Volvo S60 R-Design Road Test Review

Report: Rahul Kapoor; Photography: Mohd. Nasir

In India, people are slowly getting to know more about Volvo cars, and the ones who do have only one opinion of it. “It’s a great car, it’s the safest car” and that’s it. This has been quite a problem for Volvo in India where “Safest Car” isn’t interesting in anyway.  So what has Volvo done to fix that problem? For starters, they fiddled with the styling of an already strikingly pretty car and made it even more sport like. And then they added the letter R in the name which everyone knows makes everything faster.

Under the bonnet, Volvo has thrown out its old 5 cylinder diesel engine and screwed in a humble 2.0 litre, 4 cylinder Drive-E diesel engine which send 181bhp and 400Nm of torque to the front wheels through a new 8-speed automatic gearbox. So is it any good? Is it really worthy of an R?

How about I start by saying the new D4 engine is a peach to drive and the new 8 speed transmission is so immediate on the up shift and even on the down. If you thought all diesels sound like canal boats, try the sound track of the S60 R, it's like a collection of greatest hits of a progressive rock album when you play all the songs all together---the songs align perfectly all because the engine ignition firing sequence is 1-3-4-2 which makes a massive gurgle of sound as you drive along. The only problem was that if you wanted to turn the traction control off, you’d have to go through the entire car settings menu to do it. 

The throttle response in normal mode is a bit sluggish, but there are no comfort or sport modes to choose from. It’s a simple “it is what it is” kind of car. However, you can be all sport by pushing the gear lever into ‘S’ and that changes everything. It’s a different animal in ‘S’. The throttle becomes more alert, the transmission shifts quicker with every flick of the paddle, the engine becomes more louder and the steering gets even heavier despite its already perfect weightiness and you can really feel the road in your hands. Despite the fact that the competition is floating around with RWD cars, the Volvo sends 181bhp all to the front wheels and yet there just isn’t any kind of understeer unless you get to about 150kmph, but where do you drive at 150kmph on Indian streets? Pfft! 

The exterior of the S60 R gets subtle changes from the standard ones. The front bumper is slightly different with a mesh airdam instead of slats, and there is a newly designed fog lamp assembly. The rear only gets a subtle appearance but a massive visual upgrade with a new diffuser and mufflers which makes the car even more bold and sticking to the eye. The Interior hasn’t changed at all apart from a few buttons from the standard car and that is a really a good thing. The seats are extremely comfortable and the leather and interior materials used have also been tested for allergies. Who does that in this world these days? The instrument cluster hasn’t changed and I did feel earlier that it was a bit overwhelming. Once you get used to it, there is no turning back.

To sum it all up, for Rs.40 Lakh, you could get yourself a German made sedan, and be a part of the Tom, Dick and Harry clan, or go for the S60 R and dazzle people as you drive along. Why go for the S60? The exclusivity factor is one definite reason. To top it all off, when someone asks you what car you drive and you say “Volvo”, it’s something that will make you feel really proud.