CARS.COM — The 2018 Volvo XC60 is a new benchmark for small luxury SUVs. A full redesign transformed the formerly semi-nice SUV into a full-blown luxury SUV able to go head to head with the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class, Audi Q5 and Lexus NX. I drove multiple versions of the new XC60 at a preview event in Denver (per our ethics policy, Cars.com pays for its airfare and lodging).
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Like its bigger brother — the seven-seat Volvo XC90 that we named our Best of 2016 — the five-seat XC60 is a whole new SUV compared with its predecessor. It’s amazing how much is shared between the XC60 and XC90: engines, a lot of the chassis, much of the interior and most features. The XC60 feels like a mini-XC90, and that’s a good thing considering how gushy we get when we talk about the Best of 2016 winner we owned for a year. The kicker is that I think the XC60 is the better buy if you don’t need the third-row seat.