Makes and Models
2019 Volvo XC40 R-Design Launch Edition.
Volvo has come a long way from the boxy look of twenty years ago. Like most other brands they’ve moved into into the SUV market with gusto and their latest, the XC40, was launched here in Australia in May. We drive the top of the range R-Design with Launch Edition packaging.
It’s a similar external design to its XC60 and XC90 siblings with one marked difference. There’s a sharp angle to the rear of the XC40 that kinks up from the door. Nope, it doesn’t mean rear seat headroom is compromised. A good six foot plus passenger will fit in there nicely. The R-Design offers a colour combination choice inside and out so here there can be buyer customisation.
It’s a classy look in the supplied vehicles white body and black roof combination, LED driving lights in the now classic “Hammer of Thor” design that’s embedded into a LED/bending headlight combination. The signature Volvo tail light clusters are LED lit and both ends look superb at night balancing the LEDs in the doors. Embedded in the bonnet’s shut line on the driver’s side is a small rubber Swedish flag that commemorates the Launch Edition. Factor in LED downlights in the door handles and at night it’s a striking look.
Power is provided by a silky smooth 2.0L turbocharged petrol engine mated to a eight speed auto. Peak power is 185kW, that’s at 5500rpm, so it’s the 350Nm of twist that makes this thing work. Yep, it’s a standard amount of torque for this size of engine, but it’s the spread over three thousand revs which really sings. It’s on tap from 1800 to 4800 and meshed with perfect ratios the XC40 R-Design is one of the most usable, driver friendly, cars around. It’s a pity that engines are hidden under a plastic shroud now.
The XC40, like most cars now, is a keyless start vehicle. Open the door and the full LCD dash screen lights up, highlights a system checklist, and awaits the driver’s input. Foot on the brake, press the dash mounted starter, and the engines comes to life. Volvo have gone for a rocker gear gear selector, not a traditional gate style. Once the driver realises it’s a forward/backwards motion and the gears selected (Reverse, Neutral, Drive) show in the right hand dash dial, either a press of the electric parking brake or a gentle stab of the go pedal has the XC40 underway.
There’s a Stop/Start system fitted and as effective as it is on shutdown, it’s not completely smooth on startup. Each and every time the engine kicked in the car would lurch, even with the brake pedal depressed. It’s a minor but annoying glitch. Ease away and there’s a bare whisper of engine and the faintest slur felt as the eight speeder does its thing. Plant the right hoof and the XC40’s all wheel drive system grips and slingshots the car forward. Volvo quote just 6.4 seconds for the 0-100 km/ sprint and that may be a touch conservative.
There’s three different notes to the XC40 R-Design. A gentle throttle has the machine move along quietly, almost electric car like. Mid throttle and there’s a purr from up front. The transmission is more noticeable in its changes yet as smooth as calm water. Mode three is when the accelerator is used in anger. That purr becomes a muted snarl, a hint of real aggression comes out, and the changes are sharper, snappier, edgier. It’s an assertive feeling and one the XC40 R-Design revels in.
The XC40 is suspended on the proven combination of MacPherson strut front and multilink rear. They by themselves mean a good ride. There’s sports tuned dampers and 20 inch alloys to consider. Whoa! 20 inch alloys? And Pirelli P-Zero 245/45 rubber? Doesn’t that mean a hard and uncomfortable ride?
Nej. (Swedish for no). Irrespective of road condition it’s supple, pliant, resilient. There’s no bump-thump, no suspension crash, it’s a magic carpet ride. Just ahead of the rocker gear selector is a button for the four drive modes, of which one is Off-Road. This is as likely to be used as Elvis reappearing after 41 years. Tap it though and it changes the look of the dials in the driver binnacle.
Actual road noise is also negligible. There’s sufficient insulation as it is inside the XC40. A nice, and sneaky, touch, is the amount of marine grade carpet fitted to the door trims. Intended to provide some grip and support for bottles it also doubles as sound deadening. It’s indicative of the careful thought that has gone into the planning of the XC40. The actual interior handles are subtly spaced away from the door trim to allow for easier pulling. The sound stage has been improved thanks to the simple expedient of relocating some of the drivers. Even the door ‘s arm rests inside have a redesign allowing taller bottles and better ergonomic access when opening and closing.
The cargo area is accessed via touch tab or a kick sensor. Normally these tend to be literally hit and miss. The XC40 R-Design’s sensor is a little more carefully calibrated and worked with a proper forward/back kicking motion, not a swipe to the left. The same kicking motion will close it up too.
On-road manners are almost superb. I say almost because the steering feels over-assisted and at speed there’s a subtle feeling of twitchiness. Perhaps it’s more related to that aforementioned steering but the XC40 R-Design never truly felt 100% composed on the road. Liken the feeling to having a well trained pup that’s constantly pulling at the lead and you’ll get the idea. Having said that there’s also no lack of confidence in the grip level. There’s plenty of both long sweeping corners and tightening radius curves in which to play in, and the Pirelli rubber shows why it’s famous. The words “tenacious grip” spring to mind and coupled with that sports style suspension the XC40 R-Design can be punted fluidly and hard. Road manners are otherwise spot on.
