20: Volvo XC60 – Top mid-sized premium SUV provided you get the spec right

If we say that the new XC60 is the best of the mid-size premium SUV brigade, then that statement does come with one major caveat, and that is to be careful in how you spec it.

If you go for a D5 diesel, with the sexy R-Design bodykit, the sports suspension, and the big alloy wheels, then you’ve bought the wrong XC60. The ride is way too hard, the sports seats overly-pinchy, and the whip-crack response of the D5 diesel entirely at odds with the languid gearing of the steering.

Better by far to go for a D4 diesel (which with 190hp still has plenty of poke), in luxurious Inscription trim, and with the smallest wheels you can possibly fit.

Then the XC60 comes into its own - refined, comfortable, long-legged, with a terrific interior and very high levels of quality. Get it right, and the XC60 really is hard to beat.