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New Models
DRIVEN: Volvo Sharpens S60 Sport Sedan
The latest T6 R-Design gets a boost in power and finesse from the Swedish automaker’s Polestar performance partner, with 325 horsepower and enhanced drivability.
The Volvo S60 T6 R-Design gets a restyling, including spoilers front and rear, and optional Ixion alloy wheels. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
Try as it might, Volvo can’t seem to shed its image as the safety-first automaker whose cars and SUVs are well-built but stodgy.
Although Volvo stepped away from its box-on-wheels designs a generation ago, the Swedish automaker struggles to raise its profile as a premium enthusiast brand against the German leaders – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – as well as Cadillac.
The Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design could help change all that. Enhanced by Volvo’s performance-parts partner, Polestar, the midsize S60 sedan boasts a 325-horsepower turbocharged inline-six to become the Swede’s most-powerful production vehicle.
Polestar’s electronics wizardry wrung another 25 horsepower from the turbo engine in the standard T6 without a fuel-mileage penalty. Last year, the performance-car crowd took notice when Volvo unveiled its 508-horsepower S60 Polestar concept car, so we know there’s even more possibilities lurking under that sloping hood.
The R-Design also gets the full-on suspension treatment, including springs that are shorter and stiffer with performance shocks, a stouter front antiroll bar, a strut brace between the front suspension towers, harder rear bushings and 18-inch alloy wheels shod with low-profile performance tires. The test car had great-looking Ixion design wheels.
The effect is an S60 that is eager and agile, with suspension tuning that is sports-car firm but still compliant and civilized. With the extra power and sharper handling, the Volvo provided an exciting drive up the steep, winding road that scales Phoenix’s South Mountain. For once, I got a clear shot at this awesome two-lane without any slow pokes blocking the way.
I liked everything about this trim sedan, from its vibrant Rebel Blue paint job that has become a Volvo/Polestar theme to the strong and tractable six-cylinder engine. Stickshift would have been preferred, although the sharply responsive six-speed automatic with its Sport mode kept things on edge.
The T6 R-Design is equipped with Volvo’s tenacious all-wheel drive as well as key electronic features that dial in the cornering prowess. These include Corner Traction Control, which uses torque vectoring that applies braking in tight curves to the inner driven wheels while adding power to the outside wheels, allowing the car to carve the corner more tightly while reducing the tendency to understeer.
Helping to keep things under control is Advanced Stability Control, a Volvo-exclusive technology that uses a newly developed roll-angle sensor to identify possible skids before they happen, prompting Dynamic Stability and Traction Control to step in earlier and more seamlessly.
The driver can also chose between three settings that effect ride, steering and cornering. Whatever the setting, the S60 hooks up with the asphalt to provide a sporty driving experience, with highly responsive steering and strong brakes, in Volvo tradition.
Although I have read in other reviews that the brakes get spongy and lose effectiveness during the rigors of all-out track-performance driving, I did not experience that during my less-aggressive behavior on public roads.
All of these engineering and electronic tricks conspire to make the S60 a supremely competent slicer of back roads, now with enough power to really pick up the pace. The drivability is secure and vaultlike, although the sedan’s nearly two-ton heft can be felt in the curves.
The styling does not appeal to everybody, some folks finding the body lines a bit soft and gelatinous compared with the sharp-edged Germans. For me, the look is appealingly different, the rounded forms and sporty details standing out better than they did in the previous generation.
Although Volvo stepped away from its box-on-wheels designs a generation ago, the Swedish automaker struggles to raise its profile as a premium enthusiast brand against the German leaders – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – as well as Cadillac.
The Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design could help change all that. Enhanced by Volvo’s performance-parts partner, Polestar, the midsize S60 sedan boasts a 325-horsepower turbocharged inline-six to become the Swede’s most-powerful production vehicle.
Polestar’s electronics wizardry wrung another 25 horsepower from the turbo engine in the standard T6 without a fuel-mileage penalty. Last year, the performance-car crowd took notice when Volvo unveiled its 508-horsepower S60 Polestar concept car, so we know there’s even more possibilities lurking under that sloping hood.
The R-Design also gets the full-on suspension treatment, including springs that are shorter and stiffer with performance shocks, a stouter front antiroll bar, a strut brace between the front suspension towers, harder rear bushings and 18-inch alloy wheels shod with low-profile performance tires. The test car had great-looking Ixion design wheels.
The effect is an S60 that is eager and agile, with suspension tuning that is sports-car firm but still compliant and civilized. With the extra power and sharper handling, the Volvo provided an exciting drive up the steep, winding road that scales Phoenix’s South Mountain. For once, I got a clear shot at this awesome two-lane without any slow pokes blocking the way.
I liked everything about this trim sedan, from its vibrant Rebel Blue paint job that has become a Volvo/Polestar theme to the strong and tractable six-cylinder engine. Stickshift would have been preferred, although the sharply responsive six-speed automatic with its Sport mode kept things on edge.
The T6 R-Design is equipped with Volvo’s tenacious all-wheel drive as well as key electronic features that dial in the cornering prowess. These include Corner Traction Control, which uses torque vectoring that applies braking in tight curves to the inner driven wheels while adding power to the outside wheels, allowing the car to carve the corner more tightly while reducing the tendency to understeer.
Helping to keep things under control is Advanced Stability Control, a Volvo-exclusive technology that uses a newly developed roll-angle sensor to identify possible skids before they happen, prompting Dynamic Stability and Traction Control to step in earlier and more seamlessly.
The driver can also chose between three settings that effect ride, steering and cornering. Whatever the setting, the S60 hooks up with the asphalt to provide a sporty driving experience, with highly responsive steering and strong brakes, in Volvo tradition.
Although I have read in other reviews that the brakes get spongy and lose effectiveness during the rigors of all-out track-performance driving, I did not experience that during my less-aggressive behavior on public roads.
All of these engineering and electronic tricks conspire to make the S60 a supremely competent slicer of back roads, now with enough power to really pick up the pace. The drivability is secure and vaultlike, although the sedan’s nearly two-ton heft can be felt in the curves.
The styling does not appeal to everybody, some folks finding the body lines a bit soft and gelatinous compared with the sharp-edged Germans. For me, the look is appealingly different, the rounded forms and sporty details standing out better than they did in the previous generation.
2014 Cadillac CTS
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