All-new Volvo S60 is ready to rumble, sportiest sedan in class?



The long-awaited all-new Volvo S60 has finally been unveiled in its full glory and like every new Volvo of recent times, the premium compact sedan is one handsome looking car.

Like its estate twin, the V60, the S60 sits on the firm’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform, promising unrivalled safety and dynamic handling characteristics. Onto looks, despite having that Russian Doll design language, one can instinctively tell that the S60 has a decidedly sportier appearance as compared to the S90 thanks to a leaner profile.

At launch, the S60 is offered in four trims – Momentum, Inscription, R-Design and Polestar Engineered, the latter is a new range-topper from Volvo and Polestar and will be rolled out to other 60-series models down the line.

Stepping inside, you’ll find familiar items such as LCD instrument cluster, 9.0-inch Sensus touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as leather upholstery. Depending on the variant and options selected, you’ll find different materials used for the inlays, upholstery colour and gear knob design – only the T8 plug-in hybrid variant gets the Orrefors crystal gear knob.

As for powertrain options, Volvo has said earlier that they will not offer the S60 with a diesel engine hence only petrol and plug-in hybrids are available. For the conventional bunch, you can have the S60 with a T5 (250 hp) or T6 (310 hp) petrol engines, but the Twin Engine plug-in hybrid duo is the one to go for. In the T6 Twin Engine, the system generates a combined output of 340 hp while the T8 Twin Engine makes a staggering 400 hp.

For the enthusiast, it would be a no-brainer to step up to the S60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered variant that bumps the power to 415 hp along with a sportier transmission mapping. Other race-inspired components include new wheels, gold-painted Brembo brake calipers, adjustable Öhlins shock absorbers and strut bars, black chrome exhaust tips, gold seatbelts and the obligatory Polestar badges.

Volvo’s safety suite reads City Safety with Autobrake technology that autonomously applies the brakes when it detects pedestrians, cyclists and large animals as well as to mitigate oncoming collisions. Other optional safety avoidance system includes Pilot Assist system that allows semi-autonomous driving on well-marked roads up to speeds of 130 km/h, Run-off-Road Mitigation, Oncoming Lane Mitigation, Cross Traffic Alert and more.

The all-new Volvo S60 is the first Volvo car ever to be assembled in the USA at their newly opened US manufacturing plant in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s only a matter of time for the S60 to go on sale in Malaysia to rival the BMW 3-series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Our question to you dear readers, would you stick with the safe German options or the swanky S60?


IMAGE GALLERY

Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered

Volvo S60 R-Design

Volvo S60 Inscription

Volvo S60 Momentum