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The 2015 Volvo S60 Review: Volvo is a Swedish brand, now owned by a Chinese corporation, whose origins go back 100 years, to when the company was founded as a subsidiary of a ball bearing manufacturer. The official founding date, however, is April 14, 1927, when Volvo built its first car in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Much of Volvo’s history placed substance over style, and stressed safety and durability to weather Sweden’s harsh climate. At about the turn of the 21st Century, Volvos began receiving attractive, modern styling, so instead of looking like boxes, they blended in more with current design trends.
The interior offers the expected level of comfort, convenience, and beauty, in a spare, Volvo way. There’s the flowing center console, introduced a number of years ago, that provides storage behind it and reduces the sense of bulk. The gauges are clean and gleam like fine jewelry. The climate control knobs are arranged on a plain, flat panel, two on each side of the center control area, surrounding Volvo’s charming visual representation of a human to indicate where the air is flowing. Satin silver accents dress up the cabin, giving a heightened sense of plushness.
My tester’s center speedometer was entertaining, with no numbers on it, adding the necessary digits as needed. It pops open and splits out the auxiliary gauges in an amusing graphic at startup.
The S60 sedan offers multiple engines. Two new Drive-E engines employ turbocharging and supercharging to extract strong performance from just 2.0 liters of displacement. The T5 models get the turbo, with 240 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque. Step up to the T6 Drive-E, like my Bright Silver Metallic test car, and you’ll enjoy 302 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. by adding a supercharger.
Drive-E includes the new ECO+ fuel-saving technology, which optimizes shift points, engine control and throttle response, for a gain of up to five percent in fuel economy. ECO+ has a stop/start function that turns the engine off when you stop at a stop sign or traffic light. ECO-coast lets the car coast, disconnecting the engine when you take your foot off the accelerator. ECO-climate disconnects the air conditioning compressor to save energy, too.
The T5 AWD, all-wheel-drive model uses a 2.5-liter turbo five-cylinder engine to get 250 horsepower and 266 lb.-ft. Its Haldex AWD system supplies traction when you need it, sending power to the wheels with the best grip.
For the ultimate S60 power, the T6 R-Design comes with Volvo’s turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, with 325 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of torque. This powerhouse also has a standard Sport Chassis to help it compete with BMW and other sport sedan offerings.
The Drive-E engines use a new Geartronic eight-speed automatic, with paddle shifters on the steering column. This is the sportiest way to shift automatically these days. As in a race car, you can select a gear instantly, or let the car’s computer do the work, too.
Fuel economy numbers for the T6 Drive-E are 24 City, 35 Highway, and 28 Combined. In exclusively in-town driving, I averaged 25.5 mpg.
A tradition of safety goes way back in Volvo’s history. The company introduced shoulder belts as standard equipment, and invented the three point belt system used by everyone today. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS gave the S60 its highest award, the new Safety Pick +. It gets a best-level 5 in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program, too.
Volvo’s program includes City Safety, which works at speeds of 31 mph or lower. It uses a closing velocity sensor to warn of an impending crash. It can set up the brakes or even use them to help avoid a rear end crash.
The Volvo Sensus onboard information management system gives you in-car connectivity not only for entertainment but also for an on-screen owner’s manual, Internet browser, and service booking. The Volvo On Call telematics system responds automatically to alert emergency service providers in case of an accident.
Pricing starts at $34,675 for the Volvo S60 T5 Drive-E model. My S60 T6 Drive-E tester was $39,925, and the top-level T6 AWD R-Design Platinum model stickers at $47,875. All prices include the destination charge. By Steve Schaefer © AutoWire.Net
The 2015 Volvo S60 Bottom Line Review provided by: Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
The Bottom Line: The Volvo S60 models abound with style, performance and safety, in a new and very appealing package. Its mission is to distinguish itself in a competitive entry luxury marketplace enough to attract not only the traditional Volvo customers but new, younger buyers, who don’t have any memory of the older and safe reliable boxes of the past. Volvos today present an interesting alternative to German and Japanese, and Korean luxury products. The S60’s front end was restyled last year, and wears a wide grille with the Ironmark symbol on a diagonal chrome sash across it. The block letters, of V O L V O, march proudly across its carefully carved trunk lid. And maybe, just for those reasons alone, you should “Drive one, Buy one, Today ©”.
Bottom Line Review provided by: Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
“Tony the Car Guy” is an automotive writer, editor and publisher in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have a question or comment for Tony send it to TonyLeo@pacbell.net or visit AutoWire.Net at www.autowire.net - And remember: “You Are What You Drive ©”
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Column Name: Volvos now have attractive and modern styling
Topic: The 2015 Volvo S60
Word Count: 948
Photo Caption: The 2015 Volvo S60
Photo Credits: Volvo S60 Internet Media
Series #: 2015- 016
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