Volvo V40 Cross Country update
I am a born and bred Capetonian! I have lived elsewhere, only briefly though as I knew that I could never stay away from my beloved city. So yes, you could say I am pretty biased. But who wouldn’t be? Have you seen this place? Ya, ya, I can hear you Joburgers complaining about the weather and the cold water, but you just have to take a drive along the coast or in the Winelands … or round that Mountain or even among the hidden valleys over Sir Lowry’s Pass to realise there is nowhere quite as breathtaking as Cape Town. Now imagine experiencing all of this in a car that you love.
My long term Volvo V40 Cross Country is one of the few cars I can confidently say I would own. And I know I have gone on about it before, but when you really trust in something, truly love it and couldn’t think of many things better, you want to shout it from the rooftops and share it with everyone. When I see other drivers in Volvo V40s, I salute them … like actually raise my hand and salute them. I get funny looks, sure, but I am confident that the trend will soon kick off.
Having done the Garden Route in April, I decided it was time for another road trip. The weather in Cape Town recently was perfection. The days were balmy and clear. It was the perfect time for a road trip!
We left the Cape Town CBD around 11:30 on a Friday morning and headed on to the N1 towards Paarl. My friend had never been in a Volvo V40 and his first comment when he saw the car was, “Wow, this is a sexy looking car, what is it?” Now, it’s not that my friend doesn’t know anything about cars. I get asked this exact question a lot and I think it’s just that many people don’t think of Volvo as sexy and therefore are confused as to what it is when they see the V40. When I tell people it is a Volvo, I always get the same reaction, “What? No way!” It dumbfounds me, but then again, if you are not in the car industry and don’t spend your life thinking about cars, why would you consider Volvo as anything but boring? People tend to stick to what they “know” about certain brands. But wow, have things changed for Volvo. The V40 is a good case in point!
As mentioned in previous articles, the 2,0-litre turbodiesel engine’s delivery is smooth and after only a slight lag when pulling away, the gearshifts are effortless and the low down torque makes overtaking, even on an incline, painless. It is a very smooth ride. Little road noise makes conversation effortless. I have mentioned that the boot is a tad small, but on a weekend for two, there is plenty of room … even when it is filled with boxes of wine on the return journey.
We took the Klapmuts turnoff and headed towards Wellington. What a drive! The roads were quiet and the views spectacular. I have my petrol head moments and love a “driving-enthusiast” car, but generally, I like effortless driving. And this is what the Volvo V40 offers. With cruise control set, the smooth drive is exactly that! You can take in the scenery around you feeling confident in your driving. With spring around the corner, the backdrop to our roadtrip was nothing short of spectacular with luminous yellow canola flowers juxtaposing the lush green fields. We felt like we were driving in an oil painting.
We arrived in Tulbagh and, again, the V40 Cross Country with its slightly raised ground clearance made the gravel and uneven road surface to our cottage easy to traverse. We arrived at the most beautiful cottage with breathtaking views, but we decided to jump back in to the V40 and enjoy Tulbagh from the comfort of the Volvo’s seats.
I really only have one negative thing to say about this car and it involves the start/stop system. But then again, I hate it on any car. Fortunately you are able to turn it off on the V40, but when you switch the car off and start it again it defaults back to on. But other than that, I can’t complain about anything really.
With a flash disc full of music, the perfect weather, winding roads that lead to picturesque wine farms, great company and one of my favourite cars to get us there, this was a weekend to remember
Pricing for the Volvo V40 starts at R343 200