The Luxury Appeal of Volvo's XC60 Cross Country

When it comes to luxury vehicles, many drivers are drawn to brands like Audi and BMW that offer a unique blend of performance, comfort, and style. However, for those who crave a cleaner aesthetic without sacrificing on substance, the Volvo XC60 Cross Country is an attractive option. With its sleek design and emphasis on luxury features, this car is poised to appeal to a specific type of buyer.

One of the key reasons why buyers may be drawn to the XC60 Cross Country is its similarity in style to high-end SUVs like those offered by Audi and Cadillac. While Volvo's previous attempts at creating an off-road capable vehicle have been met with mixed results, this latest iteration seems to strike a better balance between luxury and ruggedness. With its variable gear ratio steering rack, trans tuning, and advanced all-wheel drive system, the XC60 Cross Country is more than capable of handling challenging terrain.

However, for those who value consistency in their driving experience, there may be some drawbacks to consider. The car's suspension, while improved over previous models, still lacks the refinement that drivers of Audi and BMW vehicles have come to expect. Additionally, the electronic part of the driving experience can feel somewhat lacking, particularly when compared to more established brands.

Despite these limitations, the XC60 Cross Country has its strengths. For one, it offers a clean aesthetic that is free from unnecessary embellishments or flashy trim pieces. This focus on understated design creates a sense of timelessness that sets it apart from other luxury vehicles in its class. Additionally, the car's interior features some of the best seats and audio systems available, making it an excellent choice for those who value comfort and entertainment.

Ultimately, the XC60 Cross Country is not for everyone. For drivers who prioritize performance, handling, or advanced technology, this vehicle may not be the best fit. However, for those who are willing to overlook some of its limitations in favor of a clean design, luxury features, and exceptional interior amenities, it is an attractive option.

Subaru Owners Considered

While Volvo's XC60 Cross Country is primarily marketed towards drivers who prioritize style and luxury over off-road capability, there may be some Subaru owners who find themselves drawn to this vehicle. For those tired of Subaru's more utilitarian designs and wanting a more premium driving experience, the XC60 Cross Country offers an alternative.

However, it's worth noting that Volvo's architecture is vastly outdated compared to what German manufacturers are achieving in their own vehicles. The Audi A4 and A6 wagons, for example, offer a significantly more refined ride quality than the XC60 Cross Country. Additionally, while Volvo has made strides in improving its suspension design, there may still be some jounce or stiffness present that is not ideal for drivers.

BMW Alternatives

One potential alternative to the XC60 Cross Country is the BMW 3 Series wagon. Available in both diesel and gasoline variants, this vehicle offers a range of engine options, including the desirable inline-6 cylinder units found in the B58 model. The 3 Series wagon also boasts superior fuel economy compared to the XC60 Cross Country, as well as improved handling and ride quality.

For drivers who prioritize comfort, performance, and technology, there is little reason to consider the Volvo XC60 Cross Country. However, for those who value a clean aesthetic and a luxurious interior experience without sacrificing on practicality, this vehicle may be worth considering.

