Auto is great when up and running but too slow witted off the mark. Manual is the way to go with this model. Best looking estate on the market in my opinion. Great alternative to those who don't want a boring Germanic brand.
Great review James. Pure style on wheels. Volvo are on a roll now. Look forward to seeing the V40 replacement. Only real downside for modern Volvo's is the touch screen heater controls. My Tucson has this nailed with proper button which is dead easy to use on the move.
Volvo has been on a roll for the past two decades. I agree about touch screen controls for mechanically functional features like hated seats just being a bad idea though. At least they aren't as bad as Tesla
@@AndrewKNI Well more the the point is that having a touch screen with menus you have to traverse through is unsafe while driving. You can, with muscle memory, adjust standard controls while driving without even looking. You can't do the same with a touch screen interface.
‘Better’ is subjective and really depends on how you like to drive. But we can say that it’s an excellent manual gearbox with a nice, smooth, deliberate action to it. So you shouldn’t be disappointed if you do decide to go for the cheaper gearbox option.
Throw in some busy stop-start traffic and an auto instantly becomes superior to a manual. The rest of the time, simply pop it across into tiptronic and take control of the gear changes yourself, then you're not relying on the auto 'box to react in a timely manner. The biggest drawback to an auto 'box is that they sap more horsepower than a manual 'box, hence the equivalent manual having a quicker 0-60 time.
