Volvo initially came out with a totally new concept with their V70 Cross Country back in 1997 and now they’re back again, only it’s dropped much of its wagon-like looks for something more SUV oriented for a better sense of adventure with its copper and brown theme.
The upcoming V40 Cross Country will be built in Ghent, Belgium and its production line is ready to get underway in November 2012 that will ensure that all variants will be receiving All-Wheel-Drive (AWD), a start-stop system and braking energy regeneration as standard on your choice from 4 petrol and 3 diesel engine variants.
The main engine for the V40 Cross Country comes in the form of a turbo 2.5L 5-cylinder T5 petrol engine that nicely produces 254bhp and 400Nm of torque; including an additional twist of 40Nm of overboost and has a 6-speed automatic transmission mated to it. This allows it to sprint to 100kmh in just 6.1s while fuel consumption lies at 7.8L/100km on a combined cycle.
Volvo’s T5 engine is also available with a lower 2.0L displacement and that’ll get you 213bhp with 300Nm of torque as well as the same 6-speed automatic transmission that’s available on the 2.5L engine variant.
However, Volvo’s also has a T4 engine that’s available with either a 2.0L or 1.6L displacement, both producing 180bhp and 300Nm (2.0L) or 270Nm (1.6L gets 30Nm of overboost) of torque. A 6-speed A/T Powershift and M/T are available for both engines.
In the case of Volvo’s diesel engines, there’s a 5-cylinder 2.0-litre D4 turbodiesel delivering 177bhp and 400Nm of torque and accelerating to 100kmh takes just 8.3s with a 6-speed A/T (8.6s with 6-Speed M/T) and fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are only 4.4L/100 km (117g/km) with a manual gearbox and 5.2L/100 km (137g/km) with the automatic on a combined cycle, respectively.
A 2.0L D3 turbo diesel engine, that’s also available with a 6-speed A/T or M/T, producing 150bhp and 350Nm of torque.
Last on the list of engine variants is Volvo’s 1.6L D2 turbo diesel engine that will churn out 115bhp and 285Nm of torque (+15Nm Overboost) that’s only mated to a 6-speed M/T. Even though this particular engine may be the smallest in the line-up with a manual transmission, it comes with Start/Stop functionality and its fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are by far the best of the rest at only 3.8L/100km and 99g/100km, respectively.
The V40 Cross Country also features Hill Descent Control on the T5 version with All Wheel Drive, which controls the car’s speed automatically when going down steep inclines and it also has a practical Hill Hold function that makes starting on a hill easy.
In terms of storage space, the V40’s rear seats are able to fold down for that 60/40 split that’s nothing out of the ordinary, except when you need to load something rather long it’s when you’re able to completely fold the front passenger seat fully forward and hooks are readily available around the cabin.
Volvo Car Corporation expects to sell 17,000 units per year of the new Volvo V40 Cross Country. Around 50 percent of the total volume will go to European customers and around 30 percent to Chinese buyers and obviously the rest of the 20% will be headed everywhere else (including us).
However, we should be able to see both 2.5L and 2.0L petrol engines headed our way, but will we be able to see any of the diesel engines? Let’s see what comes by March 2013.
