2009 Volvo XC60 T6 owner review

A performance review of the Volvo XC60 for the inexperienced boy racers of the world.
Owner: Lachlan

The Volvo XC60 is built for soccer mums, school runabouts and ski trips. If you get the T6 version, you get six cylinders in a vee layout with a turbo that makes about 200kW from the factory, which was designed in Sweden for the occasional dad overtake.

However, this XC60 has probably been pushed to limits that other XC60s can only dream of. The brakes have been worn, the cooling system has been overheated, hit its grip limit, and the dashboard has lit up like a Christmas tree full of warning lights time and time again.

My dad bought it in 2009 for exactly the dad duties I mentioned earlier. I grew up in the back of it getting driven to school, ski trips, and witnessing the occasional highway pull. But now, to the dismay of my parents, I use it to sharpen my driving skills.

What I hope to communicate in this review are the driving characteristics of this car from the lens of an inexperienced driver.

Power

I would describe it as adequate. There are three driving modes and one transmission, D(rive), S(port) and Manual. In Sport or Manual, acceleration competes with something like an S2000 or any of Honda’s yesteryear VTEC, NA four-cylinders.

With an electronically adjustable driver’s seat and manual passenger one, at even the lowest setting you still sit quite high. The speed pushes you back into your seat, and for an inexperienced driver who understands the danger of limited grip, it’s a little scary at first.

Compared to the typical econobox that any P-plater without the skills of Oscar Piastri typically drives, power is quite good. On mountain passes it keeps up with K20 Honda Accords and the new GR86, until you reach a corner. The car is about 1800kg dry, Veyron weight, and you can tell. There is a tangible moment of inertia, but it never seems unpredictable.

Handling

This is not a car you would call agile, but the grip limit is decent. It nearly keeps up with CL7 Honda Accords through the corners. However, the seats don’t exactly do much. I often find myself banking on a 50-degree angle around left-hand corners like Maverick.

Reach the limit of grip and the steering goes a bit buzzy and light courtesy of a hydraulic system. The throttle is electric.

Brakes

They’re pretty good, I think they might be two or four-pot. I’m too lazy to check. But they have to be decent for a big car, especially since Volvo markets the premise of its existence on safety. I would say they are competent, if not slightly more than an average econocar. The disadvantage is that with 1800kg to stop, they wear out quickly.

It’s been an interesting car to use as something for the touge. That is about it.

Owner: Lachlan

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