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A Song of Fire and Ice - Walla! vehicle

2019-12-25T08:02:10.524Z


Beneath its solid appearance and white color, the new Volvo S60 in the T8 version hides a piece of a Nordic hammer, offering a sports car performance in a sedan that looks just like any car ...


A song of fire and ice

Photo: Kenan Cohen, Kenan Cohen

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  • Car tests

Beneath its solid appearance and white color, the new Volvo S60 in the T8 hides a piece of a Nordic hammer and offers a sports car performance in a sedan that looks just like any other car

Kenan Cohen

25/12/2019

Alongside the global catastrophe that swept the economy, at least in the automotive aspect of 2008, there were two very, very happy results. Ford, bruised and battered has separated from four European brands it has acquired over the years. These were Land Rover and Jaguar sold to the Indian Sweep, Aston Martin sold to Prodrive and then set off independently and also Volvo sold to Chinese Jili. Contrary to what black auditors envisioned, not only were these brands not exploited and emptied of them - they had real growth and growth in their new home. It was mostly about the way Ford handled things in the centralized, corporate and heavy manner of an American automaker. I often heard conversations with senior executives at Land Rover and also at Volvo that when they came up with detailed plans, explanations, presentations and what not for their new homeowners, the answer was constantly "What do you want from us? You know the best job, you count on getting started ! ".

So Volvo has launched, and how, with a host of current models such as the CX90, XC60, S90 and now the S60 and once again the result has been a hit. From design, to materials, from chassis calibration to new and powerful power units, the smallest human engineering to almost unrivaled safety scores.

manufacturer

Solid from the outside

Also in the test car's white color, a color that usually does a disservice to the design, the S60 looks very good. She is cramped, muscular without looking embellished. No paperwork and all sorts of cheap design tricks, a powerful bow, lighting fixtures in the Nordic hammer look that continue in proper proportions between hood, passenger compartment and trunk - that's the end of the job.

The passenger compartment also continues in the same solid and understated style, but well made. The quality of the materials and the composition is excellent, even the choice of combinations of skin, plastic, aluminum and gray wood textures is made with a subdued Scandinavian flavor. The digital dashboard has not drifted into the overly animated districts, serving what is needed in front of the eyes without too much concern and very good resolution. The abundance of driver seat adjustments along with its excellent design at its base create a comfortable driving position when exiting the parking lot and so stay that we entered the same parking lot 550 km later.

A cabin is built to glory and incredibly comfortable

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

The impressions of the operation of the large, multi-role screen are experienced by some people in completely different forms. Some are overloaded, complex and complicated. I really like him a lot. Volvo, and that is what I say out of familiarity with the lady responsible for it - investing a great deal in every area of ​​user experience, known as UX. And here too, no matter what function you want to play, their absolute majority are always two clicks away, no more. Precisely against this compliment, the gear lever, which is actually a type of electric switch, manages to upset an operation that requires two clicks to move from front to rear and vice versa at a time.

The world is divided between those who get along with the operation of the Volvo multimedia system and those who are unable to with it

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

The tax benefit to her is (still) a winner, of course, which also makes her very generous. The selected inscription finisher level includes a Herman Kardon audio system and 13 speakers, Apple and Android compatibility with one of the best user displays I've encountered, a dashboard skin, climate control air quality monitoring system, panoramic roof window, adjustable electric seats , Shape and manner and more. Of course, the full mouth plus plus safety systems list, automatically brakes for both distance retention and in the event of frontal injury, pre-accident belt tensioners I have experienced in two cases of three-digit momentary levitation over a road wave, full LED matrix lighting, path deflection correction, adaptive cruise control, Cross traffic alert and the list is long.

The last seat is very spacious for both sides, third is better to give up

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

With 287 cm between the wheels (an extra 10 cm relative to the outgoing generation), the space in the rear seat is excellent, the seats there have B-beam air conditioning ports, a Volvo old patent and a 12V single outlet. The middle seat is worth giving up, unless it is used to install a safety chair, it is simply bad. The upholstery in it is thin and stiff and a very large protrusion from the floor, under which the batteries are not allowed to sit for more than a short period of time.

Volvo is known for its spacious and useful stationary versions, the situation here is no different. The trunk version of the sedan suffers from the fixed disadvantages of a narrow charging opening and uncomfortable access and adds volume disadvantages as a result of the rear-wheel electric motor.

The rear engine charges a trunk volume, a repair kit replaces the spare wheel

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Turbulent on the inside

The SPA platform on which the car sits (like all company cars except the XC40) packs a car that grows in relation to the outgoing generation and generally larger in relation to the competition. But because of its design it allows packaging of a very powerful and sophisticated power unit within its body. On the front is a 2.0-liter engine with supercharger and turbocharger attached to an excellent planetary gearbox. And behind an electric motor for the rear wheels.

