2021 Volvo XC40 Review: Safe and Stylish!!

This week I got behind the wheel of a 2021 Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design!! Now this is a what a Compact SUV/Crossover is all about! The XC40 does a fantastic job at blending luxury, style, and most importantly safety! I had very little to no qualms with this car, especially as equipped with the larger motor, sportier R-Design styling, and even the Fusion Red Metallic exterior paint. The car popped, and stands out a tiny bit from the ever so common BMW, Mercedes, and Audi's you find all over SoCal.

This isn't the Volvo you remember from 20 years ago, the brand has grown up and changed for the better. The XC40's interior is luxurious and refined. A great deal of effort has been put into the styling and fit and finish... there's a Scandinavian touch thats hard to explain, but deserves to be experienced. Icing on the cake is that the XC40 drives quite nicely, this is obviously even more so true of the more powerful T5 motor, however not exclusive to it. This Volvo isn't having an identity crisis, and it's certainly not trying to be something that it isn't.

The XC40 makes a solid claim against compact sedans, and it showed me why I might step into one of these over said sedan. If you have the XC40 on your shortlist, then I strongly recommend stopping by to check one of these out in person, even in base form, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!! Oh, and it also smashed the Tall Boy Test!

FOLLOW ME!!

I bought my whole family whips; ALL Volvos

[julivdberg]

I am totally in love with Volvo in general, but after the old XC90 models, the XC40 with its Mustang front look, the gorgeous rear look and safety, confort, colors, elegance, style, is just the one and only car with that X factor and so nice for tall girls on heels

[matttyrer]

Nice review, as an owner of one I agreed with almost all of it! Whilst I'm not an advocate of that shifter design, the double tap to shift from drive to reverse and vice versa in normal use is an overstated issue. It becomes perfectly intuitive to use very quickly once it's your daily driver - it's a complete non-issue for me anyway. There are two other things that are issues though. 1) the side to side semi auto shifting is terrible if you want to control the shifts yourself. Unless it has paddles (in the UK paddles are no longer available), then just forget it if you want to drive this semi automatically. 2) the shifter is easy to knock accidentally. My coat sleeve caught on it whilst reaching for a sweet in the centre console storage area just beyond it, and plonked the car into neutral at 60mph. Not ideal in itself, but you're then just one accidetal click away from disaster - putting it into reverse at 60mph!

[RileyFreeman]

Test drove the R Design... It was nice and the inside is classy... But went with the Mazda CX-5 Signature edition because it has more HP... More torque... And more tech features for about $10, 000 less.

[swampy]

Beat looking SUV out there i think. At least from exterior aesthetic. Way better looking that outdated Q3 & Q5 and no competition between it and X3 & X4.

[AndrewFry]

I can’t get past that annoying ass shifter!!! But super cool looking car. Love that red. Great video 🤙🏼

[Will-csyb]

Love the vids! Can you do an 04-07 era S60R?

[mohitslok]

Does this car has paddle shifters?
R design
Which one is better R design or Q3 Technik

[jhoo]

Do you know how to check engines temperature?