After gaining a lot of attention in Europe, the Swedish auto manufacturer launched their trump card, a D segment sedan Volvo S60 in 2011, hoping to establish its firm base in the Indian market. Unlike its previous cars which were made like the typical boxy design, Volvo S60 is designed upon Volvo’s P2 platform, which not only gave a totally fresh and vibrant look to the car, but also made it look aggressive, desirable and sporty. With its perfect blend of sleek & stylish exteriors, lavish & comfortable interiors and state-of-the art safety features; this sedan is definitely a head turner. Volvo S60 falls in the category of a luxury sedan and tends to be modestly pricey ranging between 25.5 – 35.7 lakhs in India.
Volvo S60 can be compared to the likes of Audi A4, BMW 3 series and Mercedes C-Class series when it comes to exteriors. From the front, the sedan is adorned with huge smiley shaped black rectangular meshed front grille endorsing the prominent chrome finished left diagonal strip with the patented Volvo symbol, bulgy wrapped beak shaped headlamp cluster at extreme ends, matt finish on dual front deco frames on its front skid plates, lower bumper posing chrome covered air dams mounted on its either sides and centrally placed air dam, which together give Volvo S60 an athletic and an aggressive look.
Volvo S60 gets a sporty coupe like stance with its short rear bumper, long bonnet, matt finished side scuff plates and smooth ridges along its sideline. From the side, this sedan gets electrically adjusted and heated Outside Rear View Mirrors (ORVMs) integrated with turn indicators, 17/18 inch multi spoke alloy wheels; and body colored painted door mirrors, handles and bumpers. From the rear, the machine gets black rear bumper cladding housing the twin tail exhaust pipes, a prominent logo of Volvo written in bold chrome plate over its length, an antenna and vortex generator on the roof and impressive tail lamp cluster. Volvo S60 measures 4628mm in length, 2097mm in width and 1484mm in height with a ground clearance of 136 mm.
No other sedan can compete Volvo S60 when it comes to interiors. The Swedish have crafted the interiors of this car after a lot of research and have kept very high standards. The black colored dashboard is outlined with silver lining mounting the instrument cluster with white faced dials, information LCD display and AC vents. The waterfall central console mounts the audio and AC controls with the leather clad gear knob. Other interior features include charcoal/beige colored 3 spoke steering wheel with metallic touch featuring controls buttons, cruise control, smooth leather exterior color complimented seats, headrests with pillows, electric heater, rear window sunshade, LCD screens at the rear of the front seat, ample storage space, large legroom and headroom, power glass sunroof, electric climate control and premium sound system with 12 speakers powered with 650 watts.
Volvo S60 comes in two diesel variants (D3 and D5) and one petrol variant (T6). The D3 generates displacement of 1984cc producing 163hp of power and 400Nm of torque at 1400rpm whereas the D5 variant displaces 2400cc of gas producing a power of 205hp at 1600-3300rpm and torque of 420Nm at 4000rpm. Both the engines are equipped with turbo-diesel motor and 5 cylinders. The all-wheel drive 6 cylinder T6 petrol variant displaces 2953cc petrol thrusting the engine to 304hp of power at 5600rpm and 440Nm of torque at 2200-4200rpm.
As far as the handling and safety of Volvo S60 is concerned, the Swedish car makers have not left a stone unturned. Kit has come with a whole new set of handling features which include Trailer Stability Assist (TSA), Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake (CWAB), Ready Alert Brakes (RAB), Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Active Bending Lights (ABL), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and Driver Alert Control (DAC) to aid notice pedestrians, prevent collisions and alert an agitated driver. The “City Safety Feature” senses a vehicle in front of the car and reduces/prevents impact due to collision. Advanced safety features include Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), Side Impact Protection System (SIPS), reinforced passenger compartment, energy absorbing frontal structure, airbags, Anti-Submarine protection, Personal Car Communicator (PCC), Self Supporting Tires (SST), remote controlled alarm, immobilizer and global remote controlled locking.
