The IT Nerd

Volvo interiors have always impressed me because they are simple yet functional. The interior in the 2014 S6 T6 AWD is no exception. Let me hit the highlights:

The drivers seat, which I’ve raved about in every Volvo I’ve driven, held me in place during spirited driving and it is highly adjustable (8 way adjustable… Though it feels like it has way more adjustability than that) including having knee bolstering for comfort during long drives. Put in the time to adjust the seat to suit you and you will never complain about long drives again. The seat also has three memory settings so that once you have that perfect position, you can make sure it’s always available. As a bonus, the front seats have pockets which is a nice touch. The front seats are heated.

The rear seats are a great place to be. There’s lots of room and they are comfortable. Plus they have one extra feature that back seat passengers will like…..

…. The back seats have heating as well as a 12 volt outlet.

If you don’t need to seat three in the back, you can flip down the middle section to use the built in cupholders. There is also a storage area behind the cupholders that flips up.

A unique feature in Volvo vehicles is the fact that the HVAC vents in the rear are on the B-pillars. Other vehicles have them on the floor which means that your feet either roast or freeze.

Above the occupants is a rather large moonroof.

Back to the front. All the window and mirror controls are on the driver’s side door. The woodgrain looks nice as well.

Next to the steering wheel are the controls for the lights, gas door, trunk, the electronic parking brake.

The indicators for the blind spot information system is INSIDE the car rather than being located on the side mirror. That allows it to be within your field of vision which I really like and I think you’ll like as well.

The steering wheel is heated and feels nice in your hands since it is leather wrapped. Controls for cruise control as well as audio and infotainment. You can also see the paddle shifters that are metal with a back that is rubberized so that they don’t slip in your hands.

You get push button start along with a place to put your key in if you so choose.

Here you can see the centre console that controls the HVAC system (which is dual zone by the way and you can direct the air using the picture of the person on the dash) and the infotainment system. Plus you can see the shifter that in the 2014 lights up.

The centre console is Volvo’s signature floating console that has a space to pop your phone.

You get a good sized glove box that is lit.

You get two cupholders that will hold any coffee size that you can put in it. They can be covered if you don’t want to see them. Plus you get a 12 volt outlet.

Behind the cupholders is a deep storage area that has a 1/8″ audio jack and a USB port for your phone or MP3 player.

One of the cool features is that you can customize the gauge cluster as it is a TFT display rather than being mechanical. What you see above is the “elegant” setting…

But for those who are more ecological, there’s the “eco” setting which can help you to save gas….

… But I prefer the “performance” setting which gives me a power gauge on the right hand side. Each of these three setups can be further customized to show as little or as much info as you want. Plus info from the navigation system gets replicated here as well. This gets my award for coolest gauge cluster in a car. The gauge cluster was visible in most lighting conditions. The only exception was having sunlight being directly aimed at it.

The trunk is absolutely HUGE. Plus it has a new feature for 2014….

This panel flips up to hold your bags of groceries in place. Nice touch!

There is a handle on the trunk to keep your hands from getting dirty, but it’s in an awkward position for me.

There’s a ski passthrough. Note the release switch at the top. To get to it, you either have to drop the right side of the seats, open the pass through and put the seats back up (which is what the manual recommends), or dive into the trunk to get to it (which is what some males owners will try because they won’t recall what was suggested in that part of the owners manual…. Assuming they read it at all). Volvo might want to come up with a way to open the pass though from inside the car without dropping the seats.

Finally, here’s the hardware that’s required for the City Safety system. It doesn’t block your vision in any way which is good.

Notes:

• The visibility is great for the most part. I can see in any direction very well and there are no blind spots. Combined with properly adjusted mirrors, there should never be any reason why you can’t see what’s around you. The headrests can block rear vision. But there’s a button on the centre console that can remotely flip them down if that bothers you.
• Headroom is excellent with the moonroof. That’s a +1 in my book as headroom in vehicles equipped with moonroofs is often an issue for me.
• All the surfaces have some sort of low gloss soft touch material. It feels like it will stand up over time.
• The build quality of the interior is top notch. No gaps, no rattles, nothing that could be considered a negative was found during my examination of it.
• Four full size adults fit inside the S60 with no issue and were fully comfortable. Even the person who was sitting behind me was fine as I tend to push my seat back which affects the room that the person behind me has available to them. You can get a fifth person in there if they’re all friends.

The interior in this S60 is a great place to live. It is well put together and it’s a great place to take a long drive in. It oozes quality from every aspect and is well executed for the most part. The interior is a win for Volvo.

In part four, I’ll cover the technology which is very extensive. Stay tuned.

This entry was posted on April 10, 2014 at 7:40 am and is filed under Products with tags Volvo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.