D3 SE Start/Stop 4dr Saloon

A well made, comfortable, smooth and quiet saloon that makes for a fantastic long distance cruiser – less agile around town.

I decided on the S60 because I needed a comfortable, refined and well made car to complete several long journeys each week and for this the Volvo hits the nail squarely on the head. The cabin is very quiet and the controls and materials are high quality. The seats are fantastic with loads of adjustment options, easily the most comfortable in any car I've ever used.
Out on the open road the engine pulls like a train with masses of mid range grunt and is easily the match of previous 3 Series and A4's I've had. Add in the comfort, good handling and the Volvo is the match for any car in this segment for long distance travel.
Around town however the S60 is less of a star. It feels heavy and the engine tends to be flat below 1,500 rpm which can make it feel sluggish to get rolling and not really flexible if you let the revs drop out of the torque band at junctions/mini roundabouts etc. It's not a big issue but you do have to work harder around town than you would in a BMW or Audi. Another issue that lowers it's score around town is the poor steering lock which makes tight car parks a pain.
Two other small niggles - no left foot rest, which I've got used to now but should still be there all the same and the electric hand brake. It releases automatically which is great but the position of the switch is not. It's on the lower dash behind the right side of the wheel and quite frankly is an effort to reach every time. Volvo have screwed up here, the switch should be easy to hand by the gear lever, I doubt even they can explain why it's where it is.
Niggles aside I still love this car and it has many nice touches such as the boot divider, the ticket holder on the windscreen, the audio system is great, the bluetooth works fantastically, the stop start saves fuel and the optional heated seats would BBQ a chicken. The City Safe system that auto brakes the car should you be about to rear end someone or run over a pedestrian is also well worth a mention in the plus box. So would I recommend it, well yes absolutely, but just not if you're planning to use it as a city taxi.

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