The Volvo V60, it doesn’t shout like a BMW 3 Series Touring, it doesn’t have the pomposity of the Mercedes C Class estate and it doesn’t have a new generation of angry drivers who have emigrated from the 3 Series to the Audi A4. The Volvo V60, there are many variants to choose from and a good range of updated diesel and petrol engines. Prices start from £23k for the entry level D2 Business Edition and can reach £52k for the top of the range R-Design Lux Nav Plugin-Hybrid. So there you have it plenty of model specifications to choose from, around 27 in total. Sitting in between this range of model trims and variants is the V60 Cross Country which is available in 6 trim levels. Its like a sub range within a range. So what do you get for you £44k over a standard V60? The key differentiation is a raised ride height which means only one thing… permanent All-Wheel-Drive. The V60 Cross Country has a different brief to the everyday V60, that ride height has been raised by 65mm. That front and that rear now house skid plates to give it off-road appeal even though most buyers probably never will go off-road. You also get lots of blingy chrome trim even though most Volvo buyers are far from the blingy crowd. And the cross-country look is cemented by 18-inch in you face alloys. The V60 Cross Country signals to all that you as a car owner are prepared for the great outdoors when in truth many owners will only ever venture to the Outdoor plant shop. And then stop over at Costa Coffee for a Latte. The interior is much the same as a top of the range Volvo, refined, comfortable and with appealing contemporary design. From the Swedish cool interior, the soft touch surfaces, the supremely comfortable leather seats, and lacquered wood trim inserts, it all feels like a step up from premium and could easily venture into the premium luxury territory. Road manners are… decent, however with the eight speed auto gearbox combined with that 4-wheel-drive system means an increase weight. Added weight is a bit of a penalty and as a result you do take a bit of a hit on the handling dynamics. This V60 Cross Country is definitely more of a comfortable cruiser rather than a demon with attitude. Permanent All-Wheel-Drive gets you plenty of traction and Torque Vectoring. In wet or dry conditions all-in-all it feels very secure. With Volvo’s latest generation, euro 6 compliant 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engine in D4 configuration means you have 190bhp and 400Nm of torque at your disposal. That’s a lot of power. But again it lacks a bit of urgency to the throttle response. For most people this won’t be a problem and you know what it’s not too much of a deal breaker. The engine sounds a little clumsy at idle but once up to speed you barley notice the diesel anyway. But again with the added weight of the All-Wheel-Drive sytem and the eight speed auto-gearbox the straight-line performance translates into serene performance rather than a fire breathing dragon that will take your breath away. And the 8-speed single-clutch auto transmission feels a little bit sluggish changing between gears, it’s not dramatically life changing dull but enough to ward off any desire to entertain. And if you must know fuel economy was around 44mpg on a combined cycle. And I am quite sure C02 emissions will be competitive. Interior space is very friendly certainly up front but that rakish rear roof means passengers over 6ft may well be banging heads and knee room may be a bit on the tight side too. Interior practicality is decent but the V60 in general doesn’t offer class leading interior space. Standard boot space is 430-litres, with the rear seats up and when lowered down flat it’s a not too shabby 1,246-litres. But to put it into perspective the V60 offers smaller rear loading space than the VW Golf allows with the rear seats down. The test car was fully loaded with tech and optional extras. You get that Digital Binnacle display, The ‘Driver Support Pack’ costs and additional £1,900 and is essentially loaded with driver assists such as Collision Warning with Auto Brake, Blind Spot Indicator, Lane Keeping Aid, Adaptive cruise Control and all manner of other driver aids. Also included was the Winter Pack at an additional £675 and a Security Pack at a further £700 extra which included Keyless Drive and water repellent Front Side Windows. And being a press car Volvo threw in even more options such as Metallic Paint, sunroof and a Harmon Kardon sound system. The Cross Country Lux Nav costs £38k but with the optional extras it totalled £44k. So that begs the question, do you really need all these optional extras?…. Yes, why not. But Will you ever use all these other optional extras?… Maybe maybe not. So at the end of the day the V60 Cross Country is basically a glorified V60 off-road estate with permanent all-wheel-drive for people who will never go off-road. But you never end up disliking the V60 Cross Country because as an all rounder it sort of works. The conventional wisdom amongst motoring journalists is that the Skoda Octavia Scout and Seat Leon ST X-Perience are around £10k cheaper and offer the same functionality. Therefore you should go for the cheaper options. We say go for the Volvo because you won’t have to apologise anyone, you would if you decided to go for the Seat.