‘SCANDINAVIA’S BEST HIGH PERFORMANCE SPORT SEDAN’

The Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design is sculpted to move you-both physically and emotionally.  The sporty design delivers a visual promise of enthusiastic driving characteristics and the sports sedan truly lives up to that promise once you push the ignition switch and drive off.  It is charged with driver-centric technology.

The S60 is a coupe with four doors featuring a sporty and dynamic look.  But it is still an unmistakable representative of Scandinavian design at its best.  Virtually all the lines were penned to carve out the ‘coupe with four doors’ profile.

The C-pillar stretches sensually all the to the tail lamps-and the slim coupe-like roof line is accompanied by a contour on the shoulders on either side of the lower body, creating a gentle yet powerful double wave from the headlamps at the front to the tail lamps at the rear.  My test S60 T6 AWD R-Design was painted in the new extrovert ‘Rebel Blue’ that received loads of questions from people passing by or when parked.  New, exclusive forged aluminum 18X8 in. ‘IXION’ wheels give the car an even more expressive design.

The Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design model that I tested comes with a range of specially developed design details both outside and inside that make the car even more emotional to look at and drive, fast!

The R-Design starts with a Sport-tuned chassis with extraordinary rigidity including an aluminum strut tower brace behind the engine, an R-Design front grille, an R-Design lower front spoiler with air intake, a rear spoiler that enhances stability at high speeds, steeply raked windshield A-pillars, body-colored pull-out door handles and a working rear diffuser with dual, 31/2 in. polished exhaust pipes.  Inside you’ll notice the Blue Watch Dial instrument cluster, R-Design real aluminum inlays on the dashboard and door trim, driver/front passenger R-Design 8-way power adjustable/lumbar controls/leather-trimmed/heated sport bucket seats with three-person memory, are both comfortable and very supportive with accent side inserts and R-Design embossed on the seatbacks, real aluminum sport pedals and a great feel wrapping your hands around the beefy,

R-Design perforated leather-wrapped/tilt/telescoping steering wheel and gearshift knob.  The floor mats also have the R-Design embossed.  The ultra-slim shimmer Graphic aluminum inlay center stack features easy-to-use dials and pulls the front dashboard together beautifully.  All controls, dials and switches are within easy reach.

Under the sporty skin of the car is Volvo’s most powerful 3.0 liter, all-aluminum, CVVT, twin-scroll turbocharger with intercooler that pumps out 325 hp at 5,400 rpm and 354 lb.ft. at 3,000 rpm.  It is a ULEV II certified engine with low emissions.  This powerful engine is hooked up to a 6-speed Geartronic automatic transmission with sport mode turning all four-wheels including Volvo’s ‘instant traction.  The new S60 T6 AWD R-Design model rockets out to 60 mph from a standstill in just 5.4 sec.

The four-wheel sport-tuned independent suspension system gives the car a light and nimble feel when driving around slow city traffic and on the open road.  Up front is a MacPherson strut setup with asymmetrically-mounted coil springs, hydraulic shocks and stabilizer bar.  The rear multi-link setup features coil springs, hydraulic shocks and a stabilizer bar.  Increasing your confidence when challenging the toughest curving roads is the standard dynamic stability traction control with a sport mode and Volvo’s great corner traction control with torque vectoring.  At high speeds around curves the new Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design feels like you are riding on rails.

The speed-sensitive, variable power-assisted rack & pinion steering system features driver-selectable settings and has a 39 ft. turning circle, 15.0:1 steering ratio and 2.6 turns lock-to-lock.  When driving it gives you more of a feeling of being part of the car.  It has great feedback from the road and very good on-center feel.

Slowing you down from speed are new, larger four-wheel disc brakes.  Up front are 13.2 in. vented discs clamped with large dual-piston calipers with 11.9 in. vented discs in the rear clamped with large, single-piston calipers.  You maintain your control during severe braking maneuvers with standard ABS, hydraulic brake assist, electronic brake force distribution, optimized hydraulic brakes, ready alert brakes and fade brake support.

The new Continental Contact Sport 235/40R18 in. tires give the car great traction and grip plus a smooth and quiet ride.  What more can you ask in a high-performance sport sedan?  Maybe more standard luxury features not mentioned above including Volvo Sensus with integrated 7 in. color LCD monitor, power glass sunroof, dual Xenon headlights with active bending lights, seatback pockets, keyless drive with personal car communication with trunk release and fuel filler door release, panic alarm, dual-zone climate control, auto-dimming rearview mirror, dual map lights, all express up/down windows/door locks, Bluetooth hands free communications, with audio streaming, heated power outside rearview mirrors, 60/40 split folding rear seat with center armrest/dual cupholders, front console with dual cupholders, storage bin and extra storage slot, 4X40 watt amplifier with 8-speakers, AM-FM-CD-WMA-MP3-HD radio-USB and auxiliary inputs, illuminated steering wheel controls, grab handles above each door, rain-sensing wipers, dual lighted vanity mirrors and thick cut-pile carpeting.

Volvo is known for its safety systems and this new model has it all to keep you and your passengers safe.  Standard features include five-3-point seatbelts with pretensioner technology, front seatbelts with auto height adjustment and force limiters, unibody high strength steel passenger safety cage, inflatable curtain side impact head protection, side impact protection with driver/front passenger dual chamber side impact airbags, driver/front passenger front airbags, Volvo whiplash protection including padded head restraints, adaptive steering wheel column, dual LATCH system for child seats, safe approach & home safe perimeter lighting system, driver information system child safety locks back door, tire pressure monitoring system and rear foglamps with LED accent tail lights.

The new 2013 Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design is one of the best buys on the market for a powerful, high-performing, fun-to-drive four-door coupe that doesn’t leave anything behind in safety and security along the way.

COPYRIGHT: 2012: HARVEY SCHWARTZ

SPECIFICATIONS

• Price: $39,295.00 base/$41,680.00 as tested
• Engine: 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-6 cylinder 325 hp @ 5,400 rpm / 354 lb.ft. @ 3,000 rpm
• Curb weight: 3,528 lbs.
• Track: f/r-62.1/62.1 in.
• Fuel tank: 17.8 gallons
• Height: 58.4 in.
• Length: 182.2 in.
• Width: 73.4 in.
• Wheelbase: 109.3 in.
• Towing: 3,300 lbs.
• Cargo capacity: 12 cu.ft.
• Headroom: f/r-37.6/37.4 in. with sunroof
• Legroom: f/r-41.9/33.5 in.
• 0-60 mph: 5.4 seconds
• EPA mileage: 25mpg/highway, 21mpg/city