The interior is typical Volvo. That means fit, finish, feel is just right. There’s a hint of old school Cadillac to the flattish dash and Caddy tail-light inspired air vents.The R-Design throws in a smartphone wireless charging pad, a pair of USB ports for the front seats, one for the rear, and heating all around via the three screen touchscreen. That’s typical Volvo and as intuitive as they can be after a bit of familiarisation, a timer to revert to a home screen would be preferred. However there’s no complaints about the sound. the R-Design has Harman Kardon sound and there’s plenty of bass, plus a clarity and depth rarely heard in cars. There’s also a 360 degree camera setup and it looks absolute fantastic. It’s in high definition too so clarity for the driver makes for easier movement.
The R-Design comes with six external colour choices including a startling Fusion Red Metallic and a sumptuous Black Stone that goes so well with the R-Design black roof. By the way, Volvo emboss R-Design into the kink and it’s a subtle yet welcome addition. There are three interior grades of trim options. There’s the pretty much standard leather style, a textile and leather, and “Lava” floor and door inserts. An aluminuim plate style inlay is a trim option for the doors and dash. It looks great if lacking in tactility. Head room (including the panoramic sunroof), leg, and shoulder room is ample for both front and back seat passengers. There’s more than enough cargo space for a family and shopping…or scooters…or golf clubs as a certain car show host calls them.Volvo built its reputation on safety and naturally the XC40 R-Design is no different. City Safety is the name Volvo gives to its pedestrian, animal, and cyclist detection system. Bang in Intellisafe which includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Pilot Assist (semi-autonomous driving) and more, PLUS features such as Blind Spot Information, Front and Rear Collision Alert, Run Off Road Alert, and a full suite of airbags and electronic aids and there’s barely time to draw breath. The semi-autonomous system is understated in how it reads the road and instead of a hefty tug it’s a grandma’s hand on the shoulder and a quiet whisper in the ear.
At The End Of The Drive.
Volvo is on a clear winner with the XC40 R-Design Launch Edition. It’s gorgeous to look at, gorgeous to drive, and full of intuition personified. At around $60K it’s a budget price for a luxury package. Buy it. Yes, it’s that good.
Here it is: The New Volvo XC40
Hybrid Subarus Are On The Way.
Subaru’s popular small SUV style cars, the Forester and XV, are coming to Australia in hybrid vehicle versions. The downside to this is that there’s currently no firm date in mind, however Aussie Subaru boss Colin Christie said: “We don’t have exact dates and times, and also not sure which tech will go into the cars, but Subaru has made it clear that they are moving down the hybridisation path and moving down the electric path. They have been talking about having fully electric vehicles in the early 2020s. I think it’s an absolute move in terms of environmental, fuel efficiency and economy but hybrids are still quite a small volume in the Australian market, but we see them as supplemental to our sales so we will have our 2.5-litre direct injection in case of the Forester, and then the hybrid will be an incremental model.”
The expected growth in EV and hybrid vehicles appears largely to do with the forthcoming emissions laws changes in Europe, to Euro 7, and the Californian government changes.
What this means for Australian importers is dealing with the choice of cars that would suit the Australian market. Subaru’s technology liason with Toyota will certainly help its cause, but, as always, there are questions as to who wears the costs of incentivising customers; is it the manufacturer or should it be the government?
Christie says: “There are customers out there looking for hybrid vehicles more and more, still relatively small numbers but that will grow and we are seeing more demand increasing in some areas, but at the end of the day it’s a future tech story and a step towards electrification, and a natural step in the journey for the brand.”
What are your thoughts? When it comes to getting more hybrid/EV cars on the roads of Australia, who should assist in off-setting costs?
Is It Worth Holden On?
A recent post to Private Fleet’s facebook page has given rise to plenty of passionate, robust, thought provoking discussion. The subject? Holden and the new Commodore.
It seems there’s a couple of factors that have sparked what appears to be mostly “against” comments; largely, the fact there’s no V8 and that it’s front wheel drive. Yes, we know there’s the all wheel drive, but that’s only available with the V6. Only occasionally does the fact it’s no longer a locally manufactured product crop up, such as this: ” Doesn’t matter if designed in Australia, what mattered is assembled in Australia so that Australians have jobs. Is it any wonder our welfare bill is going up. Now most of car price goes overseas just like a lot of our income tax does.”
And that is a fair point. Harking back to our interview with then head of PR at Holden, Sean Poppitt, he’d said that workers were being as much assistance as possible to find different roles or be given a payout once manufacturing ceased. But it did mean that the manufacturing side of the skill-set workers had has either been lost or relocated to an area that’s not using that skill-set.
But back to the car itself. It seems that many feel that their loyalty has been questioned by Holden’s decision to shut shop and continue with the nameplate. Again harking back to Poppitt, he said that the reason the name was kept WAS because of feedback from Commodore owners.
