Alternative review of Volvo V50 T5

When I was younger, I liked my cars how I liked my men - good looking and sporty. As far as technical specifications went, all I needed to know was a) does it have a mirror in the sun visor so I can check my lippy at the traffic lights, and b) can I get it in red? But the years have passed, I'm older and wiser - well, older at least - and my motoring needs have changed. These days I need a car which will suit the demands of my husband (an engine with a bit of poke), my 1 year old (plenty of room for toys and a decent car stereo so we can play the Teletubbies song again and again.and again.) and me (a big enough boot to carry home the spoils of my latest retail therapy session). Could the V50 provide all of that?

I don't know if it's a girl thing, or a size thing (I'm only 5'2"), or just because in the past most of my cars have been hatchbacks, but I sometimes find estate cars a bit overwhelming; they seem to go on for ages. But for an estate the V50 seems almost compact and bijou; perhaps just in comparison with the chunky V70, which to me is a 'proper' estate car. This isn't to say that the V50 completely lacks storage space. It's slightly shorter than its predecessor, the V40, but it's also taller and wider, so it's more capacious than you might first think. Certainly on a trip to the grandparents we managed to pack in travel cot, buggy, reams of baby wipes and nappies, a wardrobe's worth of baby clothes (they get through a lot at this age), and a toothbrush and a clean pair of pants each for mummy and daddy. Not bad for a weekend away, although I think you'd have trouble with a bigger family, and we did have to pack carefully. There's not much leg-room in the back for adults or older children, particularly if the driver and front passenger are tall. The Scandinavians seem to have designed this one with the smaller family in mind; just enough room in the back for little Bjorn's car seat, efficient air conditioning to keep you as cool as Sven Goran Erickson during a tabloid newspaper sex scandal, and a boot you could fill with enough jars of pickled herring to feed the whole family for a month. On the retail therapy front, fold the back seats down and you could probably squeeze a Torksvig storage solution (flat-pack pine bookcase to you and me) in the boot. In an emergency the spare is nicely accessible, which makes it that bit easier for husband to change the wheel while I chat up the AA man.

Volvo have to me always represented safe but rather conservative design. So their new 'floating' console comes straight out of left field, curving gently away from the rest of the dash and leaving thin air behind it. On this model it had a very strange semi-transparent finish, which I quite liked, although a veritable smorgasbord of different finishes including wood, aluminium and plastic are also available. The controls are good and chunky and easy to reach from the driver's seat, although the CD/radio looks far too complicated to muck about with once you're off. Putting the ignition on the dashboard next to the steering wheel seems a bit strange because anyone with bigger hands than me, or even a larger key fob, would knock the indicators every time they fired the car up. The only major disappointment is the rest of the dashboard, a vast expanse of uninspiring grey plastic with a piddling glove box which is just big enough to keep the car manual in but not much else. Where do I put my maps, emergency wet wipes, torch, AA card, bottle of water, small but carefully chosen selection of CDs, tin of travel sweets.? Certainly not in the equally tiny door pockets. But there are two very nice cup holders, so at least I've got somewhere to rest my latte. Upholstery is in grainy leather, more at the 'hard wearing' end of the range than the luxurious 'executive' end. While we're on the subject of seats, the driver's seat goes up and down as well as backwards and forwards - good news when you're a shorty like me. It's something of a novelty having a decent view over the steering wheel, rather than through it. The model I tried was the top of the range 2.5-litre, 5-cylinder, 220bhp T5 Sport. It also comes in four-wheel drive for those of you with off-road pretensions. It'll go from 0-60 in 6.9 seconds with a top speed of 149 miles per hour, which is perfect for getting the kids to school on time on those mornings when the alarm doesn't go off. Fuel consumption is pretty good for this size engine, with an average of 31mpg.

Easily. The V50 combines the quality and reliability you'd expect from a Volvo, with some neat design touches and enough space for a small family. The T5 also delivers that extra bit of punch in the engine department. Don't however over-estimate the carrying capacity of this car; taking a family of five on a camping trip with bicycles, skis and granny in the back isn't going to happen in the V50.

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