Safety Features

While the XC60 Cross Country's driving experience may not be as refined as some other luxury vehicles, its safety credentials are hard to match. With its robust body structure and advanced airbag system, this car is capable of withstanding even the most challenging impacts without sustaining significant damage. This makes it an excellent choice for drivers who prioritize safety above all else.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, while the Volvo XC60 Cross Country may not be perfect in every regard, it has a certain appeal that sets it apart from more established luxury brands. With its clean aesthetic, exceptional interior amenities, and robust safety features, this vehicle is an attractive option for drivers who value substance over flash. While there are certainly limitations to consider, particularly when compared to Audi and BMW vehicles, the XC60 Cross Country is ultimately a solid choice for those in the market for a luxury SUV that prioritizes style, comfort, and practicality.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe're taking a look at the 2023 Volvo V60 cross country B5 with all-wheel drive now we've covered almost every single Volvo product at this point but this is one of the very few wagons you can get in the United States so it is a standout so we're going to cover some of the stuff in the shop and mostly the interior when you look at this car on the outside and just take a look at the overall proportions it is classic it is almost got this Timeless look that's not going to age horribly they don't do over styling here and I think that's a huge draw it has a sense of Elegance when you get on the inside of the ultimate package which this is equipped with leather top Dash you get more premium materials you get ventilated seats you get the 360 camera and you of course you get something like the air purification system which you can see on the infotainment and while Volvo is very self-serious about all their features I am not now there are some other things that are added here that make this 63 000 which is crazy but one is the Bowers and Wilkins system which is 3 200 and that is expensive I will tell you we've tested all the Bauer systems and the Volvos and objectively and subjectively they are some of the best on the planet regardless of price point that's because they start with a very neutral base so if you set this up to driver focus and you turn off all the DSP settings it is as accurate as you can possibly get a car to sound without spending a kajillion dollars and from there you can really tweak the EQ to your liking it is just amazing if you love music just option it now there's other things like the wheel and tire package which adds like twenty two hundred dollars don't do it you know try to keep the price under 60 000 and I think you're gonna be happy here the seats are amazing they are a standout again with a ultimate package you're getting the heated and cooling you're not getting massage the adjustability is great and most of the core functions and the physical switches feel very high quality in here now of course there is piano black all over the place watching like all these generation of cars and the infotainment has moved to Android automotive which is a mixed bag the screen quality is definitely lagging behind in terms of like DPI and Clarity and brightness and the usability is quite convoluted even though they've tried to skin this to look like the old Volvo census stuff things just don't work as they should like my Android phone doesn't work properly or doesn't connect to Android automotive all the time and I've tried three different Android phones on this thing and it's always the same like laggy connection and you know your maps are so shrunk and dumb so there are like pitfalls of the the older technology they're trying to jam in here but I think if you just leave it as is you're going to like it I mean there are some great things about this car and like everything there's pros and cons but we're gonna head in the shop we're going to talk about some of the mechanical things that they've changed here you ready to go cross country Jack damn straight I am this is the V60 cross country and because of reasons this does not have the air ride that the media page talked about this is still on Spa which is a global platform which is about 400 years old it is double Wishbone front multi-link rear and it has a single leaf spring in the back yeah it looks good that was for packaging by the way there's not too many manufacturers that do that but it enables them to have a lower load floor in the cargo hold area among other things in terms of complexity of design but when you add air ride it does add air Springs so it does get rid of that part of it so it is a modular architecture that they can scale out we've seen the boat like XC90 all the way down to 60s the big thing here is the big change is their new mild hybrid setup Jack tell me about it it's a 48 volt system it's a four cylinder I essentially view this as a holdover until Volvo can finally kill all of their internal combustion engines it's fine returns good fuel economy it makes mid 200 in Horsepower and it goes through an 8-speed automatic and this still has Volvo's standard all-wheel drive system or at least standard to the V60 cross country the one thing I will say about this is hopefully the B5 drivetrain is more reliable than their t8s and t6s and t5s of yesteryear I know we haven't really talked about Mark's XC90 but that thing broke all the time and I don't have the most faith in this but well you're you're reducing complication here because it's not really a full-blown hybrid with a large battery pack and Electric Generators and it doesn't have the plug-in aspect it doesn't have the supercharger this is just a straight 2-liter turbocharged unit with a 48 volt system with that integrated starter generator that you know for start stop and all that that improves efficiency so you should be better off with this in terms of also Engine Tuning it just feels it should feel smoother than trying to you know I would take this over the T8 anymore oh my God yeah or even in in my regard the T6 I would rather have this I think the less is more with this current generation