The IT Nerd

The Volvo S60 T6 AWD is powered by a a turbocharged 3 litre inline six cylinder that generating 300 HP and 325 pound feet of torque. Now, frequent readers of this blog will know that when I tested the XC60 and the 2013 S60, I had this same engine with some software from Polestar installed which allowed it put out 325 HP and 354 pound feet of torque. So one must logically assume that this engine will be somewhat of a letdown after having all those extra ponies and torque at the disposal of my right foot. But it isn’t a letdown. Far from it in fact. There’s more than enough power here to put you into license suspension territory very quickly. Power delivery is instant, there’s little if any turbo lag, and torque which shows up for work at 2100 RPM just keeps building and building. Volvo claims a 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds. Something that was backed up by the app Dynolicious which I use to test these sorts of things. The power gets to the ground via Volvo’s Instant Traction All-Wheel-Drive system which can alter the torque from front to rear to make the car go forward as fast as possible and eliminate torque steer. It also includes torque vectoring which shunts power from side to side to almost eliminate understeer. The latter makes this car handle exceptionally well in turns. Speaking of handling, it’s very sharp and the car feels light on its feet and steering is direct and well weighted. The suspension is on the stiff side which helps with that. But I will note that speed bumps and roads with potholes (and there are lots of the latter in Toronto at the moment) will result in some “clunking” noises from the suspension. But it never makes it to your rear end which is good.

The S60 T6 AWD has a six speed automatic transmission that can be run in three modes:

• Shift it to “D” and the transmission is very smooth. Except at very low speeds, I could not feel it shift at all.
• If you slide the gear shift left so that it is set in “S” mode and leave it there, the transmission shifts on its own a more aggressively. In this mode, you can feel the car shift gears, but it is not objectionable.
• In that left most position, you can shift it yourself by pushing the gear shift up or down, or by using the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. The latter addresses a criticism that I had about the 2013 S60. By the way, the paddle shifters work exceptionally well. Unlike some other vehicles that shifted gears slowly (because I was never really in full control of the transmission), this transmission shifted the instant that I pulled on the paddle shifters. Volvo tweaked the software that controls the transmission to deliver up to 30% faster shifts than the outgoing model. It’s very impressive for those who like to shift gears themselves. Another note, the paddle shifters work regardless of what position the gear shift lever is in which is something that you can’t do in every vehicle that has paddle shifters. That way you can hold a gear when you need it.

Other than tire noise and occasional wind noise, there’s nothing that makes it way into the cabin in terms of sound. Even engine noise is largely muted, unless you put your foot down. You can easily use the accelerator to crawl through stop and go traffic and on the open road you can deliver the right amount of power to get the speed you want. The brakes are easy to modulate and bring you to a stop smoothly. In terms of fuel economy, I’m averaging 13.1 L/100 KM at the moment. But that’s with very liberal use of the “go fast” pedal. That should improve as the week goes on.

The next part of the review will look at the interior which is in typical Volvo fashion, is exceptional in every way. Stay tuned for that.