By Kamil Kaluski
Remember the 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R? Of course, how could anyone not. The boxy performance sedan had just enough appearance cues to be ignored by the masses and adored by its fans. With 243hp it ran 0-60mph sprint in mid-five second range and it pulled almost 0.90g on the skidpad, its performance surpassed those looks. This made the T-5R one of the most special Volvos for a very special group of people, and you know who you are.
This 2015 S60 T6 has 302hp and 295lb-ft of torque. By conservative factory estimates it does 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds, but it feels faster than that. Despite the T6 nomenclature, this 2015 S60 is powered by the supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine. The old fives and sixes are dead (almost), long live the new fours. I won’t beat around the bush, this new engine is amazing!
The theory is simple and known to all enthusiasts, yet rarely implemented: superchargers run off a crank pulley and produce almost instantaneous power, but are not very efficient; turbochargers make power at higher engine speeds as the compressor is spooled by exhaust gases, putting no strain on the engine. Volvo mounted one of each to a new direct-injected engine, added some fuel-saving magic (auto-stop/start is annoying but easily defeatable), an eight-speed automatic transmission, and ended up with an engine that has plenty of power throughout the rpm range and still gets great gas mileage – 24mpg city, 35mpg highway.
The trend to change to smaller (displacement and cylinder-count) force-fed engines has been going on for some time. Unfortunately a lot of times those new powertrains are disappointing (I won’t name any names *cough* BMW *cough*), lacking in low-end power, being slow to respond, and not all that fuel efficient. Not the T6. It powers off the line with no delay and keeps pulling to the redline. It is a very responsive and a genuinely fun powertrain, and the little sedan feels damn fast. A quick look at the numbers reveals that the horsepower-to-weight ratio of the S60 T6 is somewhere between the Subaru WRX and the BMW 335i.
The downside of this extra power is more evident torque-steer, especially in this front-wheel-drive vehicle. If Volvo were to implement an AWD system similar to Audi’s Quattro or even Acura’s Super-Handling system, the overall fun factor would skyrocket. I reviewed the five-cylinder 2014 S60 T5 last year and I complained that the vehicle seemed under-tired and prone to understeer. This 2015 vehicle was wearing bigger, nineteen inch wheels and “lower sport chassis” which seemed have reduced the understeer significantly. This vehicle seemed more tossable and just more fun to drive. It would probably be a lot of fun on the track or an autocross course.
There are no other significant changes to the S60 from last year’s model when it received a minor facelift but that engine should be considered a big one. The interior is very nice but it is showing its age. The infotainment screen in a little small and the array of buttons below looks cool but is not very ergonomic. The seats are fantastic, as always on a Volvo, both in comfort and quality, and the visibility all around is superior. There is plenty of room for tall goons upfront, but rear seats are short on legroom. The trunk is spacious, with a nifty divider for grocery bags and 70:30 split rear seat with a ski pass-thru.
The S60 with the new Drive-E powerplant starts at $33,300 for the turbocharged T5 model. There are four models: base, Premier, Premier Plus, and Platinum. Each one is available in T5 (turbo) or T6 (turbo and supercharged) Drive-E formats. Currently, the Drive-E models are front-wheel-drive only. S60 AWD models are mated to the older five and six cylinder engines. The vehicle pictured is a Platinum T6 model with a $1250 sport chassis and wheels package, $1500 technology package, $800 xenon headlights, $900 blind spot detection, $550 metallic paint, and $500 heated front seats. The total MSRP for this fully loaded car comes to $47,925, including destination.
Like other companies that were once owned by Ford, Volvo is digging itself out from the little runt it got itself into over the years, and this is a great start. Volvo has also been making news with an amazing concept, the return of the wagon, and the upcoming XC90, the first model developed independently of Ford. If this new engine is any indication of things to come, then we should expect Volvo to come back to its glory day status very quickly.
Now, about that S60 T5-R… I’ll take mine in cream yellow with titanium gray wheels.
Disclaimer: Volvo provided the vehicle for the purpose of this review.
[Images: copyright 2014 Hooniverse/Kamil Kaluski]
Jeff Glucker