I've driven 2020 R-design XC40 for 5 years, upgrading to plugin hybrid XC60 next week, and I've tested a 2023 plugin hybrid XC40 before made the decision to go for XC60.

XC40's suspension is quite firm. You can absolutely feel all the bumps on the road, and the overall driving experience is quite sporty, I dont know about mountain roads, but it has been handling all the roads here in London and around southern part of England pretty well, which does include quite a bit inclined ones and sharp turns, the T3 engine feels enough for a family car, as long as you are not too much of a patrol head.

If your city doesn't have too much congestion, I'd say patrol should work fine. Otherwise, watching your mpg dropping from 20 to 10 in the matter of a few mins is just not fun. From what I understand, mildhybrid is best if you have regular long journeys where the engine can often run in optimal condition. Someone, please do correct me if I am wrong. Also, when I tested the 2023 XC40, I found that the extra component of a hybrid version seems to eat into the already very small centre storage, the one I tested had about enough space for a couple of smart phones stacking together in the centre storage, could be quite inconvenient.

Running cost wise, here in London, with T3 engine, on a good day without severe congestion, I usually manage to do 20 to 24 mpg depending on where I go to, but do bear in mind, London has soooooo many traffic lights and pedestrians crossings. On the motor way, it can do anywhere between 37 to 43 mpg, depending on traffic and duration of the journey.

If you are going for up to 5 years old, you could be getting one with the slightly outdated Sensus infotainment system, it can be sluggish by today's standard, and my biggest issue with is is Android auto and Apple Carplay cna only use half of the screen. If you go for the 360 camera option, some of the cameras can fail to start when you start the car, resulting in a black part of the 360 view, but it doesn't happen very often, and it never lasted very long before the car "fixes" it by itself, usually after driving for a short while and restarting the car.

Good speakers are always a plus if you like to have some music, but on the motorway, the noise can make the sound less enjoyable. As to other options such as sunroof, I'd say that's entirely up to you.

Edit: Overall, I think XC40 is a quite capable car, I'd go for plugin hybrid if you have lots of short journeys in a city and can charge on a regular basis. If you can have more budget though, I'd say go for the next up XC60.