The XC40 is the baby of the Volvo SUV range and it’s aimed squarely at millennials. I’m a millennial. Did I like it? Read on to find out!

Styling

Volvo is making some properly good-looking cars these days and the XC40 benefits from the family likeness. It might not work as well here as it does on say a sleek, low wagon *cough* V60 *cough*, but it’s not bad either. I think it looks a little squished together, as if it’s a lower and longer car that’s been squeezed from both ends to become shorter in length and taller in height. Rear headroom is great but it makes the XC40 a little slab-sided with the rear roof line being very nearly as high as the front. The two-tone roof is a nice touch. It’s always nice to see an automaker do something a little different.

Interior

Inside the XC40 is much the same as the much pricier V60. It may cost quite a bit less but there’s no impression that this is a cheap car (which is good, because it’s not). It uses the same Sensus infotainment system as the V60 (click here for more on that). This one didn’t come with the top-o’-the-line stereo so I couldn’t pretend I was sitting in the Gothenburg Concert Hall but it was still nice n’ competent.

The XC40 really makes the most of its interior storage space. The speakers that would normally live in the doors are moved to the dash leaving massive areas for storage. They’re upholstered in a groovy tennis ball-like material which follows the same kinda style as the two-tone exterior. You can even have it in Lava Orange! There’s a folding wall in the trunk to make the space smaller for carrying a few bags and hooks to hang them on so your avocados don’t end up rolling around all over the place. It’s not the most exciting feature ever fitted to a car but it shows that somebody wanted to make this thing pleasant to live with and I think that’s worth a mention.

Powertrain

The XC40’s powertrain was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. Our test car was the R-Design T5 with all wheel drive and its 248 horsepower 2.0 litre turbo was more than quick enough. The transmission was the powertrain’s let-down though. It was jerky when pulling away from red lights even in the least responsive Eco mode and I had to concentrate on not jumping off the line too fast. I found myself wondering if this was because they included steering wheel paddle shifters.  Maybe you’re not as obsessed with buttery-smooth driving as I am but there we are, my observation. That said, once you’re on the move it’s fine if a little slow on changes. Get some momentum up and you needn’t really worry about the transmission. Then it’s all about the XC40’s handling which was a really nice surprise.

The Drive

Before I start singing its praises let me be blunt. The XC40 is an SUV and most of the time it drives like one. You sit up high with a high centre of gravity. Thrilling in everyday life it is not. That said, once you prod it a bit it handles itself very nicely indeed. It certainly leans on the outside tires through the corners but the lean is smooth and stops long before you start to worry about tipping over. After that the all wheel drive scoots you round the bend and out the other side on all four wheels.

The best time I had in the XC40 was on a bumpy, potholed, and unlit dirt road in the middle of the night. The XC40 has two miniature suns for headlights so seeing where I was going wasn’t a problem. I’m smiling as I write this remembering how much fun that evening was. I got the impression that the body, and everything the passengers experience, was simply floating along with the suspension and everything else below handling the bumps. The short wheel base makes it maneuverable and the comfy-but-controlled ride makes hooning along a country lane a lot of fun. And then there’s the way it behaves when you really show it some mud.

Off Road

I won’t mince words, the XC40 blew my nips off when we took it off road. When I went to look for somewhere to get it muddy I didn’t dare go into the area I found without Chris’s F150 there to tow me out if I got stuck. HA! The XC40 was unstoppable. It’s got 21 cm of ground clearance and skid plates underneath it. We put them to good use. On normal road tires, through mud, snow, water, and deep ruts the mighty little XC40 slithered onward.

The Verdict

I thought the XC40 would be some soft grocery-getter but I was very wrong about that. Going into the test I had an image of it, as well as all the cars it competes with, as needlessly tall hatchbacks that are bought by people who don’t give a shit about driving. These are people that need a raised ride height to compensate for their lack of ability to keep themselves safe on the roads.

Between its off road prowess and that night on the dirt roads I came to see the XC40 in a new light. It’s much more than a tall hatchback .The skid plates (which I bet 90% of buyers will never see) and the way it just kept moving forward off road are proof of that.  There’s substance in the XC40! It’s a proper, competent SUV, albeit a small one. The fact that I would look elsewhere for an everyday road car doesn’t mean it’s 100% a respectable offering. That’s just personal preference. Whether Luddites like me like it or not this is the way new car buyers are going. Volvo’s got themselves a real contender in the XC40.

Watch it get all types of muddy here: