The new Volvo S60 is the driver's car

The Volvo S60 will be the first Volvo for a long time, not at all delivered with diesel, but only with gasoline or hybrid.

Diesel's departure is mainly due to the fact that the main car markets are in the United States and China, where diesel represents a marginal share of sales. In Finland, the situation is different, but the CEO of Volvo Car Finland Lasse Ahlstedt believe that the model's low-carbon hybrid models offset the loss of diesel.

– Our sales forecasts for the V60 combination have missed surprisingly high interest for hybrids. Since customers want hybrids, I think we can reach the sales target of 700 S60 a year as well, without diesel, he says.

The car is made only in the United States, at the brand new Volvo plant in Charleston, South Carolina, as if each year was also to resume production of the XC90 during the renewal of the model.

Given the risk of trade war in the world, the plant can be a good strategy. The main market for sedans such as the S60 and large vehicles like the XC90 is located in the United States and China.

Taste if it costs

The first car I drove in the United States was the high-performance version S60 Polestar Engineered, a four-wheel-drive hybrid with a combined maximum power of 430 hp and 670 Nm.

The acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h is promised at 4.7 seconds, and there was certainly a gun in the car. When more than two tons of heavy and fully equipped cars also seemed designed for the winding mountain roads around Los Angeles, simply open the roof rack, let the wheels spin and the forehead turn red in the sun.

The full version should not be sold in multiple copies in Finland because of the price picture. It would be the same for the second car tested S60 T6 AWD four-wheel drive and 310 bhp under the hood.

In Finland, bestsellers will be the smallest T4 petrol engine and the T6 and T8 Twin Engine hybrids due to the taxation of carbon-based cars.

Spacious at the back

Volvo's distinctive contemporary design is inside the car, with digital meters and a large touch screen in the center of the dashboard. It handles most of the features of the car that, like the V60 and XC60, almost lacks physical buttons and steering wheel.

The car is about 16 cm longer than its predecessor and has distances between the larger shoulders. We can see it better in the back seat, where there is now a lot of room. The instinct of the low car is not the simplest, so I think that customers mainly belong to the youngest age groups. The storage space of just over 440 liters is not immediately impressive.

The car looks really well built, and especially in the Polestar Engineering version, with its extra stable suspension, the car hardly breaks the curves. Only self-preservation prevents really daring turns. Nevertheless, the suspension of the vehicle is not too difficult. It can also be adjusted for different stability.

Even the second version on the test, the one hundred pound lighter AWD T6, licking on the way, you can believe the CEO of Volvo. Håkan Samuelsson when he says that the S60 is one of the most exciting Volvo cars that have been built. Next year, the V60 and XC60 will also be played with the corresponding performance versions.

The road tests were still in good condition, making it difficult to guess the sound of the car in Finland. Some shorter sections with a bit of coarser asphalt indicate that the car is a good quiet tire, even from below. Despite the four-wheel drive, the low-seat car is not directly a field car.

Until next autumn

The bad news is that anyone wishing an S60 in Finland can wait more than a year before receiving his car.

"The pre-sale starts in March 2019, cars are in stores before the holiday season and deliveries to customers start at the end of the summer," says Ahlstedt.

He can not comment on the price yet, but based on the price level of the V60, one can imagine that prices start around 45,000 euros. The car first arrives in Finland under the names T4 (190 hp), T5 (260) and T6 AWD (310) front wheel drive. A little later, T6 (340 hp) and T8 (390 hp) follow the hybrid performance.

The equipment levels are in the usual order, Momentum, Registration and R-Design.

In addition to standard equipment such as an active briefcase, urban safety keys and automatic brake keys, the standard equipment car recognizes large animals such as moose. The car is not manufactured at all with a manual transmission.