Dan

Go try out a 300hp Volvo.

http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars...spx?s60tourhub

invisiblewar

thanks!

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

I wish they came in a manual.

dallison

still about 90 minutes away....

ThermonMermon

not sure how i feel about the S60...it looked good during the initial design phases, but the end result lost a lot of consistency. now, theres a lot of quirkiness to overlook (like spyker). also, the interior is way too playful for scandavian design - as if the ergonimics are for 5 yr olds.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^

I loved the older S60's and almost purchased one... but not sure of the direction they've been heading the last several years.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

I almost bought an S60R instead of my TL. But I'm glad with my choice.

vas25tl

S60R's are fun as hell to drive...I wonder how they are on maintenance.

phee

iTrader: (5)

those commercials suckkkeeed..

but the car looks alright

dsickles

iTrader: (5)

Horrible .......absolutely horrible

vas25tl

^That's what I figured.

I really liked it when I drove a 6-speed. The seats were amazing.

speedemon90

Hmm if you have the fastest autocross time of the day you win an ipad

And thats in arcadia california, about a 30 min drive for me, I think I'm gonna register for this.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

That looks nice! Looks like they copied the MB E Class headlamp design though.

speedemon90

I signed up for this. Going oct. 24th in arcadia for the special driving event.

Free autocrossing in a car thats not yours Ohh and whoever has the best lap time for autocrossing gets to take home an ipad

speedemon90

Alright so I went to the Volvo driving event this morning and as I gained some more respect for volvo, my fascination for BMW,which is already high, just went through the roof! Arriving there they had three booths. One to test out the pedestrian safety, another as a test track to drive the Volvo S60, and they had a BMW 328i, and an Audi A4 as comparison vehicles. First stop my friends and I went to was to test drive the Volvo S60. Other than my 2000 Acura tl, I have never driven another car to/around its limits. First thing you notice about the volvo when you start driving, is that it does have quite a bit of power. Now I forgot the hp rating but its 300+hp I believe and 325lb-ft. Now on the test track they say to no over drive it like you would on the autocross, but I dont think I heard that The volvo is fast, at least in a straight line against the other two cars. And this car is pretty smooth also. The interior looks nice as well. One thing I noticed as I wasn't overdriving is that it understeers quite a bit. And for an AWD platform I didnt really expect that, but I guess volvo has most of the power going to the front wheels? Another thing, the steering really has no feedback, I really couldnt tell when I was approaching the limits or not. After test driving the volvo around the test track we headed over to the pedestrian safety which is pretty cool I guess. Next was the autocross which again showed that this car likes to understeer somewhat, but there was sand blowing in and going on the track so that could have been the more reason for that. It was a really short autcoross course. Avg time was around 35 seconds, I ended up getting 33.161 with the fastes 31.xxx. This was my first time autcrossing a car. My problem is, its really hard to learn to look ahead. Those guys were telling us to do that, but when I started the autocross I didnt do it. Something I need to get used to. After the autocross my friends and I headed back over to the test track to drive the 328i. Before getting into the car, I kept hearing from people that the S60 is the best out of the three cars. My expectations dropped a little but as soon as I started accelerating and I hit the slalom first I knew right away they were wrong. The only thing the BMW doesn't have is the power, but it handles soooooo much nicer! I was really amazed. I felt that I went a lot faster in the BMW, I never understeered, the car was a lot more balanced. And the steering is a thousands times better! Man coming out of that car I had like the hugest smile on my face. I finally know what everyone talks about when driving a bmw. Never have I experienced that till now. Overall the experience was great, I just really wanna start autocrossing haha. Need to improve my skillz.

pttl

^
The BMW 3 series is renowned for its balanced handling and road feel. I know mine was terrific when I had it.

They put a 230 HP 328, and a 210 HP A4, against the 300 HP S60?

I'm glad you can see HP does not necessarily mean fun to drive.

speedemon90

Yea, I guess they went by price? I was surprised they didnt have the 328xi there. But I'm happy since BMW is more known for their rwd platform, i believe at least. And yea I dont need the hp to have fun. The BMW was down almost 100 hp but it felt a lot faster and so much smoother through the corners. Damn I had the biggest smile after driving a 328i, I wonder what would happen if I ever get a chance to drive an M3 like that!

