Engine Still Impresses - 2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test

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Engine Still Impresses - 2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test

Now that four-cylinder engines are more common in luxury cars, they're starting to lose their stigma. One drive in the 2015 Volvo S60 T6 is all the convincing you need.

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daryleason

Everything is subjective on things like this. You base your new experiences on previous experiences. So if you grew up driving something that excelled at acceleration, such as a Corvette, you'd hate having to drive something like an old 4 cylinder Kia Sportage. I was reminded of this fact by my current daily driver. It's a 2013 Ford F-150 SuperCrew with the 5.0 V8. The engine is power and responsive and extremely quiet. It's so quiet that I sometimes forget it's running and will turn the key over to "start" it (that's not good, by the way). Because the engine is so quiet, road noise is more apparent in my F-150. So little noises that I wouldn't normally notice, drive me nuts. My wife thought I'd gone insane for stopping on the shoulder of the road to chase down a clattering noise (loose change in the back right passenger's door panel cup holder). But if I'm cruising around in my '89 Suburban, you hear nothing but engine noise and have to yell at each other to be heard. In the Suburban, it'd have to be the entire passenger door rattling off the hinges for me to hear it. And it's not that I've done anything to make the truck that loud. It's just how the truck is made. Technology has come a long way.

longtimelurker

"I half-expected it to become louder, rougher and less energetic once the miles piled up, but that hasn't happened."

The miles haven't piled up...it has 18k miles on it. This is a modern, entry-luxury car, in an age in which even economy cars routinely run reliably and strongly for 150,000 miles. In almost any long-term test you see, notably Car & Driver's, which go for 40,000 miles, they almost always perform more strongly and quieter at 40k than they did new. Your own publication publishes similar findings at LT test end. You half expected this engine was going to start to self-destruct within 20k miles? Seriously?

"I'm continually impressed by how strong it accelerates at highway speeds. This is typically an area where four-cylinders struggle, but the S60 has passing power to spare at almost any speed. The eight-speed automatic is a big help in this area, as it keeps the engine in its sweet spot and always ready to deliver."

It has no sweet spot. It's making torque all the way from idle to redline. Are we talking about the same engine?

dm7279

"Having driven it numerous times over the last several months, however, I'm convinced that this engine is every bit as good as some of the six-cylinder power plants found in the S60's competitors" - And this is exactly what Volvo is hoping for as well. However, having driven both the previous 6-cylinder models and current 4-cylinder models, the 4 cylinder doesn't come close to the refinement and smoothness of the old I6. Many people (enthusiasts, mostly) feel that a more refined engine with more cylinders should be at least offered in this class, like BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Lexus and others do.

nagant

Why would you expect the engine to develop "buzzing" noises etc? The interior may develop some over time but the engine? Doubtful. Oh and the comment "This is typically an area where four-cylinders struggle" is really quite silly. It depends on the 4cyl. A NA four banger may "struggle" but in a modern car its pretty rare. What do you consider 'struggling", anyway? Does the Miata in the fleet struggle?

subatomic

I have respect for the Volvo brand that goes back decades. My father purchased a new Volvo 740 way back in 1987 and it gave him many years of good service. He replaced it just recently because the transmission was starting to fail. The long-term S60 sounds like an impressive car. I would like it even more if it included some version of the "Superstrut" front suspension to completely eliminate torque steer and provide greater steering precision. I know torque steer is common in FWD cars with powerful engines and it would be hard to accept in a premium car.

throwback

I am curious to see if Volvo drops the engine from the XC-90 into the next gen S60 and creates another S60R with AWD of course.