New Devon XC40 Owner
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 4:40 pm
The XC40 we ordered in late July arrived a week ago. It has a lot to live up to, replacing a brilliant Skoda Yeti 4x4 that has given 7 years of perfect service. The first week's impressions are good - except that I can't get my wife out of it! In theory it is her car and it seems she's already fallen in love with it.
The car is a T5 Inscription Pro with Xenium and Intellisafe Pro packs, in Glacier Silver. Unfortunately Volvo limit the colours on this model - nothing bright at all, and even the silver is nothing like as bright as my Mercedes. I ordered a dog guard (official Volvo one) which I fitted yesterday - a nicely engineered piece of kit.
Driving at night I soon realised that the LED adaptive headlights are much better than the similar ones on my other car; both are bright and detect headlights and tail lights when they appear in front, but the Volvo system dips the main beam instantly and sharply (so an oncoming driver can see that you've reacted) but the Mercedes system has a much more gradual dip and also decides which part of the main beam needs to be dipped depending on what it has detected. In that car I often get flashed by oncoming drivers because they think I haven't dipped so I tend not to use the adaptive function, but Volvo have got it right.
Now I just need to get used to my wife saying things like "I'm cold" and the car responding by saying it has reset the temperature and it hopes she is more comfortable! A bit like having Alexa in the car.
The car is a T5 Inscription Pro with Xenium and Intellisafe Pro packs, in Glacier Silver. Unfortunately Volvo limit the colours on this model - nothing bright at all, and even the silver is nothing like as bright as my Mercedes. I ordered a dog guard (official Volvo one) which I fitted yesterday - a nicely engineered piece of kit.
Driving at night I soon realised that the LED adaptive headlights are much better than the similar ones on my other car; both are bright and detect headlights and tail lights when they appear in front, but the Volvo system dips the main beam instantly and sharply (so an oncoming driver can see that you've reacted) but the Mercedes system has a much more gradual dip and also decides which part of the main beam needs to be dipped depending on what it has detected. In that car I often get flashed by oncoming drivers because they think I haven't dipped so I tend not to use the adaptive function, but Volvo have got it right.
Now I just need to get used to my wife saying things like "I'm cold" and the car responding by saying it has reset the temperature and it hopes she is more comfortable! A bit like having Alexa in the car.