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

That was pretty lame of them to have the 328 instead of the 335. You didn't drive the A4? BTW, I know what you mean when you say, "I finally know what everyone talks about when driving a bmw". I'm certainly not a fan of BMW but my wife has had her X3 M Sport for 5 months now and that thing is sooo atheletic. I actually, seriously enjoy driving it. It's a bit of a rough ride over bumps because of the sports suspension but I don't care. It handles like a car, it's quick and it gives you feedback.

Volvos are nice, solid cars. They are nicely designed inside and out as well. The only thing Volvo has against it is the price tag. Only Audi gets away with being too expensive for what it is.

is300eater

I too, almost bought a S60R before buying my FX45... In fact it was a company car for Evolve (a company that does mods on Volvos, they are local in SoCal), while it was heavily modded (in a classy way), I decided not to buy it only because I figure it's the car they use to "test"... and probably been out on the tracks too many times. And also, for some reason, the back seats' leather was totally beat.

But OMFG!!! That thing was sooooooo freakin' FAST! The owner of Evolve who took me out for a test drive told me that he's beaten M5s with no problems.

here's a pic of it at the SEMA show



it would be cool to see Volvo do a "R" on the new S60




which, I've also heard... I hear they go through those Brembo brake pads like crazy too

speedemon90

I wish they had a 335, that would have been freaking awesome. Sadly I didnt get a chance to drive the A4, they had only two hour sessions for the day and we didnt get enough time to drive the A4. There were a lot more people than I thought would come. So lines were forming. Volvo is a nice car, but I think after driving that BMW I would ahve to take that. It was just sooo fun!

batman

Saw a S60 yesterday. Not a fan of the grille.

It's Clutch

iTrader: (6)

Missed it by a few hours.

vwong

I guess they changed the course for Sunday then. I went on Saturday morning, had the top time of 50.2xx until in the afternoon when another autox'er showed up and beat my time with a 49.8xx.


Are you sure about that? On Saturday, the BMW was a 328xi.

speedemon90

Yup they changed the course, I talked to the guy and he said people avg'd around 59 seconds, which means you did a really good job haha.

Are you sure about the 328xi? I mean thats what some people told me in line but when I saw the back of the car it was a 328i. I'm pretty sure it was a 328i. Unless my eyes deceived me. Because as I was next in line, I saw the BMW go by and saw a 328i badge, didn't see no xi. Did you guys have a beige bmw?

speedemon90

ohh and what did you think of the volvo? Would you take the bmw over it?

vwong

My friend and his brother also noticed that the BMW there on Saturday was a 328xi. Unless all 3 of us were seeing things, I'm pretty sure it was a 328xi.


Here's my opinion on the new S60. I like the exterior design except for all of those silver trims. IMO, I wouldn't do the silver trims on the sides. The interior is different, but a bit boring. The navigation screen area looks too plain. The seat is nice and comfortable, but doesn't provide much support though. As for performance, very nice low-end torque to get you going. I didn't pay attention to the tach, so I don't know how high I brought the car up to. But it felt like most factory turbo cars where it felt flat toward higher RPMs. The shift was slow, but I don't care because I would never buy an AT car anyway. The suspension is decent, but nowhere near the sport suspension in the BMW. They said the new S60 has the torque vectoring system in the car, but I definitely did not feel that. I would know how this type of system feels because I've had 2 cars with it (ATTS in the Prelude, and Sport Rear Diff in the S4), but the S60 felt very much like a typical FWD car. The S60 I drove on the test course had spongy brakes, but the one on the timed autox course was fine. Maybe the one I drove on the test course was the one they used to demo the 0-40-0 comparison between the S60, 328xi, and A4 2.0T. Overall, I like the new S60 as a daily driver, but I definitely would not give up either my 335i or S4 for it.

speedemon90

Hmm maybe it was a 328xi, I guess I saw wrong, I dunno lol.

And I agree that when I drove the volvo it felt like a fwd car. I mean I've never driven an awd before today and, well if the BMW was awd. There was a huge difference between the bmw awd and the s60. Bmw doesnt have torque vectoring and all that stuff either.