Volvo XC40 review - TopCarNews

Overview
What is it?
That’s a lot of competition…
What’s the interior like?
How does it drive?
Is it practical for a family?
Our choice from the range
What's the verdict?
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
Volkswagen Tiguan
BMW X1
Driving
What is it like to drive?
What are the engines like?
Is the XC40 a comfortable car?
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
What’s the tech like?
Is the XC40 practical?
Buying
What should I be paying?
What are the specs like?
Which one should I go for?

Overview

What is it?

This is the XC40, Volvo’s entry model – or at least it was until the EX30 electric SUV came along. It’s been on sale since 2017, with a careful facelift introduced in 2022 to keep things fresh. In theory it’s a compact SUV, but it’s actually quite big when you’re standing next to one. It’s a very competitive bit of the market, this. You can’t put any old tat on sale.

Up against the petite (ish) Volvo are the Mercedes GLA, Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Range Rover Evoque. You’ve also got the likes of the Lexus NX, Volkswagen Tiguan, Mazda CX-5 or DS 7 as vaguely left-field choices.

That’s a lot of competition…

What can we say, people love their compact family SUVs. They can all get a bit same-y, though, so if you have trouble telling your BMW X1s from your X3s and X5s, you’ll note Volvo hasn’t taken the same approach to its design.

The Swedes have gone to the trouble of making the XC40 look different to the other cars in the range, though it remains distinctively Volvo. It has an angular, relatively small side glass area, and stretched cut-outs in the lower body side. Fashionable two-tone paint schemes also feature prominently in the configurator.

What’s the interior like?

Inside, it’s also colourful (if you want it to be). Visual options run the gamut up to (and including) red carpet on the floor and lower doors. Having seen past that shock, you’ll find it’s usefully roomy and practical. The cabin and boot have several clever ideas to keep your bits and pieces organised and stop them slithering about.

The XC40 doesn’t use a shrunk version of the XC60/XC90 structure and suspension, either. The XC40 sits on parent company Geely’s CMA (compact modular architecture) platform, which has been designed for maximum space efficiency and took into account from the beginning upcoming EV powertrains.

How does it drive?

Unlike many of its rivals, the XC40 has no pretensions of offering a ‘car-like’ driving experience. Rather, it offers more of a mini large SUV experience, leaning into the format rather than trying to disguise it. You get smooth road manners and imperious float from the high ride, though the car still corners fairly flatly through bends.

The combustion engines in the standard car are limited to a mild-hybrid 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol engine in two states of tune –161bhp and 194bhp. These are badged B3 and B4 respectively, the former getting you to 62mph from a stop in 8.6 seconds and the latter doing it a second quicker. Both are limited to 112mph top speeds (as is Volvo’s policy these days) and are officially rated at 42.2mpg. The 48V mild hybrid system amounts to extended stop-start capability and some faint electric boost.

Is it practical for a family?

The XC40 has more about it in terms of day to day family running than anything from the likes of Audi or Mercedes. The cabin storage is useful, you’ll appreciate the little plugs and hooks about the place and access to the seats is pretty good. Likewise there’s a bit of trickery in the boot that makes it more practical for loose loads of shopping too. It would get cramped for five adults, but there’s decent space for kids, even if they might prefer a better view out.

The XC40 is an upright and solid SUV rather than pretending too hard to be a car-like crossover. Volvo has made something nicely distinctive here. That’s helped by the fact the values of an SUV correspond with many of the values of Volvo. It’s a comfy drive that imparts a sense of all-weather security. It keeps you calm rather than goading you into vigorous cornering, but if you insist it won’t go to pieces.

The cabin is extremely well organised and practical, with some handy storage ideas that really work. It’s also roomy and well made. The electric version is well worth a look too, but it’s quite expensive in comparison.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

As long as your expectations are kept suitably in check then the XC40 is a perfectly acceptable drive – it’s certainly not a barrel of laughs, though. The steering has been given strong anaesthesia, and you won’t find much interaction between throttle and cornering line.

But the point is, if you want that sort of tyre-stressing fun, an SUV is the wrong place to find it. You want a car with a lower centre of gravity. An estate (which Volvo doesn’t sell in the UK anymore, of course).

The XC40 instead has a tidy and relaxing chassis that does exactly what a SUV should. It’s comfortable to be in and at ease with itself. Acoustic comfort is well taken care of, too. There’s little wind noise or racket from the tyres. It’s a peaceful cruiser.

Off motorways, and away from roads at all, the XC40 isn’t a Land Rover or Jeep, but it does have a useful measure of bad-surface smarts. The tyres are chunkily treaded. Approach and departure angles aren’t bad, there’s 210mm of ground clearance, and you can switch to an off-road calibration for the powertrain and ESP.

What are the engines like?

Well, technically it’s just the one engine – a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4cyl petrol available with 161bhp or 194bhp. You can get whatever transmission you like (as long as it’s a seven-speed automatic) and the combustion-engined version of the XC40 is front-wheel drive only.

