I’ll Take Delivery in Sweden Please!!!!!

A review of the  2015 Volvo S-60 Drive-E by Cathy Droz.

With all the vehicles I’ve test driven over the years, I’ve never had the pleasure of testing a car while driving along the beautiful landscape of Europe or equally exotic places that many of my counterparts have enjoyed.  I don’t write for Car and Driver or Road and Track magazines, and I don’t ever profess to know the difference between a Borg-Warner turbocharger or Warner Bros.  However, I think when recently testing a Volvo they could have sent me overseas (hint-hint).

Since I am here in Arizona, one of the states providing proving grounds for Volvo, I was happy to review the newest and boldest Volvo for 2015; the Volvo S-60 Drive-E. Although my scenery may be filled with different types of cacti and not the beauty of Capri, the Eiffel tower or castles, I was able to give this vehicle a true work out through the winding desert roads.

The S-60 T6 has come a long way from the T6 of 2011 and Volvo loyalists will see and feel the difference immediately. Instead of Volvo’s familiar turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, the 2015 Volvo S60 T6 has a new 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder that uses both a supercharger and a turbocharger.  It has been rated at 302 horsepower; the most forceful gasoline engine in Volvo’s new Drive-E family of direct-injected 2.0 liter engines. This will eventually include four gas and four diesel models in their lineup.  The Drive-E will lower fuel costs with up to 37 mpg highway resulting in up to 30% fewer harmful exhaust emissions while reducing the weight of the car up to 100 pounds for better efficiency and driving dynamics.

I’ve driven many Volvo’s including the S-60 and they have always felt solid and safe, but I don’t think I would have used the word nimble until I tested the 2015.  When steering the S-60 you will immediately notice it feels lighter and more responsive in the suspension and steering.  The design hasn’t changed much, and why should it?  The exterior has shown refined changes over the years and with a dash of chrome here and there, it has added just another touch of subtle class.

The safety features of Volvo continue to amaze me as they continue making their cars safer and safer.  Besides the full array of airbags and body structure features that enable Volvo to reap additional awards in crash tests, the engineers of the model which I reviewed made sure the electronics of this car were so on target that you should never have to see an airbag deploy.

Lane departure warning, front and rear park assist (beepers with dash display), rear camera and cross-traffic alert systems are all part of the features people love about Volvos. Going one step further in the Volvo S-60 is the pedestrian and cyclist detection system that can completely stop the car if you don’t.  I’ve done that test both at the proving grounds and at the Volvo dealership and it’s quite amazing. I would love to try it in Gothenburg (hint, hint).

 

Since I probably will never have the opportunity to test drive a Volvo around Europe it doesn’t mean that you won’t.  Volvo offers Overseas Delivery combined with a vacation. If you purchase any new Volvo within the Volvo Overseas Delivery Program you will receive the car and the vacation of a lifetime. Here are a few of the benefits. *

 

• Two round trip tickets to Scandinavia
• A free first class hotel night in Gothenburg , Sweden
• Tour of the Volvo factory and museum
• Savings off the U.S. MSRP on U.S. model Volvos, U.S. Customs duty and port clearance fees are included.
• Complimentary home shipment services to your local U.S. Volvo retailer valid for up to 6 months.
• Test your Volvo on the roads of Sweden

*For more details on overseas delivery go to volvocars.com or check with your local Volvo dealer.

 

Whether you are driving around the streets of Arizona or the breathtaking roads of Europe, you will never be disappointed and always amazed when sitting in the driver’s seat of a VOLVO.  I know I am.

Visit my friends over at Volvo of Phoenix and tell them Cathy sent you by to test drive the new Volvo S-60.

 

For more reviews go to twofortheroadusa.com and here on SmartFem.com