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The XC60 interior is as true as the exterior to Volvo's contemporary styling idioms. Even to the odd, slab-like center panel that drops down from the dash to the center console and holds the audio and climate control panels and, when ordered, the new navigation system screen. The seats, front and rear, offer all the expected comfort for the everyday driver and passengers on the everyday drive, be it around town or between towns. And for families with toddler, there's the optional rear seat with built-in child safety seats. The front seats are modestly bolstered but no less comfortable for being so. The rear seat is more bench than bucket, but properly, as it's intended to accommodate three average adults, which it does, if somewhat snugly. The optional Nordic Light Oak veneer on the center stack is real wood. Front-seat legroom bests only the X3, although there by an inch. Rear-seat legroom generally splits the difference, save for putting to shame the EX35's 28.5 inches. Nevertheless, in perceived roominess, the XC60 fares well, feeling marginally more spacious than the RDX and about even with the EX35 and X3. Visibility from the driver's seat is good all around. The back-up video camera is especially appreciated for its assistance when parking; the video display bends the outer guidelines to reflect the car's path based on the position of the steering wheel. A nice-to-have would be the delay first introduced by GM, which leaves the camera on for a few seconds after the transmission is shifted out of reverse; this accommodates the commonplace back-and-fill maneuver so familiar to many drivers by giving them time to shift out of and then back into reverse without interrupting the safety of that rearward visibility. The cuts and stitching on the seats and floormats and the brushed aluminum trim on door panels and center stack add a smart, cosmopolitan look. Bins molded into front and rear door panels and pouches sewn into the back sides of the front seat backs provide more than adequate occasional storage. The lighted glove box actually is deep and tall enough to hold more than the leather-bound owner's manual portfolio. The navigation system has been redesigned, and the system display is fully integrated with the sound system control panel. The premium audio system is superb, with crisp highs and booming lows. Auxiliary jacks and USB ports provide access to personal MP3 players and the like to keep passengers entertained. A panorama moonroof is two-piece, with a front section that retracts up and over the back section. This produces a pretty cool skylight effect, which also benefits rear-seat occupants. The moonroof does, however, exact a cost, chopping a full inch out of front-seat headroom and nigh onto an inch and a half over the rear seat. Which pushes the XC60 even farther beneath the competition in that measurement, where it already trails by between about a half-inch to an inch or more. Carpet covers all five surfaces in the rear cargo area; a thoughtful touch is how the removable floor panel extends rearward enough to be secured beneath an overlap from the closed liftgate.
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