The Star: December 20, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday December 20 2018 33
Dunedin Railways is best known for its
flagship journey, the Taieri Gorge Rail Trip;
an excursion filled with sweeping vistas
and dramatic landscapes.
With increasing demand for an extended
version of this popular trip, Dunedin
Railways launched a suite of rail tours,
tailored especially for those who enjoy
the romance and adventure of luxury rail
travel.
Departing in Christchurch, the Southern
Rail Tour is a journey steeped in Southern
history, as it follows the Taieri Gorge and
includes a bonus trip to Stewart Island
and a visit to the Blue Penguin Colony in
Oamaru.
The East Coast
Excursion departs from
Dunedin and includes
a visit Hanmer Springs,
travel through the
historic Weka Pass and
onto the picturesque but
astonishingly narrow
Blenheim Riverside
Railway, ending with
a scenic cruise on
the beautiful Queen
Charlotte Sounds.
If spectacular
mountain ranges are
more to your liking, the
West Coast Excursion
Your
Summer Holiday Attraction
guide
Dunedin Railways
offer luxury rail tours
is highlighted by travel over Southern
Alps, stops in Westport, the Buller Gorge
and Punakaiki, with the option to visit the
magnificent Treetops Canopy Walk.
Each trip offers optional extras such as
steam train travel, guided tours to heritage
sites, or day walks.
The tours include First Class travel
on the Dunedin Silver Fern, all
accommodation and the majority of meals,
with knowledgeable and friendly hosts to
guide guests on this unique and exciting
experience.
For more information on these Rail
Tours, please visit dunedinrailways.co.nz
or phone 03 477 4449.
Southern Rail Tour (Departing Christchurch)
26 th April - 2 nd May 2019
3 rd - 9 th May 2019
West Coast Excursion (Departing Dunedin)
13 th - 18 th April 2019
East Coast Excursion (Departing Dunedin)
28 th May - 3 rd June 2019
BOOK
NOW
(03) 477-4449
bookings@dunedinrailways.co.nz
www.dunedinrailways.co.nz
Volvo’s XC40 gets
many accolades
• By Ross Kiddie
THE NEW Zealand
Motoring Writers’ Guild
Car of the Year award is
taken very seriously by
the members, and the
motoring industry in
general.
I’ve been involved in
the voting process since
1988, and have yet to see a
winner that I didn’t think
was worthy of the title.
For 2018, Volvo’s XC40
was a worthy finalist, and
as recent history has served
to prove, it didn’t win the
title, that went to Subaru’s
Forester, but the XC40 has
many other accolades to its
credit, including European
Car of the Year for 2018.
It doesn’t surprise
me that the XC40 was
nominated for our award,
it is all that you could want
from a sport utility vehicle,
and represents all of the
values Volvo incorporates
during the manufacturing
process.
Regular readers will
remember my evaluation
of the top-of-the-line
R-Design model in these
columns in July, I’ve now
been fortunate enough to
drive a model from the
other end of the scale, the
$59,900 two-wheel-drive
Momentum variant, and
for my money it is the pick
of the bunch.
Bear in mind, too, that
there is also a four-wheeldrive
mid-spec model
(Inscription) at $67,900,
while the R-Design (4WD)
sits at $72,900.
Putting these figures into
context, you can save a lot
of cash if you don’t need
four-wheel-drive and don’t
need all of the bells and
whistles that Volvo does so
well as a luxury car maker.
Saying that, the entrylevel
model doesn’t miss
out on much, it still gets
all of the safety gear that
you’d expect form Volvo,
along with a good level
of features that favour
comfort and convenience.
If you are like me and
don’t rate leather trim as
a priority, the textile seats
in the Momentum are
glorious. They have vinyltype
side panels with a soft
cloth insert, they feel good
to be in and don’t store
Motoring
Ross Kiddie
VOLVO XC40: Three-model range.
the cold on those frosty
Canterbury mornings.
There is perhaps one
other important feature
that needs to be addressed
in terms of description,
the Momentum model
has engine power outputs
lower than the R-Design.
It’s the same turbocharged
2-litre, four-cylinder power
plant, but instead of having
• Price – Volvo XC40 T4,
$59,990
• Dimensions – Length,
4425mm; width,
1863mm; height,
1652mm
• Configuration – Fourcylinder,
front-wheeldrive,
1969cc, 140kW,
300Nm, eight-speed
automatic
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 8.4sec
• Fuel usage –
6.8l/100km
182kW and 350Nm, it
gets figures of 140kW and
300Nm.
Don’t be put off by that,
I drove the Momentum
for a week and there was
never a point when I felt
it needed more power.
Sure the R-Design is angry
and feisty when asked
to accelerate, but the
Momentum keeps pace
easily and is an absolute
joy to drive with relatively
quick movement.
It will reach 100km/h
from a standstill in 8.4sec
and will make 120km/h
from 80km/h in 5.5sec. For
the record, Volvo lists a
230km/h top speed for all
XC40 variants.
On the subject of figures,
Volvo claims a 6.8-litre per
100km (42mpg) combined
cycle fuel usage average
for the Momentum. That
sits well with the readout
on the evaluation car. It
was sitting constantly at
around 8l/100km (35mpg)
with a 6.2l/100km (45mpg)
instantaneous usage figure
at 100km/h, the engine well
in the leisure zone turning
over at just 1600rpm.
If you take note of the
points at where the power
figures are developed
– 1400rpm for torque
almost meeting the point
of peak power (4700rpm)
– then you can genuinely
believe there is a perfectly
acceptable power delivery.
The feel of turbo
boost is strong and drive
through an eight-speed
automatic transmission
is smooth and controlled.
There are also four drive
modes, from sport to
economy, which you can
utilise depending on each
journey.
The XC40 drives quietly
and smoothly, and that is
a pre-requisite of all cars
from the Volvo stable.
I took the test car on a
loop from Motukarara
to Hororata, there are
several tricky corners on
that route yet the XC40 is
comfortable in a corner
and handles with all of
the characteristics of the
modern-day SUV.
The XC40 is relatively
new to the New Zealand
market and joins a highprofile
SUV line-up from
the Volvo stable.
I can easily see why it
has been seen favourably
by the critics, and that
exposure trickles down to
the choices buyers make
when they are looking
for a purchase. If I was an
SUV buyer then the XC40
would certainly be near the
top of my list.