Volvo S60 2011 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $64,950 (T6), $57,950 (D5)
Options fitted to T6 test car (not included in above price): Teknik pack $4500, Personal Car Communicator $1575, BLIS $1275, Clean Zone Interior Package $550, heated front seats, Interior Air Quality System $275
Options fitted to D5 test car (not included in above price): Teknik Pack $4500, electric sunroof $2650, premium audio $2400, Lane Departure Warning/Driver Alert Control $2075, Keyless Entry/alarm $1575, BLIS $1275, Clean Zone Interior Package $550, heated front seats $325
Crash rating: TBA, but five-star NCAP anticipated
Fuel: 95 RON PULP (T6), Diesel (D5)
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 10.2 (T6), 7.1 (D5)
CO2 emissions (g/km): 243 (T6), 189 (D5)
Also consider: Alfa Romeo 159, Audi A4, Subaru Liberty GT

About our ratings

Volvo's S60 is yet another revelation from the Swedish marque. As with other Volvos we've driven in recent times, it's an excellent driver's car that offers many of the outstanding features and core engineering of an Audi, but with fewer of the German brand's quirks.

And consider the price of the S60! For under $70,000 you can have a very capable all-wheel drive sedan that's small -- bordering on mid-sized -- but with a turbocharged 3.0-litre six developing 224kW of power and 440Nm of torque. For less than $60,000 you can buy an S60 with diesel five-cylinder engine.

In hard cornering the Volvo's responsiveness is excellent, but its feedback is even better. Such is its ride and handling compromise, allied to its steering and roadholding, the S60 cajoles the driver to push harder and remain in the moment -- enjoying the car's balance and control for all its worth.

Having a fairly hunky turbocharged straight six powering the S60 through a very tight and capable all-wheel drive platform helps with the car's all-round performance, as do the braking and the finely tuned electronic driving aids. This is a car that offers a thrilling drive without the sudden distraction of brakes blatantly clamping down a wheel to reduce understeer or wheelspin. Not that understeer is likely to pose much of a problem in the S60 anyway. The Volvo is more likely to step out at the rear, if anything. Nor will stability control slam the brakes on the engine's torque, thanks to the all-wheel drive.

But if driving for you is just a means of getting from points A to B, the S60 is a pleasant place to be for that as well. The ride comfort surpasses many cars that can't boast the S60's level of dynamic safety and driving satisfaction.

Already mentioned, the turbocharged six is a lovely engine that delivers strong, linear performance, particularly in the middle and upper rev range, but it's not short of torque at lower revs either -- and nor does it suffer turbo lag to any great degree. Smooth and refined at higher revs, the engine also generates an exhaust note that's pleasant to the ear - and proves the point that an efficient, turbo-fed engine doesn't have to drone.

Fuel consumption for the week was a quite impressive figure of 11.3L/100km, according to the trip computer. That was impressive for a car that spent little time on the open road, but was given plenty of stick once away from the suburbs.

Volvo has specified a six-speed automatic transmission for the S60 and it proved responsive and smooth for the period in our possession. It works well with the engine and was willing to drop back to quite low ratios from reasonably high road speeds -- so why does it not offer shift paddles, we wonder?

The tyres fitted (ContiSport Contact3 235/40 R18) were reasonably quiet on country roads, but thumped noticeably over bumps, despite the S60's commendable ride. At cruising speed the car suffered from wind noise as well as road noise, but the drivetrain was very quiet.

The week after driving the S60 T6, we also drove the S60 D5, which is basically the same car powered by a five-cylinder turbodiesel. Truth to tell, the D5 was a disappointment after the T6.

It used as little as 8.1L/100km, which is a decent effort, and it certainly didn't lack punch in a straight line. Even cornering was acceptably good, considering it rode on 17-inch alloys rather than the 18-inch wheels fitted to the T6. What let the D5 down, in the opinion of this writer, was the NVH.

With the six-speed automatic dropping into higher gears at low road speeds to conserve fuel, the engine was forced to run down to less than 1500rpm. At that speed, with some load on the engine (like a hill, for example), the car would hold its speed, but do so with labouring and vibration akin to a badly-played didgeridoo.

