Before the Test Drive - Volvo S60 D4 R-Design Nav

With a pending test drive of the Volvo V60 D4 R-Design here are some of my thoughts on the car before the test drive.

What is the Volvo S60 D4 R-Design Nav all about?

The S60 Volvo is the Swedish company’s flagship saloon car. The current model is the second generation of the S60, which was officially released in 2009.

Volvos are really at the forefront of car safety and the S60 is no different. It includes life saving technologies such as City Safe. This system stops the car in the event of an impending collision in ‘city traffic’, which is below 19 mph. A new safety feature named “Pedestrian Detection”, which detects people in front of the car and automatically applies the brakes if the driver does not react in time.

Another impressive feature, which is optional on the S60, is Park Assist.  This will allow the car to park itself, the Volvo is able to identify a parking space and then completely by itself it will drive and steer the car into the parking space. Bizarre.

The model on test drive is the D4 R-Design Nav. D4 means that this car is using a 2.0-litre diesel engine that creates 181bhp.

The R-Design option means the car comes with 18″ Ixion alloy wheels, improved handling, the design is complemented with silver matt door mirrors, a unique rear exhaust, front sports seats, R-Design upholstery, aluminium interior trim and an R-Design leather steering wheel. The R-Design also includes DAB radio and Bluetooth as standard.

The Nav option means that the car comes with Volvo 7″ voice controlled Sat Nav unit, that includes DVD playback, internet browsing and lifetime map updates.

Expectations

So the Volvo S60 D4 with 181bhp is going to have plenty of power. That power is put down to the front wheels via a 6 speed manual gear box. Being the R-Design model the car has advanced handling which should enable very flat and exciting cornering capabilities when really opening the S60 up on a long country run.

Although the Volvo S60 has plenty of performance, the brilliantly designed 2.0 litre engine is also highly efficient. The Volvo S60 should be capable of doing 0-60mph in 7.4 seconds, but also has a combined MPG rating of 64mpg. Which is enormously high.

The other key factor of driving the S60 is simply how protected you feel knowing that you are in one of the safest cars on the road. The safety features included in the City Safe open a whole new world of personal security and insurance that you are in the best situation when the worst happens.

I am expecting great things of the Volvo S60, I anticipate that the 2.0 litre engine will be enjoyable to drive, the gearbox will work smoothly and ratios will be well matched to the engine, I also expect a very friendly ride from the suspension, and as with all Volvo’s I expect the interior to be very usable and easy to live with.

For now we’ll have to wait and see, keep checking back for the full review.

 Supplied by: Volvo

Before the Test Drive - Volvo S60 D4 R-Design Nav