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2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test - Introduction
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2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test - Introduction
An all-new and uniquely powerful four-cylinder engine promises thrilling performance and impressive efficiency in the 2015 Volvo S60. We have 12 months to find out if it delivers.
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Powerful and smooth drivetrain, very comfortable seats, great adaptive cruise control. I like the Volvo design for console buttons and controls instead of the usually favored one dial MMI. No need for messy touch screen. The stereo sounds great to me, nice clean sound for radio and MP3 input with USB stick. The blind spot monitoring warning light is on the c pillars instead of the outside rear view mirrors and I really like that. Easier to see and be alerted to. Even for "warm" Southern California, you are going to enjoy that heated steering wheel! Did I mention the comfortable seats? REALLY comfortable! I wish Volvo offered ventilated seats, hot summer days are not going to be as nice!
The infotainment programming / navigation leaves much to be desired. Just wait until you try search for a "Costco" or "Barnes and Noble" and get directed across the entire country! Hint - Activate all of the "icons" for navi POIs and the system will at least provide the local POIs to you. This will sadly leave your navi screen cluttered with icons but no avoiding it if you want POI search to be useful at all. But also be prepared to search through multiple and confusing listings on the screen, ie, for Costco, don't bother trying for a store, try Costco Gas Station and the list pops up in distance order like it should. For Barnes and Noble, you have to know the "secret sauce" of inputting "Barnes&Noble" yes, just like that. Crappy software and programming IMHO. If you have a lot of MP3 tracks on your USB stick arranged in nice order, your own folders etc. on your PC, be ready as the Volvo interface will insist on "albums" per the original CDs you pulled the tracks from and arrange the album tunes in it's own order some of the time.
The HVAC temperature controls are two separate knobs for each side separately which is fine but for whatever reason, Volvo doesn't allow you to "link" them via software so to keep same temperature in the entire car, you have to adjust both knobs. Software fail IMHO. The automatic stop / start is rougher than I would prefer but can be defeated, at the apparent price of less MPG.
Volvo "Customer Care" is only open 8 AM to 5 PM M - F, the rest of the time, you are pretty much on your own excepting the emergency feature. That's a cheap out IMHO. Hello, OnStar, anyone? This is supposed to be a "premium" car, right? Fail! And take a good look at your paint - I hope it's not orange peeled like mine. I got the dark grey color ( very pretty ) which may show this more than your silver.
I m averaging 28.2 MPG in 2,800 miles of mixed driving, including two trips ( LA to Las Vegas and LA to San Jose ). That's about the city mileage estimate. On the current tank mostly city driving, so far, 22.8 according to the trip computer. I don't know about the testing and mileage estimates but do know that with 300 HP, the ratings seem pretty high to me vs. reasonable expectations and real world. I do seem to get about 33 - 34 MPG on the trips cruising at about 76 MPH and that's pretty good.
The car is solid so far and a true "mile eater" on trips. I will be very interested to see your experience.
Saul
Volvo offers an all wheel drive version of the S60. As you note, "R" model. However, they have not yet transitioned the new drivetrain ( 300 HP) 4 cyl, turbo and supercharged, 8 speed automatic ) to the AWD version so it has the older, much less efficient engine / tranny combo. It has about 325 HP and drives nicely but I decided that for the money and updated drivetrain, I would stay with the FWD S60. Also greatly influenced as I live in the Los Angeles area, not so much snow or even rain here :-).
BTW, a slight error in my previous post. The blind spot monitor warning light is not directly on the c - pillar, it is on the leading edge of the door and, when driving, appears just below the c - pillar. I like this location a lot better than the mirrors, closer, gets more of my attention, does not require as wide an eye view.
Saul
Try the S60 T5, about 240 HP, right in your FWD sweet spot. Or wait for the T6 with the new drivetrain in the AWD version.....
Saul