Given some spur to higher engine speeds, the D5 powerplant was an altogether nicer unit and would cruise quietly without any load on it, at any engine speed.

Inside both cars the interior was practical and stylish. The two vehicles were trimmed with brushed-aluminium 'spears' around door trims and the general look was appealing. There were some minor ergonomic issues, but if the driver is familiar with the conventions of Volvo design, the advances made with the S60's interior layout won't shock or dismay.

In fact, it really builds on the highpoints of Volvo design from the recent past. The starter button is positioned above the key slot in the dash to the left of the steering wheel. That's a logical place for the button -- and the key in the slot won't do any damage to knee or thigh in the event of a crash.

Mostly the switchgear placement in Volvo's floating centre fascia is logical and follows the design practices of earlier models, but away from the dash and centre fascia the ambience of the interior is very 'Audi', which is a good thing overall. Volvo's B-pillar-mounted face-level vents in the rear remain a point of distinction for the S60 among other cars of its ilk.

Of the minor ergonomic flaws mentioned, there's nothing much to hate about the S60 -- at all. We'd like a bit more legroom in the rear and rear-seat passengers may have to duck heads entering (plus rear headroom is marginal once you're taller than average height).

It was surprising to learn that the S60 doesn't feature auto-on/off headlights, although we'd probably tolerate this shortcoming if the choice boiled down to that or the S60's excellent adaptive cornering lights.

The indicator/high-beam stalk felt a little cheap and operated in a way that was not as intuitive as some similar systems in European rivals. It's a two-stage set-up for flash/high-beam, but doesn't operate in the standard two-stage setup of the S60's competitors. Yes, they provide a three-blink lane-change facility, but not the preliminary-stage spring loading of other Euros.

In other ways the stalk's execution doesn't quite live up to its design promise; as mentioned already it's a cheapish fitting and it doesn't quite fit the hand as well as more conventional stalks. Similar comments apply to the wiper stalk on the other (right) side of the steering column. Part of the problem for the indicator stalk is that it must accommodate a scroll function for the trip computer -- and that makes it bulkier to use.

The S60 features large-font in a dotty, DOS-like readout for the trip computer. We've seen worse, but that was in a car costing less than half the price of the S60. One of our staff members who drove the Volvo from the pick-up point found the satnav system difficult to cancel and this reviewer found it moderately time-consuming to pair a Bluetooth phone, in contrast with Benz or BMW systems.

For the most part, it must be said, these issues are unlikely to confound an owner beyond the first week.

The S60 comes with a tyre-repair kit rather than even a space-saver spare, but this is not the sort of car likely to be stranded with a flat somewhere hundreds of kilometres north of Alice anyway. There are packaging constraints that make the fitment of any sort of spare tyre difficult to the point of impossible.

Volvo plainly wanted the S60 to fit within the bounds of a certain external footprint, plus there are rear-wheel drivetrain components under the floor and this car must sell in markets where boot volume is an important selling feature.

The short answer: a spare tyre of any kind was never likely to be on the agenda.

To illustrate how compact the S60 is, it fits in between the Lexus IS and the Audi A4 -- the A4 being longer and the IS shorter. The wheelbase of the Volvo is just 32mm shorter than the Audi's, despite the German car's overall length pipping the S60's by 75mm. The luggage capacity for the boot of the S60 is 380 litres -- 18 litres less than the (smaller) Lexus and a full 100 litres less than the Audi's -- so its relatively short overhangs detract from goods-carrying functionality.

If the Volvo is more about cornering and passenger comfort than boot space, at least the S60 offers a useful tray that folds upwards to partition the boot into 'north' and 'south' sections. An elastic strap will hold in place loose items, rather than have them rolling around the boot. It's a practical feature we can picture getting quite a workout for those occasions owners call in at a convenience store for a handful of items -- rather than a week's worth of shopping.

In some ways, features like the tray in the boot are a functional departure from the rest of the car. That's not to say that the S60 isn't practical, but the Volvo impresses far more for subjective qualities like style and driving satisfaction.

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