Oh! for an open road

Some years ago Volvo was seriously reinvented, a change that took the entire marque by its boot strings and placed it firmly among the ranks of the most desirable cars to own.

I was lucky enough to plough a T5 to 225 km/h on a dual carriageway outside Gloucester. A very high speed in total safety. Roger Moore couldn’t go that fast in his Volvo when he did a series as The Saint 40 years ago. In fact, even had I the urge, top speed of the S 60 on test would have been 137 mph, and as those of us who have to drive many kilometres a day alongside the strange assortment of motoring

The S60 is a beauty of a car to behold. It was designed to please the eye from the outside and provide a bewildering assortment of aids and goodies to the lucky driver. Frankly, this car can be so complete that a driver with virtually no acquired driving skills can perform apparent miracles when using all the assist modes available.

The car was most happily comfortable as sports seats and sports chassis are standard and there is an optional speed-dependent power steering that drivers can adjust and set. On the road, Advanced Stability Control sharpens the car’s responses when cornering hard or when lateral movement is about to set in.

Torque vectoring helps counter understeer (when the wheel has been turned and the car continues going straight on). Activating DSTC Sport Mode in the on-board menu system can activate even more dynamics. A unique Volvo Whiplash Protection System built into the front sports seats may unfortunately be of use in Malta and Gozo, the islands where drivers have a strange habit of thumping into the back of the car ahead.

The driver-orientated interior pleased me no end. The driver’s seat has an extra lateral ‘G’ support. The steering wheel is absolutely fine and the centre console is angled towards the driver and contains the new driver control interface.

This is a car built to the highest standards and purposefully designed for the computer age driver. When all the aids have been set up, the hard work of driving has been so minimised that a driver clutching his or her new driving licence would, after having received instruction on all the goodies, be able to perform the sort of driving tricks drivers of most other makes can only dream of, or take many years to master.

Within the parameters of a low speed limit and the most incredible selection of drivers, many paddling along at slow speed in cars from the furthest reaches of the known world, we really blew the dust off their bonnets as we managed to coax the D3 into its accelerative mode (from 0-100 km/h in 10.3 seconds). The turbo on the Volvo switches in at just above idling speed and with a 2.0-litre diesel under the bonnet the pulling power [(orque) is quite good enough to ‘blow-off’ all but dedicated enthusiasts or meandering farm folk in tractors or their work-a-day series Landrovers.

From 80 km/h, hands off the steering wheel, the car stops hard and true, even on less-than-perfect surfaces, and, believe me, the brakes, like the suspension and steering, is well up to what would have been sports car standard a few years ago.

This all becomes more desirable when the size of the S60 is acknowledged. It is a large car, 4,628 mm long, 2,097 mm wide and 1,484 mm high, and yet with all the electronics buzzing it feels like a much smaller vehicle. The boot is big and when the rear seats split 60:40 and the passenger seat is folded forward, the carrying capacity is enormous.

In the space available we can only list some of the aids that help the driver. Park Assist and Park Assist camera to the rear. Adaptive Cruise Control maintains your set speed and distance from the car ahead. Using radar and camera technology Autobrake works automatically when pedestrians are too close. Urban Collision Avoidance brakes the car if you get too close to the car ahead. A See-Around-Corners camera is optional as well. Dynamic Stability and Traction Control helps keep you on track and the Intelligent Driver Information System is taken from fighter aircraft technology.

Verdict

Comfort
A great balance between competition and leisure

Performance
This is after all a 250 km/h car with a different engine

Cool
Sets the pace in many ways, mostly serious, not for the trendy

Quality
This is a beautifully constructed vehicle finished to the highest of standards

At A Glance

Price
n/a

Top Speed
220 km/h

0-62mph
10.4 secs

Economy
Average 5.2l/100 km

C02
137g/km

Engine
Five cylinder 2.0-litre single turbo, diesel

Power
160 bhp

Transmission
Six-speed manual