VOLVO V60 CROSS COUNTRY

Time to revisit one of the last cars standing in the jacked-up estate class

- WILL RIMELL

TESTED 23.2.23, HAMPSHIRE

ON SALE NOW

The days of the estate car appear to be numbered. Over the past four years, Volvo - perhaps its most fervent proponent- sold 22,800 of them, compared with 149,200 SUVS.

What an injustice this is when the Volvo V60 Cross Country still exists. Combining go-anywhere capability and practicality with a lower and therefore more engaging chassis, surely it still has a role to play.

Apart from the body cladding and 60mm increase in ride height, this is fundamentally the same car as the regular V60, so it's fitted with double-wishbone suspension and with four-wheel drive as standard.

Retuned for the Cross Country, this set-up gives an absorbent, conspicuously comfortable ride.

This encourages trips to faraway destinations, and with a 519-litre boot (36 litres more than in the XC60 SUV, note), there's space for a family of four's luggage or, if you fold down the rear seats, two adults' bikes.

Two six-footers can sit behind one another with ease, those in the back having access to heated cushions and independent climate controls.