Test Drive : Volvo S60 T6 Sedan Is So Right

Anamit Sen spent a day with a Volvo S60 T6 and it brought back fond memories of another day, another Volvo.

If you have about Rupees 35 Lakh to spend and you are planning on purchasing a new car, may I suggest you spend it on a Volvo? OK, before you all rise in consternation and start asking Volvo?? and insist that Volvos are staid, boring, safe with looks akin to a brick, staid and did you say boring, let me clarify... I'm not talking about any Volvo, see? I'm talking about the S60, the aggressive looking and driving car you see in the picture!

My first brush with a Volvo happened a few years ago and it belonged to my cousin, a doctor in Yorkshire. It was a 480ES and I have many happy memories of swanning around the Yorkshire moors and dalesin it with my cousin. That brought home to me then the fact that Volvo DID make some exciting cars apart from the usual, yes, brick-like saloons and estates. You can see bits of DNA from the 480ES car in the C30 today which sadly, Volvo has not introduced in India as yet. Fact is Volvo has been making pretty decent cars for a long time. Heck, Volvo even went racing with Tom Walkinshaw in the British Touring Car Championship with a T5 Estate of all things!

Although I had wanted to drive the diesel version of the S60 initially I am actually very glad to have got the T6 petrol instead. The S60 is certainly a soothing balm for eyes that have become sore by looking at all the regular, unremarkable cars on the road. Externally, the S60 has very aggressive looks made even better by the stance. What gets you first are the front and rear skid plates as well as the short rear end. While four alloy rim styles are available, the T6 looks very good on the 18 inch Sleipner alloys. The man behind the S60's dynamic looks is Peter Horbury, Volvo Cars' Design Director. After a seven-year stint at Ford, the all-new S60 is his baby. According to Horbury, every single line in the design is meant to transport one both physically and emotionally. The coupe-like feeling is very strong and he feels that to make a lasting impression, there is little point playing the “polite Englishman” or “reserved Swede”. That is why the S60 is so much more daring than previous models - one has to agree, the S60 is one helluva looker. Incidentally, the S60 does not have a key – it has a Personal Car Communicator, which apart from locking and unlocking the doors also indicates when an unauthorised person is inside the car provided the PCC is within 100 metres of the car.