Volvo but I mean they've done a great job with this body structure even though it's older you'll notice interior exterior is held up very well and it's still one of the safest platforms on the road so if that's what you value that's still here that that hasn't changed so let's get this on the road Jack and see how it drives all right let's do it back in a Volvo Mark is this one going to break down on us no four cylinders mild hybrid reasonable trans tuning let's talk about the four cylinder briefly before we get into the Volvo stuff okay so we complain about this and we just complained about it on the RX how the four cylinder has this rattly ass nature to it doesn't sound or feel premium for the price right when you're paying fifty to sixty thousand dollars the last thing I want to hear is some shitty twenty thousand dollar sounding four-cylinder Volvo does a really good job at doing two things reducing vibration and harshness so from like a dead stop if you sit at idle Volvo does one of the best jobs if you think the car is off that's how good it is and obviously with start stop not going you know the engine running you feel very little if nothing vibration wise the sound of the engine as well you don't hear the shitty turbo noise you don't hear high-pitched noise you don't hear rattliness from it they've done a really good job isolating it out and the trans tuning is also very smooth it's one of the least offensive four cylinders despite it not being them it just sounds like Machinery in the background motivating a transportation pod correct because that's honestly what this thing is it looks alright it has a good audio system actually a great audio system really comfortable seats and it's pretty quiet but past that any sort of driver inputs the steering is beyond dead it's not particularly direct the brake and the throttle are reasonably well calibrated and the transmission you never feel unless like what I just did you go full throttle and you can sort of feel the torque converter and shifts yeah but but past that it is just a transportation pod Volvo did not spend any time with sharpness in trans tuning Drive modes any of that stuff here they do not care about like that's the last thing they cared about here so to me I look at this as a pure like luxury Appliance and I want to say luxury Loosely but you're not going to be thinking about oh is it have a variable gear ratio steering rack is the trans tuning changing what's the suspension doing it always feels the same no matter what you do and I like that level consistency because let's be honest the person that is buying this is looking for the cleanliness the the kind of a clean aesthetic that this car and the Driving Experience delivers that's why I personally like it and I think it's a really good modern design without being cheesy I think the person who's buying a V60 cross country has an aversion SUVs yeah and wants to be slightly different because Volvo like Jag and Cadillac have kind of become that Outsider luxury brand a lot of people don't buy these things for one reason or another I think if you look at it objectively in specifically the United States you have almost no competitors you have the A4 and the A6 and the E-class past that there's really nothing you know who would love this is Subaru owners that are tired of Subaru like wagons and Outbacks and then have money and don't want like a kind of that shitty box style interior space this does almost all that same stuff that the that the Subarus do it's not as off road out off-rodie of course but I like this this style that they're trying to go for but this architecture and we talked about in the shop is vastly dated compared to what the Germans are doing when you get into the Audi equivalents like the A4 a6s the wagons of the sedans or even the BMWs they have not figured out how to do suspension here it's still got that like jounciness to it and I know you have a leaf spring back end or a composite leaf spring design so that hurts but even their air ride is not good as we found out in the XC90 it just they're always behind in ride quality I have a general aversion of Volvo particularly after what you dealt with in the XC90 and I know you're going to do a video on it talking about that and the X7 but I think if you are not an American and you live say in the UK where you can get a 3 Series wagon there's no reason to buy this car you're better off with the BMW particularly if you can get a six cylinder the b-58 in every aspect it gets good fuel economy the train trans tunings better it handles better I don't think this is particularly all that soft but the A6 is more comfortable than this because it's got air ride yeah it is hard dude I mean like you're talking about a smaller manufacturer compared to the Germans they don't have the cycles of learning so they are behind in many cases um and but I think that they did it just good enough so the average driver the person that really likes what Volvo's Rings was able because you got to remember safety and all that stuff that they're really really good at body structure wise you could get hit by something even hit by a semi and that would be fine right so there's that element if you don't care about the drivetrain stuff and you don't expect the Pinnacle of handling and ride quality are the most advanced all-wheel drive system that's another one there's literally no settings for any of that this is just all you get in here and you drive it there's nothing to dick with aside from the infotainment this is a transportation pod that gets in our existence or sorry our test Loop 26 miles per gallon it's quite it's comfortable it's got great seats and a good audio system that's what you prioritize and you don't want to be an in an Audi or BMW you you buy this thing I'll give you that dude I'm not even gonna argue it I mean it's true I win you won this one so with that Mark let's get into the final thoughts all right final thoughts on the cross country I think we said it during the drive I've said it during the interior you're buying this because you're a certain type of person that likes a clean aesthetic a more Timeless aesthetic and somebody that just wants no essentially because really that's what it is you get in this and drive it and