It is presumed that Volvo cars are driven by intellectuals
and people with some amount of sophistication and class. Not a fuddy duddy
property dealer with a thick gold chain around his ugly neck. You seldom get a
teenager trying to show-off in his Volvo, which is sad for the company.
From the outside, the Volvo S60 is actually quite stunning.
The LED daytime running lights at the front add a bit of a cool touch to the
S60 and active bending lights which change the Xenon head light direction
according to the steering wheel is actually quite helpful.
From the outside it is gorgeous, perfectly shaped, contoured
and aggressive with the chrome and black rims to enhance its sporty looks. When
you get inside you feel as though you are in a whole new world of comfort you
have never experienced before. The seats of the S60 are so comfortable, I’d
sell my bed and buy a bunch of these seats and sleep in them every day. The
adjustable lumbar support is just so soft and fluffy, lined with the best
leather I have ever seen in a car. The stitching is just perfect. If you’re
looking to buy new living room furniture, go to a Volvo dealer right now and
buy these seats. That’s how good they are. To add a little more, both the front
seats are electronically adjustable with a memory function for the driver seat.
The room in the rear can’t get any better. Leg room, under
thigh support and lumbar support even in the back is damn near perfect; I
couldn’t find anything wrong with it. The sunroof also adds to the feel of
roominess.
But the sad bit comes when you have a look at the instrument
cluster in the centre console. Even though it’s designed beautifully and made
with finesse and detail, it’s just too many buttons and far too many knobs. It
took me a while to get used to it and to get my phone paired with the Bluetooth
connectivity. But once connected, making calls is really easy as you can
navigate with the scroll dial on the steering wheel through your contacts and
call them, or use the buttons to dial directly. once you get used to these
features, it’s fine.
If you are sitting at the back, you get a big remote to
control everything yourself, including calls, stereo, and car functions and
displays on the 7 inch screen which is available in the mid D4 Summum and D5
Summum V60s. The base D4 Kinetic gets a smaller 5 inch screen and lacks a
remote. Parking assist is really handy and easy to turn on and off with a touch
of a small button in the cluster of the many. But if you do get overwhelmed
with the confusing controls, knobs and buttons, this is the car you’d want to
be in as its probably the safest cars on the road today, as it comes fitted as
standard with what Volvo call “InteliSafe system” which will automatically
apply the brakes if you’re about to hit a car in front under the speed of
50Kmph. If you were to crash at a higher speed, you have Dual stage airbags at
the front for both driver and passengers and ABS to keep you safe.
The S60 also comes with a passenger side airbag cut off
switch for child safety. But what I do find annoying is that the passenger seat
belt sensor is too sensitive which if you are carrying a heavy beverage bottle,
the alarm starts off. Features that keep your car secure include panic alarms,
remote immobilisation and personal car communicator with the key.
On the road it is one of the most comfortable cars to drive.
It has a sporty feel to it with a perfectly heavy weighted steering wheel which
I actually prefer as it makes you actually drive the car instead of making
suggestions with the steering wheel. The ride is a bit firm but the seats are
too comfortable for you to realise it, but that being said, I guess the 17 inch
wheels would have been better, instead of the 18 inch making you feel the road
a little more than I would like.
When you get to the engine, it’s a majestic, yet one of a
kind 5 cylinder 2 liter Turbo Diesel engine that produces 163bhp with 400Nm of
torque so if you put your foot down it will do a 100km/h from standstill in 9.2
seconds which is a bit slow compared to its German rivals, but none of the
rivals can growl the way this engine does when you floor the throttle. The
sound gives you goose bumps. The only thing holding it back is the 6 speed
automatic transmission. Even if you put it into manual sport, when you use the
sequential lever to upshift, it feels just a tad bit slow to respond. The D5
Summum is probably faster. Volvo has also recently announced to replace this
engine with a 4cylinder 2.0 litre Turbo Diesel engine with more power all the
way up to 181Bhp and an 8-speed automatic transmission soon. I just hope the
growl of the engine still remains. The
throttle responds with immediacy, it’s always on alert in every mode, eco,
comfort or sport and you can see how much power is being generated next to the
digital speedometer which actually is quite interesting, and neatly designed.
To Summum then, the Volvo S60 D4 Summum is quite amazing,
I’d recommend and force anyone to buy it, but it would probably be the D5
version. Because it would probably
perform a tad better.
|
Engine
|
Transmission
|
Max Power
|
Max Torque
|
Fuel Efficiency
|
|
1984cc, 5 Cylinder TurboDiesel, FWD
|
6-speed Automatic Geartronic
|
163bhp@ 3500rpm
|
400 Nm@ 1500-2750rpm
|
17.24kmpl
|
|
0-100Km/h
|
Total Weight
|
Fuel Tank
Capacity
|
Tyres
|
Price
|
|
9.2 seconds
|
2110 Kg
|
67.5litres
|
YMIR, 235/40 R18Y
|
Rs 34,40,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi)
|