. Avoid metallic paint though - £775 for silver is pure extortion.

We've already been through economy, so let's not go there again apart from to say it's more than adequate, but another notable highlight of the Volvo (particularly for family buyers) is its aura of safety. Airbags abound and it has a system that will brake for you if it detects you're about to crash below 19mph and haven't noticed. The BLIS blind spot warning system, which utilises a light mounted on the A-pillar at each side, is brilliantly effective too. And the instrument binnacle - the cover of which Volvo claims was modelled on Sean Connery's raised eyebrow when he played 007 (yes, seriously) - has the clearest, least distracting layout you'll come across.

Overall:

Volvo's XC60 is almost the consummate family SUV, let down only by the faint whiff of dullness, a few cabin foibles and its lacklustre engine. Ride and handling are its major strengths, but it looks splendid too, is comfortable and offers a very credible alternative to the usual premium players. It has clearly been designed as an on-road (rather than off-road) family car, which is the sensible thing, because, honestly, how many of these things ever venture anywhere near a flowerbed, let alone a mild muddy incline? In summary, the XC60 has been very well conceived and executed, and it's highly recommended.