Loyalty can also give rise to misguided faith, as seen here: “Serves them right, close Australian factories and still have the hide to call imported cars a Holden and think we won’t notice.” This could very easily be seen as overlooking all BUT the VF Commodore from Holden were and had been imported cars for a couple of decades at least, as opposed to the 1970s with Toranas, HQ through to HZ Kingswoods and the Commodore VB and VC being built here.
Then there’s the look of the ZG. Somewhat smaller overall than the VF, with looks more similar to Japanese maker Mazda’s 6 than the bloky, broad-shouldered, VF, there’s been comments about how it doesn’t look like what we’ve had over forty years: “The car is ugly and does not resemble a Commodore and the once loyal consumers are turning to superior Japanese and european manufacturers to get what they want.”
Let’s look at this in a bit more detail. The VB through to VK were effectively the same, before a re-skin for the VL. Then there was the complete overhaul for the VN, a bare facelift for the VP, before the VR and VS. Along came the VT and VX, then the facelifted VY and VZ. Where could we say the VT resembled the VB or the VY resembled the VL?
Regardless of the opposing points of view it’s clear that a substantial amount of disquiet is out there in regards to the ZG Commodore. As the four words used sagely go: only time will tell.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2018 Suzuki Swift Sport Manual and Auto.
Suzuki has had a long history with small hatches that have sporting pretensions. Every iteration of the Swift is warmly received, warmly reviewed and leads to high expectations for the next model. And so it was for the 2018 version. The 2018 Suzuki Swift Sport also…sports…a couple of noticeable changes.
Suzuki have gone to their parts bin and slotted in their poky 1.4L BoosterJet four cylinder petrol engine. With 103kW and 230Nm it doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of oomph, but remember it is just 1400cc in size. There’s the added extra of a six speed auto to back up the venerable six speed manual. In a car weighing around the 1000kg mark the engine and transmission combination adds up to be a sparkling performer. At $25490 and $27490 plus ORCs it’s well priced and comes with a decent range of standard equipment as well.
The exterior of the Sport goes a step further than the already worked over Swift. There’s faux carbon fibre side skirts, a solid looking rear valance panel, and a jut jawed front end with more in your face attitude than the standard. Even the rear door handles are buried in radar absorbing black and mounted high in the C pillar. It’s about the same physical size as the previous model, with a total length of just 3890mm, width of 1735mm, and a petite 1495mm high, yet weighs less as well (970kg manual, 990kg auto). With a squat stance thanks to the low height and broad for its size track, the Swift Sport looks able to take on any tarmac surface.
The Sport’s suspension is hard. Harder in the auto was the feeling, but not by much over the manual. It sometimes felt as if a rear corner was being raised when punted through some corners in both. However it also meant that on tight and twisting roads the Sport can be absolute thrown hard into them and will sit flat and confident.
The steering is an extension of the driver’s arms too, with instant response and the front tracking almost like a military helmet and nose-gun system. The superb 195/45/17 rubber contributes to that utter adhesion too. Brakes? Like the steering, they’re an extension. Think how much stopping you want, press, and receive.
If there’s a weak link in the drive train it is, unusually, the manual. The clutch pedal feels too soft, with no real resistance, and the gear selector is the same. It’s rubbery, doesn’t feel as if the gate mechanism has the schnick schnick expected. Oh, it does the job well enough if it’s not rushed, as unhurried, fluid, motions will select the gear all the time, every time. It simply doesn’t feel sporty.
The auto, gawd help me, is the complete opposite. Decisive, clear in its intent, assertive, smooth, and delivering on every promise, the auto is pretty much everything a driver of a sports oriented hatch could want. The gear selector has no manual option too, that’s left up to the steering column mounted paddle shifts. Power down, and it’s bam bam bam. Just beautiful.
Inside there’s a pair of snug sports seats up front, standard seats at the rear, devil red trim contrasting with the charcoal interior plastic. The driver’s dash dials are a bronzed hue and glow a deep red at night. Smartly, for a right hand drive market, Suzuki have fitted the Start/Stop button up on the right side of the dash and in clear view of the driver’s eye. The touchscreen is standard and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Being a small car it’s no surprise the cargo space is on the petite side at 265L, and with the rear seats folded, increases to a more useful but not huge 579L. There’s small numbers for the engine, but good small. Although the fuel thimble is just 37L the consumption stretches that size. I finished on 5.9L/100 km, and that’s just about on the money from Suzuki’s quoted fuel figure of 6.1L/100km combined.
There’s a good safety package on board however there’s no driver’s kneebag, autonomous emergency braking, and NO parking sensors at all. Not a one. Nor is the Hill Start Assist in the manual yet the auto receives it. Ummm, ok then.
At The End Of The Drive.
It’s truly rare, as a supporter and firm believer of a non-self shifter, that I will prefer the auto option. But here, in the 2018 Suzuki Swift Sport, it’s a no brainer. 2018 Suzuki Swift Sport specs is where to find out more.
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