It’s a serviceable motor with no particular character, but that’s on par with much of the driving experience here. You’re not here to be wowed by the drive, more soothed by the Swedish ambience. The 0–62mph run takes 8.6 seconds in the B3; 7.6 seconds in the B4. Years ago that would have been fairly rapid, but these days not so much – there’s enough in reserve if you get into trouble and have to mash the throttle, though you’d have to wait for the gearbox to rouse itself from daydreaming.

All the XC40 models are rated at 152g/km CO2 and 42.2mpg. The latter isn’t particularly achievable, expect more like mid-30s over a tank of mixed driving. There’s no diesel available here, so the full EV is your economical option.

Is the XC40 a comfortable car?

It’s a respectably smooth drive, the XC40. The 19in wheels of the Ultimate trim do hamper that a smidge, but running out through the suburbs, the suspension bears you along in superb repose, with supple springing and quiet tyres.

When you add a bit of speed, the body movements tend towards the floaty. Which makes you expect the whole assembly is going to turn into a flubby mess as soon as you try a bit of brisk cornering, but body roll is kept admirably in check.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

We like that Volvo ploughs its own furrow when it comes to interior design: it’s Scandi cool in here rather than chintzy or fussy. The air vents stand out from the dash and the garnish strips are scalloped out of the main surface. They’re also top-lit, and come in chequerboard machined aluminium as an alternative to birch-forest natural-matte wood.

Rather than covering the doors entirely in leather (or fake leather), Volvo wraps a major section of the XC40’s door in a fuzzy material colour matched to the carpet. Refreshingly bold or revoltingly barmy? We think the former.

What’s the tech like?

All versions get a large 9.0-inch central screen with Google Maps, which is nice because you’d probably be using it anyway. You can download other apps like Waze too if you like that sort of thing. There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto if you insist.

As always with Volvo’s touchscreen system (which runs off Google’s Android setup), it’s got nice graphics and understandable menus. But easy to fathom isn’t the same as easy to use. Many functions demand a series of multiple screen-presses, which is hard to do when you’re bouncing down the road.

None of it can be done by haptics alone, so you have to take your eyes off the driving. Changing the aircon settings can get particularly fussy, and more actual switches would help. That said, Google’s voice commands work better than on most other cars’ systems we’ve tried, but they’re still not going to replace good old fashioned finger jabs.

Is the XC40 practical?

The front seats are decent for long trips, with plenty of adjustability and a nice upright position that gives you a good view over the wide, flat bonnet. Despite the relative size of the XC40 it’s still best suited to carrying four people rather than five. There’s decent legroom in the back, but the middle seat is affected by the raised tunnel moving from front to rear.

There’s a decent amount of cabin storage and it’s all very thoughtfully put together – you get a nifty little curry hook in the front passenger footwell, for instance. Kids might feel a little short-changed at the stylistic flourish that kicks up the rear window line through the back doors, somewhat cutting off their ability to look out the window.

Out back, you get 443 litres of space in the boot with the seats up and 1,319 litres of space with the seats knocked down. That’s a bit smaller than the BMW X1 and Range Rover Evoque, but on par with the Audi Q3 and Mercedes CLA.

The boot floor does a clever origami up-fold that divides the boot into two, making a deep trough to stop shopping bags toppling. The parcel shelf fits under the floor too. The sort of boring stuff that doesn’t sell a car, but does make it easier to live with.

Buying

What should I be paying?

There are three trim levels of XC40 available: Core, Plus and Ultimate. Core is only available from £35,895 with the lesser-powered B3 petrol. The other two trims are available with both B3 and B4 petrols, Plus starting at £39,445 and the Ultimate B4 model topping out at £45,520.

Volvo has a subscription service that costs £825 a month for 10,000 miles a year in the XC40 B3 Plus. Its only virtue seems to be an annual tyre check and service, plus you can get another car after three months… the same car over 36 months on Volvo’s PCP scheme with a £5,000 deposit would cost you £518 a month.

What are the specs like?

The Core cars come well equipped as standard, with 18in wheels, cruise control, keyless go, auto LED headlights, 12.3in digital instrument panel, heated front seats and rear parking sensors.

Plus gets you keyless entry, heated windscreen, steering wheel and outer rear seats, handsfree tailgate opening and front parking sensors. Ultimate does what it says on the tin with fancy sound system, adaptive cruise control, 19in wheels and panoramic glass sunroof.

Which one should I go for?

If you’re looking at an XC40 and you’re a company car driver we’d suggest swerving the combustion range entirely and looking towards the virtues of the XC40 Recharge. The range is decent and you get all the goodness of the standard car. It’s expensive if you’re buying with your own money though.

The mid-range B3 Plus model is probably the sweet spot – the sunroof and sound system on the Ultimate are great, but probably not worth tipping over into the £390 VED penalty bracket for cars that cost over £40k.