While the V60’s seats are excellent, and in R-design trim have huge bolsters and an attractive design, they’re anchoring an overall interior feel that’s a bit dated. Whether it’s the small display screen, or the Euro-Ford looking HVAC controls, this is an older vehicle, and in need of an interior redesign. What’s more, the rear seats are really tight, right on the borderline of being too small for rear-facing child seats. A Volvo wagon that’s not great at hauling kids around? That’s unexpected.
  2015 Volvo V60 T6 R-Design centre stack & navigation. Click image to enlarge |
Technology
The V60 comes with a number of electronic safety aids, including a cross-traffic assist and blind-spot monitoring system that seem a little more overactive than those in the BMW. Imagine that they were programmed by your mother, and you’ll get the general idea.
But as far as onboard technology goes, the BMW whips the Volvo six ways from Sunday. It’s got a widescreen digital display with multiple menus and submenus, the iDrive controller now includes a touchscreen surface that’s capable of identifying your finger-drawn letter and number commands, and there’s even a head-up display.
In fact, there are so many gizmos in the big Bimmer that you’ll need several weeks just to find what all the various buttons and settings do. Lucky, then, that staff at BMW’s dealers seem to be expert at giving lessons, and if that’s not enough, the company offers a series of online video tutorials on how to use most of the more complicated functions.
   2014 BMW 335i xDrive GT steering wheel, gauges, navigation. Click image to enlarge |
Value
The downside of all the gee-whiz gizmos is having to shell out for them. Basic price on the straight-six 3 Series Gran Turismo starts in the mid-50s, which is not totally unreasonable, but a premium package containing essentials like navigation, an alarm, and upgraded audio add on an immediate $4,500 and starts pushing the price towards the mid-60 mark. Active cruise control – something you might like to see standard on a car billed as a grand tourer – costs $1,000 as a standalone option.
In R-design trim, the V60 starts out less expensively, and offers a little more flexibility in terms of optioning. If you don’t want the blind-spot nannies, you can leave them off, and the technology package includes the same adaptive cruise control and intelligent high-beam functions as the BMW, but for a quarter less.
Essentially, the BMW is a $65,000 car, and the Volvo is a $55,000 car. Personal option choice will see those figures ebb and flow a little, but the gap will be close to $10K for similarly equipped vehicles. That, as I hardly need point out, is a lot. And then there’s how they drive.
Driving
As a recipe, equipping a 3er BMW with a straight-six turbocharged engine, surefooted all-wheel drive and a crisp-shifting eight-speed automatic gearbox is a can’t-lose proposition. It doesn’t matter what sort of baking tray you pour that batter into, it’s going to be a winner, right? Um.
When I previously reviewed the 335i GT, a reader took me to task for the faintness of my praise. “Was it that bad?” They queried – well, in truth, it’s not. Even with the extra heft added by an increase in length, and the dilution of nimble feel brought on by the increased wheelbase, it’s still possible to have a bit of fun with the Gran Turismo.
For both cars, a mix of highway cruising and a mountain-road carving was used to sort out which had the handling chops. The GT impressed on the highway especially: just like it says on the brochure, this really is a 3 Series set up for Grand Touring. It’s quiet and smooth-riding, and the blend of inherently balanced inline six engine and slick ZF eight-speed gearbox means that the bulbous Bimmer excels at long-distance travel.
This sort of driving is what this car was built to do, and to its credit, that ungainly looking liftback rear does provide significantly less drag than a X3 or the 3 Series wagon. Wind noise is controlled, and the miles pile on. All four passengers will have a comfortable ride, and if a brief blast is needed to get past a semi-trailer, then stir up that twin-scroll turbo’d straight-six and unleash the surely underrated 300 hp at 5,800 rpm and 300 lb-ft available from 1,300–5,000 rpm.
Like right now, the GT blips past slower traffic, so it’s time to hit the off-ramp and see how she handles the curves. As the car takes a set into the first sweeper, there’s a bit more roll than you’d anticipate from a BMW; this is perhaps due to the slightly higher seating position. Even so, it’s still perfectly competent, and when the paddle shifters are engaged, even relatively fun. The 3.0L six-cylinder sounds great, providing a throaty audible thrill. The power steering, as with all BMWs, is not as good as it used to be in the heyday of machines like the E46 M3.