To maintain weight distribution and a low center of gravity, the car's 12 kWh batteries are located along the passenger compartment. The combination of the two engines produces 390 hp and 65.3 kg, and when the foot buryes the pedal deep in the floor, they each kick it forward, whether it's 4.6 seconds per 100 mph or intermediate acceleration No matter how fast you drive, it is pulled forward. When it is lighter and in the electric or hybrid mode, it will cover up to 50 km of declared power. I spent 45 miles on perfectly normal driving, including inter-city cruising at speeds of up to 130 mph (the top speed of electric power). Charging for about three hours will equip you with a rechargeable battery, or you can switch the gasoline engine to "recharge" mode and get a battery ready for travel activity within the city for example.

390 horse power station and excellent performance

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Its 19-inch rims are the only sabotage in ride comfort and also very moderate in relation to this very light bump penetrating the aisle on violent pits. The S60 mutes and swallows disruptions in completely Swedish comfort, adding to them a very high level of acoustic noise insulation, and you have a car whose only indication that you are (seemingly) twice the legal speed is dashboard numbers, a kind of vertigo on the ground.

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

The next surprise was on the winding road, these descents also do some really good hot compact at her own pace, but here there is much more confidence in her grip level. Its chassis is excellent, everything is tight, stamped in the right calibration with outstanding ability to deal with weight transfers from side to side in dense turns, weight transfers while braking, while accelerating - everything. Also the calibration of the dual propulsion system which tends to whisper sensations from the car has been excellent, the car remains very neutral, without the slight tendency to steering for example that the Audi A4 Quatro, mainly because it is a very different dual propulsion due to the use of the electric motor. Still, with all the compliments, it's hard to say it's fun here.

You look great, but your operations are much less good

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

First of all, this chassis deserved so much better steering, its weight is fine and its response to turning, but there is no indication of it in the grip position - its feedback doesn't change when you turn in the square or load speed into super-fast S turns. Its brakes, which use the braking energy to recharge the batteries, also do not allow precision or rated braking. Just a pedal that stops the car. For dessert, it has the second-worst manual mode operation after that of a Chevy. The solution of moving the lever to the right for lifting and lowering the gears, its position and the lack of controls on the steering wheel simply takes out all the desire. If you are aiming for a sporty driving experience, the R-design with steering wheel shift controls will solve this at least.

Last shot of driving it after fuel consumption test. At the bottom of the mountain road, after driving strong it was 8 km per liter, at the end of the test days it stabilized at 10.9 km per liter, for a car with 390 hp. It was not caught and that is before I even tried to maximize the possibility to load it every time .

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Bursts in the storm

The Volvo S60 is a car that for the fourth time marks a consistent and clear line of progress in Volvo. With a simple line-up of products on their own, on the one hand, with the ability to challenge everything you thought about that hegemony of German premium cars. Its design, fixture, quality, comfort, power unit and performance and savings unit are the front row of its team.

It's not perfect and there are places where the 3 Series behaves better and the Mercedes C Class gives a better sense of compilation and splendor, but wow as good as it gets, it's something we couldn't say about the previous S60.

Road test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

NIS 300,000 costs the test car, this is its most equipped version and the value it provides for the price - excellent. The finish level R Design will cost a tenth less and the T4 engines will reduce another NIS 50,000. Want to understand how attractive its price is? Relevant competitors are the new Series 3, also with a plug-in arrangement and 252 kW (292 in limited "Boost" time) and a price of NIS 290,000. Mercedes has the C Class in the 300 version Its plug-in hybrid hybrid 320 kWh but a price tag that only starts at NIS 336,000. The Audi A4 has absolutely nothing to offer here, both in the absence of a hybrid option and because its 245-horsepower version starts at NIS 320. How far do these gaps actually remain in the road test? Don't worry, check that out too soon.

Front engine, middle batteries and rear engine (Photo: manufacturer)

Road Test: Volvo S60 (Photo: Manufacturer, Manufacturer Website)

On the technical side: Volvo S60 T8 Inscription

Engine, propulsion: gasoline, turbo, hybrid, dual
Volume: 1,969 cc
Power / rpm (kW): 390
Torque / rpm (kg): 65.3
Gearbox: automatic, planetary, 8 gears

Measurements:
Length (cm): 476
Width (cm): 185
Height (cm): 143
Wheelbase (cm): 287
Trunk (liters): 390

Performence:
0-100 acceleration: 4.6 seconds
Maximum speed: 250 mph

Competitors:
BMW 330e, Mercedes C300e

price:
NIS 300,000

Source: walla

All tech articles on 2019-12-25

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