Volvo XC60 / XC90 hybrid test drives

[BigPhil]

Still a bit worried about the rear doors. Not because of reliability (they seem well sorted now) but more the spectacle when dropping the kids off at school! But otherwise it's very low key by big SUV standards. Also a very rare sight around Silverstone/Towcester, which I quite like. Actually that's one of the things I quite like about the Macan too, you don't see many in the wild even with the dealership and PEC right on our doorstep.

Does a red carpet unfurl, with disco lights, when the rear doors open?!

I would have thought that the Silverstone area would have been fairly heavily populated with Macans, and Porsches in general, but always nice to be driving a fairly rare vehicle. Not seen another Carmine Red 2017 Panamera on the road during 9,000 miles and 6 months!

Macan's quite a common sight round my way (Beds) these days.

Passed two on my 10 mile drive home from work the other night

[Deleted User 1874]

Still a bit worried about the rear doors. Not because of reliability (they seem well sorted now) but more the spectacle when dropping the kids off at school! But otherwise it's very low key by big SUV standards. Also a very rare sight around Silverstone/Towcester, which I quite like. Actually that's one of the things I quite like about the Macan too, you don't see many in the wild even with the dealership and PEC right on our doorstep.

Does a red carpet unfurl, with disco lights, when the rear doors open?!

I would have thought that the Silverstone area would have been fairly heavily populated with Macans, and Porsches in general, but always nice to be driving a fairly rare vehicle. Not seen another Carmine Red 2017 Panamera on the road during 9,000 miles and 6 months!

Yes of course, more than average Porsche sightings around Silverstone. But not that many Macans compared to 911s, Caymans, Cayennes and even Pannys.

[Deleted User 1874]

I seem to remember reading that the car has sensors and adjusts the opening height of the doors accordingly to avoid such problems.

It has sensors, yes, there are complaints that the doors won't open enough even when there is plenty of room.

That's correct, although the software is improving all the time. In the Milton Keynes multi-story carpark, the ceiling is plenty high enough but there are very bright down lighters in the ceiling. If you park directly under these lights, the door sensors seem to get a bit confused about the ceiling height and don't fully extend. But you can manually over-ride the sensors if you are sure there is enough headroom. You simply keep pressing the door button or icon until you want it to stop. I haven't read any complaints about the doors actually hitting anything while opening automatically, which would be more concerning. Also in tight spaces, the doors don't have to fully open to get out fairly easily. They are generally easier than squeezing out of a partially open conventional door. I have tested all this for myself to confirm!

I'm sure there will be times when these doors piss me off, but there are definitely times when conventional doors piss me off too!

[Deleted User 1874]

I really fail to see just why the expensive gulwings were designed in compared to standard or even a sliding set of rear doors.

I tend to agree, but having experienced them first hand, they do have their pros as well as cons for sure. Maybe not so many pros if you aren't dealing with small kids getting in/out all the time. My back will certainly appreciate them for the next 4 years we will likely own this car!

[goron59]

I have to say that a solution involving sliding doors generally seems a like a good thing, especially for SUV/people carrier applications.
I guess Tesla just went with rear-only gull (sorry, falcon) wings to make a big publicity splash... it's just a shame it made it in to production!

[Deleted User 1874]

I have to say that a solution involving sliding doors generally seems a like a good thing, especially for SUV/people carrier applications.
I guess Tesla just went with rear-only gull (sorry, falcon) wings to make a big publicity splash... it's just a shame it made it in to production!

Well with sliding doors you still have to lean in to buckle kids in. Plus they usually involve some ugly rails too. Tesla's solution is certainly more interesting and only really looks showy because virtually nobody else does it on everyday vehicles.

[Col Lamb]

I have to say that a solution involving sliding doors generally seems a like a good thing, especially for SUV/people carrier applications.
I guess Tesla just went with rear-only gull (sorry, falcon) wings to make a big publicity splash... it's just a shame it made it in to production!

Well with sliding doors you still have to lean in to buckle kids in. Plus they usually involve some ugly rails too. Tesla's solution is certainly more interesting and only really looks showy because virtually nobody else does it on everyday vehicles.

There are many reasons why gulwings are not the best method of getting into and out of a vehicle.

At least with conventional doors you have hard anchors at the hinges and lock and hence with beams inside the doors (a la Volvo's original design) side impact protection is much greater

With Gulwings and top hinges and bottom locks plus supplementary locks at the side there will not be the same level of side impact protection. Plus the doors and mechanisms will be damn heavy and a future point of touble with the mechanisms and operation.

[goron59]

I was going to say that up-and-over doors usually let all the rain in, but then Macan doors do that
Also, if the X is like the SLS, it needs explosive bolts to open the doors when the car rolls onto its roof.
Slightly more scary than an airbag if it goes off accidentally!

[Paul]

and they seem to perform OK in test conditions.....

https://www.autoblog.com/2017/06/13/tes ... ing-nhtsa/

[Deleted User 1874]

I have to say that a solution involving sliding doors generally seems a like a good thing, especially for SUV/people carrier applications.
I guess Tesla just went with rear-only gull (sorry, falcon) wings to make a big publicity splash... it's just a shame it made it in to production!

Well with sliding doors you still have to lean in to buckle kids in. Plus they usually involve some ugly rails too. Tesla's solution is certainly more interesting and only really looks showy because virtually nobody else does it on everyday vehicles.

There are many reasons why gulwings are not the best method of getting into and out of a vehicle.

At least with conventional doors you have hard anchors at the hinges and lock and hence with beams inside the doors (a la Volvo's original design) side impact protection is much greater

With Gulwings and top hinges and bottom locks plus supplementary locks at the side there will not be the same level of side impact protection. Plus the doors and mechanisms will be damn heavy and a future point of touble with the mechanisms and operation.

As a mechanical engineer by profession I get what you are saying, but the Tesla X is about as good as it gets on side impact testing today. Mainly because of the strength of the battery box, but regardless still top notch on overall safety. Maybe it would score even higher with conventional rear doors, but I don't think that is necessarily a given. I agree on the door weight and complexity too and I probably wouldn't want to go near a used 10 year old model. But mine will be under warranty for the 3 or 4 years I own it, so that's an SEP on costs at least. So far, after initial niggles with very early cars, they seem to be holding up (excuse the pun) pretty well.

Would I prefer ordinary doors? Probably yes! But I'm open minded about the benefits of these. When you see the space it creates for passengers to get in/out and access the third row seats it's quite a shock at first. It's like lifting half the roof off and the central roof spine looks seriously beefy. I don't have any safety concerns to be honest. It all looks well engineered.