Volvo V40 Cross Country D2 Review: Going the distance

What we like:

Stylish Swede hatch coupled with incredible economy figures.

What we dislike:

Can be difficult to overtake cars on the expressway with its slow pick up.

While the new V40 D2 isn’t going to win any drag races at the lights with its modest figures, it will continue driving long after that Lamborghini that outran you earlier at the lights has run dry. At 115bhp, the D2 fits in nicely well below the 130bhp cap for the Cat A COE. But what it does have is torque. At 270Nm, it is 30Nm more than the petrol T4. And it remains robust from 1,750 to 2,500rpm.

Tuned purely for efficiency, the century sprint of this hatch is at a leisurely 12.1 seconds. But despite the figures, the V40 is more than sufficient in our urban landscape.

With the increased ride height, this cross hatch actually makes for quite a comfortable ride. It hardly gets upset riding over bumps due to the longer suspension travel. But it does translate to greater body roll as compared to the normal V40. Gear change is smooth and buttery from the Powershift dual clutch and goes unnoticed most of the time.

However it must be said that this V40 does beg for patience as overtaking on the highways would require quite a bit of effort.

That being said, the V40 D2 does perform as advertised on the economy front. During our review, we put the D2's claimed economy figurse to the test. Driving through a mix of city and highway traffic, the hatch returned an impressive figure of 22.7km/L.

All the more impressive considering the Volvo was driven under normal driving conditions with the aircon on. Proving for once that the economy figures on the brochure weren’t overly bloated.

Of course, the hallmark of Volvos is rife in this car. And it is equipped with a whole host of safety features that will ensure not just the safety of the passengers, but of the pedestrians as well. Built with an airbag under the hood of the car, it helps minimize the impact when a pedestrian lands on top of it.

Equipped with the City Safety system as standard, the car applies full brakes automatically to avoid a rear end collisions completely or reduce the damage of one. However, the system does seem overly sensitive and can be inadvertently set off when approaching parking gantries.

The V40 brings not only safety but a level of premium comfort that has been missing with the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz booted out of Cat A. But it brings an immense amount of fuel economy with it as well.

And it doesn’t hurt that the hatch is one of the most stylish offerings currently in the hatchback Cat A market.

Credits: Story and Photos by Benjamin G. Kline