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Volvo S60
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Volvo has always had a reputation of making solid, brick-like saloons and estates. But we have seen very few of them on Indian roads over the years, because they had to be imported. When the S60 was launched globally, everybody sat up and took notice because it was one hell of a solid car, writes Anamit Sen. Now its India’s turn to be wowed— and gawkers were aplenty when DNA tested the vehicle this week. The Swedish carmaker has certainly thrown down the gauntlet at more illustrious marquees, especially from Germany,with its perfectly priced D3 offerings.
Exterior
The man behind the S60’s exterior is Peter Horbury, Volvo Cars’ design director, formerly with Ford. Horbury did not want to make a car that represented a polite Englishman or a reserved Swede - he wanted every line in the design to transport one both physically and emotionally. So what he penned resulted in the S60, a radical, daring departure from earlier Volvos. To my mind, the aggressive stance of the car gets you every time you look at it. It is one helluva looker in my mind, be it the snout at front or the snub-tail. Even in profile, it seems to be ready to move.
Interior
The driver is what the S60 is all about — even the centre console is angled his or her way like in some racing cars. The driver gets a nice fat steering wheel to hold and also sits in a very well padded seats with lateral support that is supposed to keep you in place during spirited driving.Like the T6, the D3 boasts of an excellent music system. At almost every traffic light, I whiled away time by turning the volume up just so I could listen to music.
At the rear, there is quite a bit of headroom, thanks to the scooped-out ceiling which is good because usually fastbacks tend to skimp on rear headroom. It may be a cheaper Volvo but there has not been much skimping by way of features. The black leather upholstery all round and the video monitors set into the rear of the headrest mean very serious business.
In India, competition for the S60 is mainly from the German diesel equivalents, especially the Audi A4 and the BMW 3 Series. But the S60 is the widest of the three and that is very evident while negotiating narrow alleyways and heavy city traffic.
The new D3 engine seems to be an exercise in downsizing and is also meant to give Indian buyers a cheaper, entry-level Volvo. While it has a reduced displacement, it also has a shorter stroke which means the inherent torque developed is a little less than in the D5. The D3 also has a different type of fuel injection system, one that uses piezoelectric technology. Volvo claims these make a positive difference to both fuel economy and CO2 emissions, while still developing a sizeable 400Nm of torque and 163bhp of power. This power is harnessed by a six-speed automatic Geartronic transmission which also has a ‘manual’ mode.
Performance
My S60 D3 for a day was in Flamenco Red just like the T6 I had driven a few months before but it is also available in four other colours like Ember Black, Vibrant Copper, Silver and Ice White. When I drove the T6 some months ago, I fell in love with its performance. The D3 felt more adequate than performance-oriented.
Indeed, a number of times during kickdown, it seemed to respond a bit sluggishly. While the engine sound does have the beginnings of a growl, it’s not as awesome as that of the T6. The chassis, however, feels very well sorted, and the S60 is very well planted on the road and hugs the curves at speed.
It’s probably the low-slung aggressive looks, coupled with the short overhangs, that tempted me to throw caution to the wind; but unlike the T6 which I feared would run away from me if I let it, the D3 let me be in control at all times. I kept looking for an open road and having found one, I let it rip and immediately we were at a rather indecent speed. Had not the road come to an end where it did, I could possibly have been a bit more indecent.
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