Volvo XC60

Volvo picked up the £25,000 to £32,000 price category at the Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards 2010, beating rivals from Isuzu, Skoda, Honda, Subaru and Toyota.

The Volvo XC60 D5 AWD SE was praised for its sure-footed handling, flexible power and all-wheel drive capability. Grenville Chamberlain of the Caravan Club said,”This vehicle has an extra powerful version of Volvo’s excellent five-cylilnder engine as well as AWD. Gear changes are smooth and speed builds up rapidly”.

The D5 delivers 205PS and comes with a choice of 6-speed manual or 5-speed Geartronic (auto) transmission and is also fitted with Trailer Stability Assist (STA) to counteract “trailer snaking”.

Volvo XC90

Contract hire allows you to potentially drive a better car than you think. The main reason for this is because you are leasing the vehicle and not buying it and therefore you are protected from vehicle depreciation.

To show you what we mean let’s look at two Volvo vehicles. The Volvo XC 90 Diesel Estate 2.4 D5 Active 5 door which has a manufacturer list price of £29,205 (basic price plus VAT). The other model is the Volvo XC60 Diesel D5 S 5 Door 4WD which has a list price of £26,205. The smaller Volvo is £3000 less to buy than the larger one.

Volvo XC60

However when you look at the contract hire rentals on both these vehicles, on non-maintained business contract hire over three years, 10,000 miles per annum and a payment profile of 3 rentals in advance followed by 35 rentals you will certainly be suprised by the results.

The Volvo XC 90 Diesel Estate 2.4 D5 Active 5 Door comes out at £351.63 excluding VAT

The Volvo XC60 Diesel D5 S 5 Door 4WD comes out at £357.72 excluding VAT

So the car that costs more to buy is less on contract hire. This is why it pays to try the contract hire £ shopper quote engine as there will be many other examples of this.

XC60 R-DESIGN

A sports version of the Volvo XC60 has been launched widening the range of the R-DESIGN stable. The Volvo XC60 R-DESIGN gets a series of sporty features including a specially tuned chassis, enabling drivers to enjoy the XC60′s practicality plus offering a dynamic handling package.

Outside the car the exterior highlights include door mirror housings, trim mouldings and decor trim, all in a matte silk finish, rear skid plate, side scuff plates and twin chrome tailpipes. The 18-inch five-spoke Cratus aluminium wheels are only available on the R-DESIGN model and if you want, an option to updgrade to larger 20-inch alloy wheels, is also available. There are seven body colours to choose from including the R-DESIGN unique colour, Passion Red.

Here are are the headlines of the interior extra features

• Sports seats.
• Smooth leather upholstery with a choice of two colour combinations.
• Embossed R-DESIGN emblem in front backrests.
• Watch dial instrument with blue gauges.
• R-DESIGN sports wheel and gear selector trimmed in leather.
• Sports pedals in aluminium.
• R-DESIGN centre stack trim with a new decor pattern.
• Off-Black sports mats.

For familes with children to entertain on those long journeys (“are we there yet”) there is also the option of a Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE) System, which includes a screen and DVD player fitted to the back of each front headrest. The two LCD screens are in a 7-inch widescreen format and can be tilted to minimise sun dazzle and reflections. The RSE system also comes aith AUX inputs which allow connection to iPods, MP3 players and games consoles. Car leasing prices on this new Volvo will be on site shortly.

Volvo is offering relief to the millions of hay fever suffers facing another summer of streaming eyes and sudden sneezes by providing a cabin of safe haven. All new Volvo models will now have pollen filters and cabin air quality monitoring systems fitted as standard.

Hay fever accounts for 20 per cent of the UK population and with sneezing and itchy eyes as a symptom, this can affect the driving capability of a motorist. Volvo has two systems to improve the quality of air in their cars-Air Quality System (AQS) with a pollen filter and the optional Clean Zone Interior Package (CZIP) – both of which are designed to provide relief to millions of hay fever sufferers. By monitoring the incoming pollutants such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide if the AQS system thinks the levels are too high it closes the air inlets.

CZIP is a cost option on S80,V70,XC70,XC60 only and offers an interior with materials that avoid collecting dust and a unique cabin ventilation system. 

Peter Rask, Volvo Car UK managing director said ” Millions of people in the UK suffer from hay fever and other allergies, so it makes sense for us to focus attention on improving air quality and minimise any potential safety risk that could arise from an allergic reaction while driving”.