The arrival of the Volvo S60 T8 R-Design is a breath of fresh air in the luxury C-segment sedan market. Previously dominated by the Mercedes-Benz C Class and the BMW 3 series, the S60 stunned the market with its staggering performance numbers.
The elusive 400 hp mark is usually reserved for high-performance sports cars, therefore rarely or never seen on a C-segment family sedan. But hiding under a relatively civilised styling, the S60’s T8 Twin Engine hybrid powertrain generates 407 hp and 640 Nm of twist.
With the Volvo S60 coming in at just under RM300,000, the Swede presents a very enticing price to performance ratio. Just for kicks, we calculated the Ringgit-per-horsepower value by dividing the retail price by its rated output. The Volvo S60 comes in at RM727/hp.
With this in mind, we wanted to see how the other German competitors stack up.
The most powerful “regular” Mercedes-Benz C-Class we can get on our shores is the C300 at RM304,888. Under the hood, it’s got a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine making 258 hp and 370 Nm.
Paired with the 9G-Tronic transmission, the C300 does 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds – a whole 1.5 seconds slower than the Volvo S60 T8. Just for comparison’s sake, the C300 costs RM1,182 per pony.
If you want more performance, you’ll have to step up to the Mercedes-AMG C 43 with 362 hp and 520 Nm. The more powerful 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine does churn out a faster century sprint time (4.7 seconds), but it’s going to cost you a whole RM104,000 more too.
Curiously though, the large jump in performance means that the Mercedes-AMG C 43 actually scores a better price to performance ratio than its younger brother, coming in at RM1,082/hp.
On the other side of the ring, Munich’s latest version of the iconic BMW 3 series also posts similar performance numbers to the C-Class. Currently only available locally in the 330i M Sport variant, the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine generates 258 hp and 400 Nm of torque, making a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.8 seconds.
BMW Malaysia also recently started assembling the 330i M Sport locally, bringing the price down to RM288,800. Even with the easier-to-stomach price, the 330i only boasts a performance to price ratio of RM1,120/hp – not quite up to the S60 T8’s standards.
What is the cheapest entry to a brand-new 400 hp car then, you might ask? Funnily enough, after the Volvo S60 T8, the next cheapest car with more than 400 hp is the S90 T8 Inscription, coming in at RM366,888.
If plug-in hybrids aren’t your thing, your next best bet will be the BMW M2 Competition. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo in-line six engine generates 410 hp and 550 Nm of torque – capable of doing the century sprint in 4.2 seconds.
The M2 Competition, however, is going to cost you RM626,800. So if going fast in a straight line is your thing, and you are on a lower budget, there’s almost no better option than the Volvo S60 T8.