you're not really thinking about anything else once you get used to the electronic part of it it's not the best riding it doesn't have the best drivetrain it doesn't have the best electronics but it does have one of the best audio systems that has one of the best seats it has some of the best interior designs so like every car there are literal trade-offs because this B5 has the lesser of the engine platforms with just the turbocharger hopefully it'll be a bit more reliable as well I'm going to leave it at that we'll see you next videowe're taking a look at the 2023 Volvo V60 cross country B5 with all-wheel drive now we've covered almost every single Volvo product at this point but this is one of the very few wagons you can get in the United States so it is a standout so we're going to cover some of the stuff in the shop and mostly the interior when you look at this car on the outside and just take a look at the overall proportions it is classic it is almost got this Timeless look that's not going to age horribly they don't do over styling here and I think that's a huge draw it has a sense of Elegance when you get on the inside of the ultimate package which this is equipped with leather top Dash you get more premium materials you get ventilated seats you get the 360 camera and you of course you get something like the air purification system which you can see on the infotainment and while Volvo is very self-serious about all their features I am not now there are some other things that are added here that make this 63 000 which is crazy but one is the Bowers and Wilkins system which is 3 200 and that is expensive I will tell you we've tested all the Bauer systems and the Volvos and objectively and subjectively they are some of the best on the planet regardless of price point that's because they start with a very neutral base so if you set this up to driver focus and you turn off all the DSP settings it is as accurate as you can possibly get a car to sound without spending a kajillion dollars and from there you can really tweak the EQ to your liking it is just amazing if you love music just option it now there's other things like the wheel and tire package which adds like twenty two hundred dollars don't do it you know try to keep the price under 60 000 and I think you're gonna be happy here the seats are amazing they are a standout again with a ultimate package you're getting the heated and cooling you're not getting massage the adjustability is great and most of the core functions and the physical switches feel very high quality in here now of course there is piano black all over the place watching like all these generation of cars and the infotainment has moved to Android automotive which is a mixed bag the screen quality is definitely lagging behind in terms of like DPI and Clarity and brightness and the usability is quite convoluted even though they've tried to skin this to look like the old Volvo census stuff things just don't work as they should like my Android phone doesn't work properly or doesn't connect to Android automotive all the time and I've tried three different Android phones on this thing and it's always the same like laggy connection and you know your maps are so shrunk and dumb so there are like pitfalls of the the older technology they're trying to jam in here but I think if you just leave it as is you're going to like it I mean there are some great things about this car and like everything there's pros and cons but we're gonna head in the shop we're going to talk about some of the mechanical things that they've changed here you ready to go cross country Jack damn straight I am this is the V60 cross country and because of reasons this does not have the air ride that the media page talked about this is still on Spa which is a global platform which is about 400 years old it is double Wishbone front multi-link rear and it has a single leaf spring in the back yeah it looks good that was for packaging by the way there's not too many manufacturers that do that but it enables them to have a lower load floor in the cargo hold area among other things in terms of complexity of design but when you add air ride it does add air Springs so it does get rid of that part of it so it is a modular architecture that they can scale out we've seen the boat like XC90 all the way down to 60s the big thing here is the big change is their new mild hybrid setup Jack tell me about it it's a 48 volt system it's a four cylinder I essentially view this as a holdover until Volvo can finally kill all of their internal combustion engines it's fine returns good fuel economy it makes mid 200 in Horsepower and it goes through an 8-speed automatic and this still has Volvo's standard all-wheel drive system or at least standard to the V60 cross country the one thing I will say about this is hopefully the B5 drivetrain is more reliable than their t8s and t6s and t5s of yesteryear I know we haven't really talked about Mark's XC90 but that thing broke all the time and I don't have the most faith in this but well you're you're reducing complication here because it's not really a full-blown hybrid with a large battery pack and Electric Generators and it doesn't have the plug-in aspect it doesn't have the supercharger this is just a straight 2-liter turbocharged unit with a 48 volt system with that integrated starter generator that you know for start stop and all that that improves efficiency so you should be better off with this in terms of also Engine Tuning it just feels it should feel smoother than trying to you know I would take this over the T8 anymore oh my God yeah or even in in my regard the T6 I would rather have this I think the less is more with this current generation Volvo but I mean they've done a great job with this body structure even though it's older you'll notice interior exterior is held up very well and it's still one of the safest platforms on the road so if that's what you value that's still here that that hasn't changed so let's get this on the road Jack and see how it drives all right let's do it back in a Volvo Mark is this one going to break down on us no four cylinders mild hybrid reasonable trans tuning let's talk about the four cylinder briefly before we get into the Volvo stuff okay