WEST COAST EDITOR MARK VAUGHN: Even though the 2014 model has a facelifted front end and redone interior, the Volvo S60T6 R-Design still manages to give me the anonymity I crave with the sporty feel I love. Anonymous and fun to drive in the city -- that's what I'd say after a weekend in it.
Unless you have a BMW M5, hardly anyone's going to take a larger sedan like this to an autocross. So rather than alienate most buyers with a harsh suspension fit only for a racetrack, Volvo has managed to straddle sporty and luxurious and deliver a car that makes everyday urban driving a little more fun than it might otherwise be. The R-Design trim level gets actual performance enhancements, too, and not just those stickers and wings. Yes, it gets the silly aerodynamic cosmetics that I would just as soon do without, as well as the R-Design aluminum inlays and sport pedals, but it also gets stiffer springs, bushings, sway bars and monotube shocks. It rides more than a half-inch lower than the stock S60, too. The result is a practical sedan that is remarkably comfortable yet still mostly responsive for spelunking into city traffic. Maybe if I'd entered it in an autocross, I'd notice different handling traits exhibited only at the limit like, maybe, understeer. But I didn't. On empty freeway interchanges taken much faster than those yellow recommended speed signs suggest, it held on smoothly. From a standstill, it got to 60 mph in just 5.0 seconds, a figure that would surely have dropped by half a second if I could have switched off the traction control. As it was, TC and DTSC eliminated any benefit that might have come from brake-torquing off the line, leaving a half-second's worth of launch time at the starting line. Stomp on the gas and it sort of sits there as five tenths tick on by. Then off it goes, the shifter in Sport and the six-speeds clicking off as you vroom away.
After the suspension upgrades, the next best thing I liked was the R-Design seats. They grasp your gizzard like a long-lost lover and don't let go until you're ready to leave, which might be a while. The rest of the interior was fully functional and not at all hard to live in.
My preconceived notion of price about this thing was about $15K more than it actually cost. Even in R-Design trim it was only $44,165. You could get a Chevy SS for that. The SS is more powerful and a half-second quicker to 60, and of course the SS is a little less refined, more of a beast, but it's a delightful beast, if you can imagine that, one you will enjoy wrestling with. The Volvo offers European refinement to go with its sporty character. The SS is a brawling Aussie who's had a few Fosters. You like both of them, but the Aussie will get you in more trouble, which maybe you could stand lately. A comparable Mercedes-Benz (say an E350 Sport Sedan with the 3.5-liter six and seven-speed automatic) is eight grand more, a BMW 535i xDrive Sedan with AWD, 3.0-liter turbo six-cylinder and eight-speed automatic is $10K more; but everybody has those. You're not going to see R-Designs going back and forth on your street. The Volvo is a way to satisfy both the spouse, who wants “a safe car” (said without knowing anything at all about all those FMVSS hoops all cars have to leap through nowadays) and yourself, who wants a “fun” car (said knowing how much fun cars can be). You're both happy and both think you've pulled one over on the other. But you know best, don't you?
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140401/carreviews/140339971#ixzz2y191quvV
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Unless you have a BMW M5, hardly anyone's going to take a larger sedan like this to an autocross. So rather than alienate most buyers with a harsh suspension fit only for a racetrack, Volvo has managed to straddle sporty and luxurious and deliver a car that makes everyday urban driving a little more fun than it might otherwise be. The R-Design trim level gets actual performance enhancements, too, and not just those stickers and wings. Yes, it gets the silly aerodynamic cosmetics that I would just as soon do without, as well as the R-Design aluminum inlays and sport pedals, but it also gets stiffer springs, bushings, sway bars and monotube shocks. It rides more than a half-inch lower than the stock S60, too. The result is a practical sedan that is remarkably comfortable yet still mostly responsive for spelunking into city traffic. Maybe if I'd entered it in an autocross, I'd notice different handling traits exhibited only at the limit like, maybe, understeer. But I didn't. On empty freeway interchanges taken much faster than those yellow recommended speed signs suggest, it held on smoothly. From a standstill, it got to 60 mph in just 5.0 seconds, a figure that would surely have dropped by half a second if I could have switched off the traction control. As it was, TC and DTSC eliminated any benefit that might have come from brake-torquing off the line, leaving a half-second's worth of launch time at the starting line. Stomp on the gas and it sort of sits there as five tenths tick on by. Then off it goes, the shifter in Sport and the six-speeds clicking off as you vroom away.
After the suspension upgrades, the next best thing I liked was the R-Design seats. They grasp your gizzard like a long-lost lover and don't let go until you're ready to leave, which might be a while. The rest of the interior was fully functional and not at all hard to live in.
My preconceived notion of price about this thing was about $15K more than it actually cost. Even in R-Design trim it was only $44,165. You could get a Chevy SS for that. The SS is more powerful and a half-second quicker to 60, and of course the SS is a little less refined, more of a beast, but it's a delightful beast, if you can imagine that, one you will enjoy wrestling with. The Volvo offers European refinement to go with its sporty character. The SS is a brawling Aussie who's had a few Fosters. You like both of them, but the Aussie will get you in more trouble, which maybe you could stand lately. A comparable Mercedes-Benz (say an E350 Sport Sedan with the 3.5-liter six and seven-speed automatic) is eight grand more, a BMW 535i xDrive Sedan with AWD, 3.0-liter turbo six-cylinder and eight-speed automatic is $10K more; but everybody has those. You're not going to see R-Designs going back and forth on your street. The Volvo is a way to satisfy both the spouse, who wants “a safe car” (said without knowing anything at all about all those FMVSS hoops all cars have to leap through nowadays) and yourself, who wants a “fun” car (said knowing how much fun cars can be). You're both happy and both think you've pulled one over on the other. But you know best, don't you?
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140401/carreviews/140339971#ixzz2y191quvV
Follow us: @AutoweekUSA on Twitter | AutoweekUSA on Facebook
