Volvo XC60 2009 'City Safety' review

It was only a blow-up Volkswagen Polo, and I was only travelling at 25km/h, but my shiny new Volvo XC60 sensed the potential damage and intervened.

It slammed on the brakes and we stopped just short of impact. And it did the same miraculous job a few minutes later as I closed on a moving target, sensing the potential for a nasty crash.

This is the magic of City Safety, which is standard on every XC60 sold everywhere in the world.

It uses a laser tracking system, complicated electronics and a virtual right-foot stop to bring a new level of anti-crash protection to the world. Other companies have similar systems in development but, once again, Volvo is first on another safety frontier.

The XC60 goes on sale on March 1 and is the most important car in recent Volvo history, taking the company into new hotbed of competition in the luxury SUV market. The car is priced from $57,950, with three models up to the T6 at $64,950 complete with a turbocharged six-cylinder motor.

Volvo will dig deeper into with the XC60 pool in the third quarter of this year with a starter car priced from around $56,000 with a 3.2- litre petrol inline six.

The company is hoping the XC60 will be come its best seller, even overtaking the XC90 family wagon and the S40 which has been its passenger car hero in recent years.

"It's very important for us. It will be our number two seller, behind the seven-seat XC90," says company chief, Alan Desselss.

"The most important thing is that it brings a new concept of car to the Volvo range. We have the XC90 with seven seats, but this is for people who would normally have gone into a sedan.

"It's going to be a very competitive sector. The performance and driveability of the vehicle is first class and last, but definitely not least, is the safety. It's well equipped and the quality is there.

"When you compare it to the likes of a BMX X3, or a Land Rover Freelander, the quality is superb. Especially in that sector.

"It's a new direction for volvo. You can clearly see where the brand is now going."

Driving

Driving the XC60 is refreshing and, in some ways, surprising.

The car is light and breezy in the cabin, and also feels light to handle and more responsive than some of its rivals - including the BMW X3.

The six-cylinder engine gives it real spark, with steering response and cornering grip that is more like a car. It also stops well.

The test car in Canberra yesterday was well loaded, but the biggest surprise was the red lights in the dash advising - through the City Safety system - that the car ahead was too close for comfort. A nice reminder, but . . . also a warning about the real stopping distance in traffic.

In a lot of ways the XC60 is like Volvo's earlier C30 coupe. It is moving into new terrain and it breaks the traditional Volvo mold.

Safety is a given, and Volvo claims the newcomer is the safest car in Australia with protection beyond any five-star rating from ANCAP, but is the quietness, and the refinement and the quality design and finishing that is the nicest thing. And it is not nearly as ponderous as the XC90.

It's easy to say a new car is an advance for its brand and certain to do well, but in this case it's even easier because the XC60 is a sure-fire success.

Then again, Audi is just about to uncork its compact Q5 and that is going to make things much tougher for the XC60 than any BMX X3. And by 2010 there will also be a Mercedes-Benz GLK in Australia...