Hey, good looking
Sarmad Kadiri feels that the
S60’s gorgeous curves, ideal packaging and its smacking price propels the Volvo to a high pedestal. Is it too good to be true?
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
The S60 is quite a looker. Sitting on the edge of a scenic hill, I admire its gorgeous curves and the suggestive body language, as the setting sun adds romance to the ambiance. The coupe-like roofline, aggressive bonnet lines, aesthetic haunches enhances the sporty stance. The C-pillar stretches all the way to the tail lamps, as the unique headlamps glow in the dusk and the Volvo marque is placed like a decorative brooch. Donning a copper gown, she is dressed to kill. This Swede sedan has 
taken exterior styling a notch higher in the segment and promises to keep the same trend in performance as well. We’ll find out soon.
The automobile company has tagged this hottie as ‘naughty’ right from their press release to their website. Seems like an intentional attempt to change their image from an outright practical car-maker to a fun and sporty one, with eyes set on the younger lot of buyers. The spec sheet also looks rather impressive. Volvo India has introduced the S60 in three trims – the T6 Summum, D5 Kinetic and D5 Summum. 
The latter two sport a 2400-cc diesel motor mated with 6-speed auto box, that churns out 205PS and 420Nm. We tested the top of the line petrol powered T6 Summum. Personally, the trim name could have been better or something that people around the world can say without blushing. Anyway, coming back to the power specs, under the aggressive hood it has a very capable 2953-cc petrol motor that produces 308PS peak power and 440Nm of max torque. The list of equipments is summum bonum (which, according to the closest dictionary that I could find, means: the supreme good in which all moral values are
included or from which they are derived). These include features like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Queue Assist and Advanced Alert, Collision Warning with Full Autobrake and Pedestrian Detection, Driver Alert Control (DAC), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS). It takes a little while to keep a tab on all these features, but once you get a hang of them, they work in harmony to make your driving experience really safe.
Let’s get in the car for that ‘driving experience’ then. The Volvo engineers have managed to keep the cabin distinct and it doesn’t resemble any other car of the segment. The bronze hue exteriors are complemented with dual-tone interiors, black and beige in this case, starting from the steering wheel itself. It also hosts controls for the music system and cruise control, but does not have paddle-shifters, which is sorely missed if you like to play around with the auto-box. The rounded twin-instrument console is a great mix of analog and digital displays, that flash information like average fuel economy, driver alert messages, fuel gauge, digital odometer and speedo etc. The dash flows like a rising wave and holds the 7-inch 
on-board infotainment screen and is tilted towards the driver. What I like best about the interiors are the well laid out buttons and knobs which are simple to operate. Look closely and you’ll notice the air-conditioning vent controls in the shape of a human silhouette, divided in three sections (head, torso and legs) where one can direct the air draught. Really cool, literally. The seats wear sturdy leathers and offer good all-round support. The rear-view from the cabin is a bit tight, which is compensated by the rear and front park assist. The leg-room at the back is decent and comfortable for an average Indian. The 380 litres of boot is decent, but no spare wheel is a cause of concern. The overall packaging is very sensibly done and suits our country’s demands.
Time to crank-up the 3.0-litre straight-six turbocharged motor. The NVH levels are so low and the cabin is so well insulated that you have to strain your ears to hear the 300 horses galloping. At normal speeds the Volvo is unobtrusively swift, and once you force the accelerator paddle down, the turbo kicks in with a faint hum and makes the car tear through the road with remarkable ease. Keep the paddle down and the car doesn’t hesitate to clock 250kmph and above! We ran out of road, but the car was unbelievably stable even on such neck-breaking speeds. That’s not it… the T6 managed to reach from 0-100kmph in 
under 7 seconds. The power to weight works in its favour putting the competition to shame. The engine and the ride quality of the car is the S60’s highlight. The very impressive damping keeps the T6 in control at all times, albeit with elan. The suspension has three settings on offer – Comfort, Sport and Advanced.
The Scandinavian sedan gobbles up the worst of roads with ease in the Comfort mode, whereas the Sport mode makes it a tad stiff and Advanced is stiffer still. Even in the Sports mode, the car felt rather subtle when compared to some of the other sportier sedans of this segment. There is a faint body roll, especially in the Comfort mode but nothing that would upset the composure of this Swede. The T6 employs an AWD 
system that uses the latest Haldex 4 combined rear differential and clutch, which is very quick to react to front-wheel slippage, driving torque rearwards. This makes the car feel very balanced and the nicely weighed steering keeps it on the intended driving line. Another reason why the Volvo is good around the corners is due to the corner traction control where the Torque Vectoring balances the torque between the front wheels during acceleration while cornering – the torque is being distributed from a spinning inner wheel to reduce understeer and increase traction. And when you’re in the mood for a more sporty drive, select the Sport Mode. It shuts off the spin regulation and allows more rear skidding. Woohoo! 
Another safety feature is the collision avoidance system. This is a laser-based technology that can sense if a vehicle in front within 6–8 metres is at a standstill or is moving slower and if it senses that a collision is likely to happen, it will alert you with some flashing warning lights on the heads-up display along with an audible alarm. But driving in overcrowed Indian cities makes the alarm go on, and on and on… This is a good feature, and should curb jaywalkers and tailgaters. Another feature which is very useful in our driving conditions is the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), which has warning lights inside the car, parallel to the outer rear-view mirrors. This warns the driver about vehicles coming from behind who 
could be in the driver’s blind-spot. This combination of electronics along with the neutral steering makes the S60 a very pleasurable drive over the winding roads of the hills as I steer the series of bends together.
My experience with the Volvo S60 T6 has been very fulfilling. With loads of safety features it is a good city car; the sporty performance is delivered effortlessly and the unique design will make you stand out in a crowd, in a positive meaning of the sentence. What does not work for me is that the drive is not as engaging and exciting as some of its competition. The other set-back as of now is that the dealers network is not as strong in India, although Volvo’s working on it aggressively. However, what makes this car far more appealing is its smashing price. At Rs 42.6 lakh on-road Pune the S60 is the most affordable in the segment with hoards of futuristic features and safety equipments. No wonder Volvo India has already received over 100 bookings of the S60 in the last week, which is almost the same number of its total car sales last year.
CAPTIONS:
1. The black-beige leather wrapped steering, neat dash holding the rounded twin-instrument console and the interesting layout of the centre console make the S60 cabin a unique place to be in.
2. The 3-litre Volvo motor has some turbo lag evident during city driving, which is camouflaged to a good extent by the smartly ratioed 6-speed automatic.
3. The S60 imployes Active Bending Lights which uses motorised lamps that turn up to 15° in either direction to boost your vision round bends at night
4. Adaptive LED brake light can sense the
difference between normal and panic braking and accordingly the brake lights will flash at a rate of four times per second.
5. Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) has warning lights inside the car, that warn the driver about vehicles coming from behind who could be in the driver’s blind-spot.
6. The S60 has cameras on all sides of the car making it one of the safest car to drive and park in the over crowded city roads
7. The 380 litres of boot is among the smallest in the segment, but no spare wheel is a cause of concern.
8. Complimenting the bronze hue are beige leather upholstery, which add plushness to the cabin. The rear seats are quite comfortable and can seat four adults with ease, though a fifth can be squeezed in without much discomfort.
the unique design of the S60 will make you stand out in a crowd, in a positive meaning of the sentence
