Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design: Sporty and luxurious - only one thing is missing

Volvo has completely removed the diesel from the S60 range. There are four different petrol engines for this. We tested the T6 with 310 PS.

• The Volvo S60 is the sportier version of the V60 family car.
• The drive portfolio currently only includes (partially electrified) petrol engines.
• In terms of price, the S60 starts with the smallest engine (T4, 190 hp) at 43,200 euros

Cologne - There are things in life that are not really necessary. Without which the world would go on as normal. And yet they are sometimes the salt in the soup. That certain something. And so almost every car manufacturer also has a particularly sporty variant of its series models in its program. At Audi , the high-horsepower speedsters are called "RS", at Mercedes "AMG" and at BMW simply "M". Volvo should not be missing either, although the Swedes mainly stand for comfort. But it is precisely this mix that makes the fascination. And so Volvo has spiced up its classic family combination V60 to S60 and combined it with the fast-paced R-design . We were impressed by this combination in the test, even though it does not play a pioneering role in terms of the environment. The 310 hp petrol engine (T6) we tested rarely makes do with less than ten liters of fuel .

Volvo: Electric on the rise

Who knows how long such models will still be available? After all, car manufacturers have had to comply with strict CO2 limits since this year - an average of 95 g / km per fleet, the EU prescribes. And then an S60 T6 painfully pushes the values ​​up with a CO2 emission of up to 203 g / km (WLTP). This is one of the reasons why Volvo , which is now known to be Chinese-owned *, has long focused on electronics. The Swedes have announced that they will say goodbye to the combustion engine in the coming years. By 2025 at the latest, at least half of all newly produced Volvos should have an electric drive . The brand is also setting an example internally and has banished all single-use plastic items from offices and canteens as well as from its own events around the world.

Volvo: The diesel is already banned from the Swedes

Diesel is already no longer available in new models. The S60, the first Volvo * to be built in the USA (in the newly opened Charleston plant in South Carolina, USA), is also the first Volvo to be affected by the new company philosophy. It is no longer available with a diesel.

The Swedes call the S60 "the sportiest sedan from Volvo". The R-Design line differs from the "normal version" among other things by special aprons (front / rear), 18-inch tires on rims with five double spokes, two trapezoidal tailpipes and a body lowering by 1.5 centimeters.

Volvo S60 R-Design - sporty, luxurious ambience

Inside, the Volvo S60 exudes the ambience of a luxury class . The leather with highlighted seams looks high-quality, there are aluminum door sills, a leather gear lever, a sports steering wheel covered with perforated leather, sports pedals, leather-textile sports seats and a gear lever made of Swedish crystal glass.

Long bonnet and strong back - the S60 R design in all its glory

© Volvo

Also on board in the R-Design version is the 12.3-inch digital instrument display, which is incorporated in the center of the cockpit as usual and therefore "sits on" nowhere. The mix of comfort, quality and sportiness is absolutely successful . All instruments are digital. The operation of the touchpad is, however, somewhat complicated.

Volvo S60 T6: all-wheel drive always with you

In connection with the T6 engine , all-wheel drive is always on board. With the optional and recommended adaptive chassis (Four-C), settings can be made on the chassis and the otherwise harder basic tuning can be avoided by setting "Comfort".

The S60 T6 R-Design not only looks very sporty from the outside and thanks to its elongated bonnet it is almost longer than its actual 4.76 meters.

Sporty, luxurious design in the interior

© Volvo

With a wheelbase of 2872 mm there is also plenty of space in all four seats - plus an "emergency seat" in the center of the rear. You have a rather low sitting position on the tight, but still comfortable and not too hard seats.

Also interesting: Alpina B 5 Bi-Turbo - this is how the world's fastest station wagon drives.

Volvo S60 with T6 engine: sophisticated four-cylinder engine

The two-liter four-cylinder in the Volvo S60 T6 can convince in parts. It sounds slightly roaring and gnarled, but of course it doesn't quite have the sovereignty of running a six-cylinder * and looks a bit strained under load. But with a slight delay he always hangs on the accelerator, runs to 100 km / h in less than six seconds and, in extreme cases, still speeds up to 250 km / h. We averaged a consumption of 10.1 liters. The familiar eight-stage automatic converter works as usual reliably and inconspicuously. The steering is not particularly direct, but fits the basically rather stately character of the sedan.

By the way: For Volvo fans , the Instagram account of Volvo Germany is worth a detour:

Check out this post on Instagram

Some memories never fade. #volvo # 245 © @theparkedcar ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ # volvo245 # volvomoment #volvolove #volvofamily #vintagevolvo #happyweekends #vintagecars #soloparking #cartastic #draussen #carjourney #liveyouradventure #capturemoments

A post shared by Volvo Car Deutschland (@volvocarde) on Feb 7, 2020 at 3:00 PST

Volvo S60: the prices

The price of the Volvo S60 T6 R-Design starts at 52,200 euros. Our test car with many special equipment came to 69,000 euros. There is also the "R-Design" with the other turbo petrol engines as T4 with 190 hp (from 43,200 euros), as T5 with 250 hp (46,200 euros) 184 kW and as an electrified T8 twin engine AWD with 390 hp (59,150 euros) ,

Conclusion: A beautifully looking and high-quality processed family car that serves a bit more comfort than sportiness - and is on the threshold of the luxury class .

Datasheet Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design

Read also : Audi RS4 Avant is refreshed.

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Rubric list image: © Volvo