Volvo S60 R Car Review

Finally, a car that I can be completely excited about! Now I realize in the past that Volvo has been less than the most popular vehicle. However, if you can look past that and move on from any old grudge you hold against them then you will be able to enjoy the new Volvo S60 R. The turbo power offered by this vehicle is truly amazing, but that isn't all that is. You will also enjoy the AWD grip, excellent brakes, well balanced handling, high quality build, and superb drivability. Another thing Volvo is known for is creating not so attractive vehicles. Though I do agree with the previous statement Volvo has managed to make the S60 R look pretty cool. So with these attributes combined I was ready to learn more about this vehicle.

While the appearance and features are looking great, the star of this show is basically the 2.5 liter five cylinder engine sitting under the hood. Anything you would expect from an up to date turbo engine you should be able to find it here. You will certainly notice and enjoy the throttle's response as well as the flexibility. On top of all that you get vast amounts of acceleration from even extremely low revs. I was and still am very impressed with this engine. It really does a good job of standing out even among the big bad V8s that are out there. The peak torque you can get in the Volvo S60 R is 400Nm which can be held all the way up to 5250 RPM. I realize that it can get up to the 6500 redline, but there honestly isn't much a point in doing so. The engine simply runs out of breath as is gets close to the 6500 redline and because of this you really don't have any legitimate reasons to push it any further. The car is extremely easy to drive which can be attributed to the spread of torque allowing you to move into second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth gear in any town or city. However, the manual gearbox could use a few adjustments. First of all, the reverse gear is way too easy to hit when you are trying to get to fifth and sixth gear which is a pain for obvious reasons. On top of that you have to deal with the difficult task of getting yourself back on track once you have lost the slot in the gearbox. You may think this could be easily avoided or not hard to recover from, but I can assure you it is a lot harder than it should be.

The amount of fuel the Volvo S60 R consumes is actually quite reasonable. If you go by official test figures you are looking at 10.7 liters per 100km or about 62 miles. There are many drivers who have achieved better averages that are around the 9 liter mark, and the cars were being tested on the open road with normal driving. The recommended fuel to satisfy this vehicles thirst is 98 RON which shouldn't come as too big of a surprise. This fuel helps keep the performance standards to the high quality they are supposed to be at.

There are three different modes you can choose from for when you are out driving. If you want a very relaxing ride that still has decent control then you will enjoy the comfort mode. It does just what the title says; give you a comfortable and pleasant ride with no hassles. If you want to turn things up a few notches then you can switch it over to the Sport chassis mode. This mode helps reduce your fore-aft pitching as well as much firmer damping that is used for flatter cornering. Last, but not least you have Advanced chassis mode. This mode is only for those who are driving on smooth asphalt because of the even firmer damping that is given to the vehicle. If you are on roads that are not asphalt you will most likely find this mode to be too much than you need.

Now let's take a moment to discuss the brakes on the Volvo S60 R. In short the brakes equipped are basically beasts. No, really. In the front you have 330 x 32mm ventilated discs and in the back you have 330 x 28mm ventilated discs. As if that isn't enough they are accompanied by EBA, EBD, and ABS. With all of these features combined you are looking at some very nice stopping power. You should keep in mind however that this vehicle weighs about 3,600 pounds making it quite a hefty sized sedan. Even with this weight though, the brakes do wonderful job and provide more than enough stopping power for almost any situation. I just wish that there could be more room in that area for your feet.

One of the nice things about this car is the abundance of space in the trunk-you will be the car that all of your friends want to use when it comes time to transport stuff from one place to another. Though there is not all that much extra room for rear passengers, all of the leather seats in the car are some of the most comfortable seats you or your passengers will ever sit in. The driver and front seat passenger are lucky enough to have heated seats with memory settings and lumbar support.

The interior standard features are fantastic. There are also plenty of safety features equipped in the vehicle, such as multiple airbags, child locks, and a system that guards for whiplash. With typical expected features like climate control, cruise control, an in-dash CD player, a fantastic surround sound stereo system, Bi-Xenon headlights, a small real spoiler, a phone system, and folding headrests, there is not much you could ask for that is not included.

For AUD $98,950, the Volvo S60 R is not one of those cars that people can run out and buy without doing some research, and unfortunately there are some people who just will not be able to afford this car until they significantly save. However, if you have the money and you are in the market for this type of vehicle, rest assured that you will not be disappointed with the price you spent to get this car-it is highly recommended!