so we complain about this and we just complained about it on the RX how the four cylinder has this rattly ass nature to it doesn't sound or feel premium for the price right when you're paying fifty to sixty thousand dollars the last thing I want to hear is some shitty twenty thousand dollar sounding four-cylinder Volvo does a really good job at doing two things reducing vibration and harshness so from like a dead stop if you sit at idle Volvo does one of the best jobs if you think the car is off that's how good it is and obviously with start stop not going you know the engine running you feel very little if nothing vibration wise the sound of the engine as well you don't hear the shitty turbo noise you don't hear high-pitched noise you don't hear rattliness from it they've done a really good job isolating it out and the trans tuning is also very smooth it's one of the least offensive four cylinders despite it not being them it just sounds like Machinery in the background motivating a transportation pod correct because that's honestly what this thing is it looks alright it has a good audio system actually a great audio system really comfortable seats and it's pretty quiet but past that any sort of driver inputs the steering is beyond dead it's not particularly direct the brake and the throttle are reasonably well calibrated and the transmission you never feel unless like what I just did you go full throttle and you can sort of feel the torque converter and shifts yeah but but past that it is just a transportation pod Volvo did not spend any time with sharpness in trans tuning Drive modes any of that stuff here they do not care about like that's the last thing they cared about here so to me I look at this as a pure like luxury Appliance and I want to say luxury Loosely but you're not going to be thinking about oh is it have a variable gear ratio steering rack is the trans tuning changing what's the suspension doing it always feels the same no matter what you do and I like that level consistency because let's be honest the person that is buying this is looking for the cleanliness the the kind of a clean aesthetic that this car and the Driving Experience delivers that's why I personally like it and I think it's a really good modern design without being cheesy I think the person who's buying a V60 cross country has an aversion SUVs yeah and wants to be slightly different because Volvo like Jag and Cadillac have kind of become that Outsider luxury brand a lot of people don't buy these things for one reason or another I think if you look at it objectively in specifically the United States you have almost no competitors you have the A4 and the A6 and the E-class past that there's really nothing you know who would love this is Subaru owners that are tired of Subaru like wagons and Outbacks and then have money and don't want like a kind of that shitty box style interior space this does almost all that same stuff that the that the Subarus do it's not as off road out off-rodie of course but I like this this style that they're trying to go for but this architecture and we talked about in the shop is vastly dated compared to what the Germans are doing when you get into the Audi equivalents like the A4 a6s the wagons of the sedans or even the BMWs they have not figured out how to do suspension here it's still got that like jounciness to it and I know you have a leaf spring back end or a composite leaf spring design so that hurts but even their air ride is not good as we found out in the XC90 it just they're always behind in ride quality I have a general aversion of Volvo particularly after what you dealt with in the XC90 and I know you're going to do a video on it talking about that and the X7 but I think if you are not an American and you live say in the UK where you can get a 3 Series wagon there's no reason to buy this car you're better off with the BMW particularly if you can get a six cylinder the b-58 in every aspect it gets good fuel economy the train trans tunings better it handles better I don't think this is particularly all that soft but the A6 is more comfortable than this because it's got air ride yeah it is hard dude I mean like you're talking about a smaller manufacturer compared to the Germans they don't have the cycles of learning so they are behind in many cases um and but I think that they did it just good enough so the average driver the person that really likes what Volvo's Rings was able because you got to remember safety and all that stuff that they're really really good at body structure wise you could get hit by something even hit by a semi and that would be fine right so there's that element if you don't care about the drivetrain stuff and you don't expect the Pinnacle of handling and ride quality are the most advanced all-wheel drive system that's another one there's literally no settings for any of that this is just all you get in here and you drive it there's nothing to dick with aside from the infotainment this is a transportation pod that gets in our existence or sorry our test Loop 26 miles per gallon it's quite it's comfortable it's got great seats and a good audio system that's what you prioritize and you don't want to be an in an Audi or BMW you you buy this thing I'll give you that dude I'm not even gonna argue it I mean it's true I win you won this one so with that Mark let's get into the final thoughts all right final thoughts on the cross country I think we said it during the drive I've said it during the interior you're buying this because you're a certain type of person that likes a clean aesthetic a more Timeless aesthetic and somebody that just wants no essentially because really that's what it is you get in this and drive it and you're not really thinking about anything else once you get used to the electronic part of it it's not the best riding it doesn't have the best drivetrain it doesn't have the best electronics but it does have one of the best audio systems that has one of the best seats it has some of the best interior designs so like every car there are literal trade-offs because this B5 has the lesser of the engine platforms with just the turbocharger hopefully it'll be a bit more reliable as well I'm going to leave it at that we'll see you next video\n"