voLvo XC60 TRIPLe TeST

TEST CENTRE BMW X3 vs Land Rover Freelander vs Volvo XC60 SUVs
Road Test
Centre
Faux-wheel drive
Love the thought of an SUV but hate the running costs?
We pitch the new two-wheel-drive BMW X3 against the
face-lifted Land Rover Freelander and Volvo XC60
Photography Will Williams
The contenders
NEW BMW X3 sDrive18d SE
List price £28,965
This rear-wheel-drive X3 has a
strong, fuel-efficient diesel engine.
NEW
Land Rover Freelander
2.2 eD4 150 XS FWD
List price £29,200
Very well equipped, this face-lifted
Freelander is front-wheel drive.
Volvo XC60 2.0 D4 SE
List price £30,280
This XC60 is refined, spacious,
classy, economical and front drive.
The BMW X3 is our reigning SUV
of the Year in four-wheel-drive
form, so it will be intriguing to
see how this new rear-wheeldrive
version is received. As well
as retaining the space,
practicality and immaculate
build quality of its four-wheeldrive
xDrive cousin, this sDrive
version is cheaper to buy and
comes with a detuned 2.0-litre
diesel engine, so it will spend
even less time at the pumps.
Of course, the X3 must prove
its metal against perennial
favourites such as Volvo’s XC60
and Land Rover’s Freelander. To
keep things on a level playing
field, we’re also testing both of
these cars in their two-wheeldrive
formats.
It should be a closely fought
encounter because the 2.0-litre
five-cylinder D4 XC60 is, by
some distance, the best car Volvo
currently makes.
The Freelander is as sturdy as
it is sophisticated, and is equally
at home in leafy urban suburbs
as it is hill farming in the Peak
District. It’s also the recipient of a
recent subtle makeover.
april 2013 whatcar.com whatcar.com april 2013