An unexpected day

[BigKahuna]

A nice leisurely drive up to the Midlands this morning to collect my new XC60, that is once I managed to eventually get onto the M25 after finding the slip road onto the M23 south of Gatwick close for resurfacing works. Anyway my gleaming denim blue Inscription was sitting there awaiting me. After all the paperwork was completed it became apparent that there was a ‘Hitch’ (excuse the pun) which involved a towbar ...or lack of. Long story short and no hard feelings to the dealer as I know S**t happens, but I ended up bringing a T8 R design pro loan car home instead, laden with all the things I’d like to have afforded to add to mine...sunroof, 360, Pilot assist, adaptive cruise, not forgetting some 400 bhp of course. I did however come to some conclusions on my 180 mile drive home which relieved my envy in most instances.

Pilot assist, I very soon got the hang of and liked it more the more I played, once I got used to how and where the assisted steering tries to help. I imagine if you do a lot of motorway driving this would be really beneficial. It certainly made for a relaxing drive home and it didn’t take long before I was confident in it’s abilities. For me though, I do a lot of miles but only a small percentage on motorways so whilst it would be a novelty it would be a waste of money. For most of the A/B roads on the remainder of my trip, it was’nt available.

Adaptive cruise....Dammit, it I wish it were standard fit or even astandalone option, I found it excellent and very intuitive. That would have been a real benefit to me as I tend to use cruise a lot.

Sunroof. Having had a pano roof on my C class for the last 3 years I thought I’d miss it on the Volvo. I think if I’d opted for a dark interior I would, but I don’t think I will so much with the blonde.

Air suspension...can’t say I noticed it being any better than the ‘non air’ test drive I had a while back. Having said that this one had 21” rims and it was a very nice ride.

360 camera. Played for a couple of minutes in Beaconsfield services but not enough to have the confidence to reverse without still looking everywhere. I found the perspective a bit strange with the top down view being so small in comparison to the objects in the camera, which seemed huge. I’ve opted for the standard reversing camera and I probably should have gone the extra £300 for this as I’m sure it’s just a case of getting used to it.

Stereo. (Do they still call it that ?) This did not have the BW system so I’m assuming as it’s a 67 plate that it hasn’t got the lesser upgraded HK. If this is the standard system I found it excellent. I couldn’t tell much difference in the quality in sound of this and the Burmeister on my outgoing Mercedes Class. It’s certainly louder and I noticed in the settings there is a 5 or 6 band eq as well as the usual treble bass and a ‘subwoofer’ which definitely gave it some balls. I’m a musician having played in bands for the last forty years, so my opinions are purely personal. I’m also deaf in certain frequencies as a result. Having said that I am very satisfied that I didn’t splash out on an upgraded system.

T8 hybrid...wow. It’s a beast . I can’t believe how much power this thing has from a 2 litre and so quiet. I couldn’t work out the RH side dash display clock and I couldn’t tell when it was in electric mode. It sounds great to me though when accelerating hard. I can’t quite get my head around the whole hybrid thing to be honest though. Over the 4000 miles that this vehicle has done it’s averaged 27.3mpg. Given the premium you pay for the T8 it doesn’t make financial sense to me yet but if you can afford one , or you have one on order you certainly won’t be disappointed in it’s performance.

I think I’m going to be very happy with my D4 Inscription and I look forward to it being delivered to my door on Monday afternoon.

[volvo for ever]

you can fit pilot parking ata cost easy to fit

[JC888]

Used to own a Merc W205 C300 Hybrid too. Tech wise the Volvo beats the Merc however I do miss the power. Even in Dynamic Mode the D5 doesn't really excite just the mpg dropping to low 20s.

[BigKahuna]

Originally Posted by volvo for ever

you can fit pilot parking ata cost easy to fit

Pilot parking ? Do you mean you can retro fit.the pilot assist ?

[Deman77]

Pilot assist is not retrofitable.
Park assist pilot might be it is not worth it.

[BigKahuna]

Originally Posted by Deman77

Pilot assist is not retrofitable.
Park assist pilot might be it is not worth it.

Park assist I'm not bothered about. I've had it on my last two cars and rarely used it. Cheers anyway