Volvo S60 – The Naughty S60 from Volvo: High Performance with Safety
The new Volvo S60 will be making its appearance soon here in Malaysia, and this
all-new model is probably the best-looking S60 yet. Not only is it good looking, it promises to be a real road-burner, and will appeal to those who are looking beyond just an executive car to get to and from the office – that is exactly what the current car buyer profile is – so it looks like this new Volvo S60 will carve itself a niche in the executive car market. This is a car that you can afford to be naughty in – it has performance, yet is easy to handle, thanks to many features that help its driving dynamics, and of course the typically Volvo safety features that make Volvo one of the safest car brands to own.
The new Volvo S60 shares the same platform as the Jaguar XF, and if you put the two cars together, you will be able to see the similarities in the design lines. Aesthetically, the S60 is one sleek looking car, a four-door sedan that looks more like a sports coupe.
Inside, it is of course typical Volvo, with the familiar slim centre dash console, and the same type of switchgear and controls, so a Volvo user will be totally at home. The seats are contoured to hold the body in place, and the front ones are electrically controlled. The rear seats split and fold, and it is also possible to fold the front passenger seat forwards and down to allow even long items such as a surf board to be carried.
At the heart of the base model is a 4-cylinder 2.0 litre turbo-charged gasoline engine that delivers 240 horses to the front wheels. Coupled to a 6-speed direct shift gearbox, the S60 promises a sporty performance that will be enough for some fun weekend driving after a week of humdrum office duties for the executive who is likely to buy such a car. There are also strong indications that Volvo Cars Malaysia will also import the 3.0 litre 4WD T6 variant that will blow most other cars off the road. I have tested both models as a guest of Volvo in Portugal, driving along the roads around Alicante, that were used as WRC special stages in some previous events in the Rally of Portugal, and I have been greatly impressed by both. The sixty-four dollar question on my part would be the affordability, but I am sure those big guns in high places in corporations would not find this much of an issue.
The S60 comes with 4-wheel independent suspension, with the ride set on the firm side of comfortable to provide a good balance between handling and passenger comfort. Shod on 17-inch alloys, the S60 gives a pretty good account of itself when driven in anger. Augmenting the driving dynamics is a torque vectoring system that acts off the traction control system to put the power to the outer wheels during turns to give the car more bite and better cornering characteristics. Around a test circuit set up for the media in Melaka during a recent media preview of the S60, (4-cylinder, FWD S60), it performed flawlessly, keeping a very tight line around a figure-8 – without torque vectoring, a normal car would just under steer off. Translated to the road, this feature means you will be able to tackle otherwise difficult corners with relative ease and confidence.
On the twisty and narrow roads around the Alicante area of Portugal, I found the S60 to be very nice and obedient, with flawless handling and driving dynamics. The 3.0 litre version with all-wheel drive, and more power, is definitely more fun than the 2.0 litre, but even the 2.0 litre model is a pocketful of fun to drive.
Inside, the S60 is very plush, with high class fittings, and leather seats, electric controls for the seats, and is very comfortable – after a long journey, you are likely to be less fatigued than if you would be if you were in any other car. The suspension is set on the firm side of comfortable, a good balance between passenger comfort and good driving dynamics.
Typical of Volvo, the S60 comes with a whole array of safety items such as WHIPS, SIPS, BLIS, ABS, traction control, more airbags than I can count, and City Safety. What is new with the S60 is an additional system called Pedestrian Detection – with this system, the S60 can recognize human shapes and brake to a complete stop, if the vehicle is driven at 30 kilometres per hour or less. At speeds above this, the system still works, but there may still be an impact as the required distance to stop exceeds the distance from the car to the pedestrian. The pedestrian detection system is useful, therefore, only in situations of city traffic at low speeds. It is also my understanding that Pedestrian Detection doe not detect animals and non-humanoid outlines.
Given the very competitive situation here for the 2.0 litre executive sedan market, cars need to be competitively priced, and have high specifications or features that are unique, for the buyers to bite. The S60 certainly has the safety features, and coupled with a high performance engine, good looks and torque vectoring, it will deliver driving performance that will appeal to those who want more than just an executive sedan. Prices are yet to be announced, but it is expected to sell at around 280k, and the 3.0 lire model will be somewhat higher.
