 |
| Volvo S60 |
|
The 2011
Volvo S60 points the way forward for the brand's new groundwork. Consider it a premium sport sedan for people who don't want the stereotypical premium sport sedan. I recently welcomed a Blazing Copper S60 to see if Volvo's recipe for uniqueness has created a delicious dish of Swedish engineering. Volvo's quest to create something unmistakably Swedish begins with the S60's exterior design. So many of the styling attributes found on the Volvo simply wouldn't work on a traditional German sedan – things like the seven-spoke turbine-inspired 18-inch wheels, chunky headlamp design with LED fangs (Volvo's new corporate face) and thin-topped eagle's head taillamps.
The gauge cluster is a breath of minimalist fresh air, too, with two small display screens for
vital information housed within the large speedometer and tachometer. If we're honest, we'd almost prefer a few more buttons if easier-to-use infotainment was the end result. The overriding factor, though, is that the S60's cabin is indeed a nice place to spend time, with supportive leather seats placed in an interior made of well-crafted materials.
 |
| Volvo S60 |
For the T6, seat-of-pants impressions are magnified by the engine’s lusty 325 pound-feet of peak torque. That is
much more than any rival, including the BMW 335i, Audi A4 2.0T, Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G37 or Mercedes C350, and it matches the rating for the big 4.4-liter V-8 in the Volvo XC90 crossover. The result is a cool, quenching rush of turbo power, and a car that can storm from a standstill to 60 m.p.h. in 5.6 seconds, barely behind the BMW and Infiniti but still provocatively quick in this class.
