Review: 'Naughty' Volvo S60

Now, I remember taking the elevator to work daily and most of the time beside me, there would be a thirty-something year old career bound woman taking the same elevator to the office. She arrives at work about roughly the same time as I do and more often than not, board the elevator the same time as I do. To be honest, she is thoroughly pretty but the thing is, she isn’t of the current trend so to speak. Her clothes often reminisce the 90s era, her laptop has not been changed for the last 6 years and she likes no-sugar-black-coffee from a coffee shop nearby the office. There is nothing wrong with her being this way but if she ever reinvented herself, I bet even Elton John would beg her to be his son’s godmother.

Lights looks real good but will get updated in the later batch.

Sexy rear

The S60 of old is a mirror of my senior – sort of. The centre console reminds me of the cockpit of a military bomber. Buttons, switches placed at every empty location the Swedes can find and a phone used in the Communist era is made available in the car. Now, Volvo saw that the S60 was turning into an ugly duckling and realized it was time for an all new S60. Then kablaaam! The all new S60 shoved right into our faces. Notice that I used ‘kablaaam’ because Volvo literally went aggressive with promoting this car. For example, style is everything in the new S60 and safety comes in second. Imagine that from Volvo, didn’t see that coming now, did you? To top that, the S60 is even labeled ‘naughty’.

Naughty?

Now, naughty would be an awful word when used to describe a kid, but not when you align naughty and Volvo S60 together. Volvo has done just that and labeled the new S60 naughty.  And you’ve got to give them credit because Volvo simply described it the best way possible. Well, almost. You see, naughty is written all over the car – exterior wise. The lines of the car scream for attention, the light clusters look like they were nicked from the Modern Art Museum and the stance of the car is just plain blue collar with a whiff of Hugo Boss. Gone are the days where Volvos are associated with tanks of the 1960s. Current crop of cars from Volvo are what you would call, sexy.

Rims have got to change. Doing it with Volvo though sets you back roughly RM 30k for a new set of rims.

The modern Swedish art continues as you enter the S60 albeit with weird air con placements. The waterfall like centre stack, the beautifully crafted leather, modern designed interior and cosseting seats cocoon you and make you wonder about the comforts of life. The materials used in producing the interior of the car are right at the competitions’ category. The bobs and switches feel heavy duty, the leather wrapped steering wheel feels sturdy and a generous share of aluminium bits here and there help give the car a more upmarket quality. Even the leather used is so soft and supple, it makes sitting in other cars a chore. Not to exaggerate my point of quality in the S60, even the air inside smells of quality. The Swedes to me are like Germans but with a dash of Vogue. That’s what this car is. It has all the right recipes to compete with the Germans but has a thing more up its sleeve. It’s design. Continue reading after the jump.

Waterfall eh? Looks like one.

You get aluminium inserts for the steering wheel but that's an option in the T4

Dual clutch gearbox does the job albeit with 

Buttons and switches look and feel ergonomically good

Typical Volvo dials

You get a small screen in the T4 but choose the T5 and you get a 7" screen instead

All new S60 eh? Even the door makes me want the S60 so much.

Plush leather seats are really comfortable. They really are.

Weird air con placement. Still, makes the S60 an interesting bit of car

And to think that Volvo has gone astray off its roots, even the base model sports heaps and heaps of tech and safety - BLIS, SIPS, DSTC, City Safety System and a multitude of airbags and air curtains just to name a few. To briefly explain a few outstanding safety technologies to you, let me put you in a scenario. So you’re in your S60 and your boss calls you out of the blue asking for life support. In a sudden, a lady appears in front of your car. If your car has not exceeded 30km/h, the City Safety system activates and halts the car to a stop even without your feet touching the pedal. Well, you won’t though because you’re still in a state of shock that your boss needs life support. BLIS is another tech that helps, a lot. Scenario 2: You’re driving along your lane and there’s a long timer driving miss daisy up ahead of you, natural instincts bring you to change lanes. Basically, you look to your left and right mirror to see if there are cars and may even turn your head side to side to double check then make your move. With the BLIS, the light near your side mirror illuminates to warn you that changing lanes now may not be a good idea when there is a car in the other lane behind you. In short, you make less neck strains, less confusion, more concentration on the road ahead of you and less mistakes. The BLIS may be a gimmick but a very effective one if so.

BLIS

Upon driving the car, I can only say that the drive is anything but naughty. The S60 that I piloted in was the base version meaning it had a turbocharged four pot – T4 in short pushing 180 bhp and 240 Nm of torque starting from a mere 1600 to 5000 rpm. The car was sure footed with its dual clutch Powershift gearbox, had sheer composure as I swept through the bends and as I put my foot down, there was a slight lag in the throttle followed on by a force pushing me to my seat (I like a slight lag followed by a strong acceleration, just in case you want to know which you don’t). 0 to 100 takes the car 9 seconds to complete but to me, it felt faster than that. Though the car was sturdy enough in bends and had enough power to excite 18 year olds, this car isn’t as enjoyable as you’d expect from a ‘naughty’ car. Throughout my drive, I didn’t really feel involved. The steering was accurate and went wherever I pointed the car at but I never understood what my wheels were doing. It was like a numb hand that operates like any other. The catch, you just don’t feel what’s going on. But truth be told, I wouldn’t imagine owners of the T4 driving the car like a maniac. This car is not one that would reward you with an exciting drive but a comfortable and confident ride instead. The highlight of the drive I had with the S60 is the comfort. As I approached traffic jams, the S60 proved to be a car that would want to hear my problems and soothe me with music from its audio system and allow its leather seats soak me in great comfort. This is a car that caters to your everyday needs and has enough power to put a smile on your face every once in a while.

Door knobs have a small groove where the doors open when a finger is placed on the groove with the presence of the key fob nearby

As a whole, the Volvo S60 feels nothing like RM 200+k. It just is more than that. It gives you more than you pay. The other car that does this is the Alfa 159 but that is Megan Fox – Good physique, energetic but has needs only rich men can satisfy. This is the car that gives you everything you need – comfort, composure, quality, exclusivity, status but try pushing the car and you will soon feel distant. This isn’t an all out charger, it’s your new Golden Retriever that wants to accompany you in your wheelchair.

P/S: This car is priced at RM 220,290 for the T4 version and RM 259,579.50 for the T5 without insurance.

A peak into the T6