Volvo makes its flagship luxury sedan in three models, two of which have all-wheel drive. The anti-whiplash protection is nice, too.
They say the middle child faces the most challenges in life. In autos, however, the midpoint may be the best position to hold. Take the Volvo S80 T6. It now seems to be selling the best of the three versions of the S80 available here.
Of course, this middle model of Volvo's flagship luxury sedan was also the last to be introduced, so perhaps it is really the youngest that does well.
A little history is in order. When first introduced in 2007, the second generation of the Volvo S80 came as a base model with a six-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive, or as a V-8 model with all-wheel drive.
The base model was nice -- it actually seemed the better balanced of the two models -- but it was the V-8 that had the punch. There was a wide gap in performance and price between the two models.
For the 2008 model year, Volvo added the T6 version. This featured the nice balance of the base model, but it had the kind of power that luxury-car buyers expect.
Credit its 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine with 46 more horsepower than the base engine.
Granted, it trails the V-8 by 30 horsepower, but that deficit feels inconsequential on the road. The S80 T6 accelerates with authority once over a little initial softness in response.
Aiding performance is a six-speed automatic transmission that delivers properly timed precision shifts. A jaunt to 60 miles per hour takes just 7.4 seconds.
Volvo also added all-wheel drive to the T6, while managing to keep the price within easy reach of a base-model buyer and well below the cost of the V-8.
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As a result, "The T6 is the best-selling S80 model by far," said David Hughes, a sales executive for Gengras Volvo in East Hartford. "This is due to excellent power, respectable fuel economy," and the fact that all-wheel drive makes a difference in Connecticut, he said.
On the road, the T6 is neither a too-soft luxury car nor a harsh and uncompromising sports sedan. Rather, it lands in a sweet spot with a ride that is firm but sufficiently forgiving to be all-day comfortable and handling that is rewarding even if it is not sports-sedan sharp.
Affecting the ride and handling of the T6 S80 that Volvo loaned us was the optional Sport Package. Among other features, it included a driver-controlled adjustable suspension that offered three settings: Comfort, Sport and Advanced.
The Comfort setting was found to be most comfortable – are we surprised? – while the Sport and Advanced positions tended to firm things up. This reduced lean in corners but also made the response to bumps in the road sharper.
In the end, I selected Comfort while transporting passengers and Sport for solo trips.
Our review Volvo also bristled with the company's latest thinking in safety features. While a solid body with energy- absorbing front and rear structures, front air bags, front side air bags, side curtain air bags, anti-lock brakes, stability control and brake assist are all standard, along with an innovative anti-whiplash protection system for front- seat passengers, our review car had several safety options.
The first was a blind-spot information system. Using cameras to determine when another vehicle was in the adjacent lane on either the left or right, this system generally worked well, though it could be fooled into generating a false positive, or occasionally a false negative, based on lighting conditions.
The false negative reports were rare, but their presence emphasizes the need to do that blind-spot eye check even with this system in use. This S80 T6 also had the Collision Avoidance Package with its adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning function and collision warning LED bar lights at the base of the windshield.
All of these systems worked well. Of note, when the collision warning system was set to its greatest distance, it triggered four red LEDs whenever the driver got within the three-second following distance that is now recommended by safety experts and the DMV in its latest driving manuals for Connecticut.
Start closing quickly on a car ahead and all the LEDs would flash brightly.
"The blind-spot cameras are very popular," Hughes said. "The adaptive cruise control works well, but not everybody wants it. It makes a big difference for folks who do a lot of highway driving, however. They love it."
In the final analysis, the Volvo S80 T6 is comfortable, responsive and rewarding to drive. It is the automotive equivalent of that all too rare pair of shoes that turn out to be both highly stylish and immensely comfortable.
Paula Says:
What impressed me most about the Volvo S80 T6 was not the fact that I felt instantly comfortable driving the car. Rather, it was the optional safety devices. The blind-spot alert is very good and serves as a reminder that there is a vehicle lurking just out of sight and to the rear. Sometimes a driver might forget that another motorist has foolishly pulled into this position.
The lane-departure warning system is better yet. I can imagine how useful this would be for a driver on a long trip.
The best feature, however, proved to be the adaptive cruise control with its following-distance warning lights. I loved being able to set it and then having the system slow the car to maintain an appropriate following distance when traffic ahead slowed. Its LED warnings when I began to get too close were also useful. For people trained on the old "leave one car length for every 10 miles per hour" rule, which has been thoroughly debunked as not enough, this system could be a lifesaver.
Comfortable and easily driven, the Volvo S80 T6 is impressive. We managed 20.1 miles per gallon on premium, though Volvo says regular is also acceptable.
Jim MacPherson is the host of "The Car Doctor" show Sundays at noon on WTIC-AM. Paula MacPherson is his wife and new-car review partner. He's 6-foot-plus; she's 5-foot-one. Send comments, questions, suggestions in care of Special Sections, Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115.
source:courant
