2024 Volvo S60: It’s fast, I’m furious
Despite a 4.1-second 0-60, the Volvo S60 gets left behind by other models by being too complicated to set up and too boring to drive.
2024 Volvo S60 Recharge AWD Ultimate Black Edition: If one could marry the new S60 and the old one…
Price: $63,690 as tested. The Climate Package added heated rear seats and steering wheel and high-pressure headlight cleaning for $750; fancy paint added $695; more noted below.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes that it “hits 60 mph in 4.1 seconds,” and has “usable EV range and power, reasonable base price,” but not its “fun-killing electronics, mild-mannered handling,” or that “Polestar Engineered costs an extra $16,800.”
Marketer’s pitch: “For the road ahead. Rediscover the joy of driving with our road-loving plug-in hybrid sedan — for all of life’s twists and turns.”
Reality: The S60 is a rocket, but joy on twists and turns are minimal; the joy is also sapped in other ways as well.
What’s new: I used to love Volvo sedans. Sure, they were quirky, but you figured it out and it became charming.
While there’s not a whole lot dramatically new operationally, a lot of little changes have taken the charm from the Volvo.
Competition: Lexus IS, Acura TLX , BMW 3 Series, Infiniti Q50.
Up to speed: With 455 horsepower — brought to you courtesy of a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and an electric motor — the S60 sedan gets to 60 mph in almost a record-breaking time, 4.1 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
Shifty: The crystal shifter is a nifty touch. Bump it up for Reverse and back for Drive or Brake mode. The 8-speed transmission operates smoothly.
On the road: The day Volvo decided to save money by eliminating a drive mode switch and nest it inside the touchscreen is the day I gave up on them. What a pain.
Now they’ve gone one better — pretty much taken away drive modes. The vehicle operates in hybrid, pure, power, or all-wheel drive modes, which dictate how the power is allocated, but they don’t change the dynamics much. Another button adjusts steering feel but it also has a subtle touch. So handling is pretty good but not stellar.
One bright spot occurred on day 6 when I was racing to beat a traffic signal and cornered onto 322 quickly — the S60 steered deeply into the turn and straightened itself out in a small slide, almost as well as the Alfa Romeo Giulia. It’s like having one of those buttoned-up colleagues who works hard quietly and then out of nowhere comes a perfect zinger. But those colleagues are free, and this car is not.
Driver’s Seat: Volvo does make a nice seat, with Nappa leather covering. It offers great support, nice material, and a bit of squish.
The dial gauges are just pixels pretending to be dials, but Volvo uses a crisp, slender font that looks luxurious.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat is comfortable and matches the front for luxury feel and softness. Unfortunately, legroom is pretty sad in the corners, and foot room is kind of tight. Headroom is surprisingly not bad.
A center seat victim will not feel so lucky; the hump rides tall and the console closes in, so call this a four-seater.
Cargo space is a tiny 11.6 cubic feet.
Play some tunes: Go ahead, just try to play music. I’ll wait.
I plugged in my iPhone, and since nothing popped up saying it was connecting, I found the Bluetooth controls and set up CarPlay. But the Car would not Play.
So I suffered through SiriusXM, which worked fine when I rode into civilization every day, but loses connection about 30% of the time in the deeper vales of Chester County.
I finally decided to figure this out on the web. Lo, the Bluetooth has to be turned off to operate CarPlay. Which makes me wonder why the display kept telling me to check the connection. Shouldn’t it have more helpfully said to switch off Bluetooth?
The Bowers & Wilkins stereo ($3,200) provided pretty good sound, about an A-.
Keeping warm and cool: The vertical vents next to the vertical touchscreen are face blasters. Bring the dry-eye drops.
A little display at the bottom of the main screen lets you change temperature and seat heaters, but for everything else, switch to the main display.
Fuel economy: I have no idea. I couldn’t get the display to show me, try as I might.
Maybe it’s lazy of me but it’s also something that should be at hand. When I went to check it out, the vehicle needed a 90-minute software update that was going to put the vehicle out of service. EPA says 31 mpg and 74 mpge; it’ll sip gas if you can plug it in a lot.
Where it’s built: Ridgeville, S.C.
How it’s built: The S60 gets a 60 out of 100 Consumer Reports reliability rating.
In the end: Speedy acceleration ruined by complication. The Acura, BMW, and Lexus are better ways to go, although only the BMW comes in a hybrid.