Today, Volvo unleashed a slew of photos and details of its very promising all-new 2011 S60 sedan that will have its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show on the 2nd of March.
The premium model, which this time is aimed directly at cars like the Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class, is described by Volvo as the firm's most dynamic car ever produced, not only in terms of styling but also in terms of driving characteristics.
It's sculptured shape with the coupe-like roofline was previewed by the S60 study at the 2009 Detroit Show, and even though the design has been toned down a notch, it remains very close to the (well-accepted) original concept.
"Its profile radiates so much coupe feeling that the rear doors come as something of a pleasant surprise when you examine the car close-up," says Volvo Cars' Design Director Peter Horbury.
Inside, the styling is equally fresh with Volvo's designers paying extra attention to details and the choice of materials. The Swedes also claim that it's more spacious that its predecessor offering 30mm more knee room for the rear passengers while boot opening has been made 107 mm wider than in the previous S60.
"The interior has a more extrovert attitude than before, but without losing any of its practical Scandinavian roots. The all-new S60 brings us up to a whole new level when it comes to the integral experience of colour, form, material and technology," says Peter Horbury.
Volvo is pitching the new S60 as a driver's car due to its refined chassis that is backed up by a range of electronic systems and the new engine line up.
The new sedan can be specified with a choice of two chassis - Dynamic and Comfort- with the differences concerning the dampers and the front and rear subframes.
In Europe, the newly developed dynamic chassis is standard, while most markets in North America and Asia will have the comfort chassis as standard with the sport variant available as an option.
All variants of the new S60 can be specified with the latest iteration of the firm's self-adjusting FOUR-C active chassis.
Special features include the new Advanced Stability Control with a new roll angle sensor, the Corner Traction Control that uses torque vectoring to improve cornering and the available Pedestrian Detection system that can detect pedestrians who walk into the road in front of the car, warn the driver and automatically apply full braking power if the driver does not respond in time.
At launch the car will be available with two diesel and two gasoline units with three more petrol and one diesel to follow later on.
The most powerful engine is the 3.0-liter T6 petrol with 304HP and 440 Nm of torque that's combined with standard AWD and second-generation six-speed automatic Geartronic transmission. Acceleration from 0-100 km/h (62mph) takes 6.5 seconds and top speed is 250 km/h or 155mph.
The new four-cylinder 2.0 GTDi (Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection) engine has produces 203HP and 300 Nm with acceleration from 0-100 km/h (62mph) taking 7.7 seconds with the manual gearbox and 8.2 seconds with the automatic. The top speed figures are 235 km/h (manual) and 230 km/h (automatic).
The S60 2.0T with manual gearbox uses 7.9 litres of fuel per 100 km equal to 29.8mpg US.
Volvo said that during the first year of production, the all-new S60 will also be offered with a 2.0 GTDi variant (T5) producing 240HP and torque of 320 Nm and a 1.6-litre GTDi engine available in two versions with 180HP (T4) and 150HP (T3).
All the GTDi gasoline engines will be available in combination with Volvo's automatic six-speed Powershift transmission or a six-speed manual gearbox.
The range also includes two five-cylinder turbodiesels. The D5 with 205HP and 420 Nm of torque propels the S60 from 0-100 km/h (62mph) in 7.8 seconds (manual and automatic) while top speed is 235 km/h (manual) and 230 km/h (automatic).
Fuel consumption is 5.9 l/100 km (EU Combined, preliminary figure) or 39.9mpg US with the manual gearbox.
In addition there is the newly developed 2.0-liter D3 producing 163HP and 400 Nm of torque. Acceleration from 0-100 km/h (62mph) takes 9.2 seconds (manual and automatic) while top speed is 220 km/h (manual) and 215 km/h (automatic).
With a manual gearbox, fuel consumption (EU Combined, preliminary figure) is now down to 5.2 l/100km or 45.2 mpg US
Both turbodiesels are available with six-speed automatic transmissions or a six-speed manual gearbox while the D5 can also be specified with all-wheel drive.
The most fuel efficient S60 will be the DRIVe version fitted with a 115HP 1.6-liter turbo diesel and a six-speed manual gearbox that returns 4.3lt/100km or 54.7mpg US.
Engine range from start of production
Petrol engines | Displacement | Configuration | Output | Torque |
T6 | 3.0 | 6-cyl in-line | 304 bhp | 440 Nm |
2.0T | 2.0 | 4-cyl in-line | 203 bhp | 300 Nm |
Diesel engines | Displacement | Configuration | Output | Torque |
D5 | 2.4 | 5-cyl in-line | 205 bhp | 420 Nm |
D3 | 2.0 | 5-cyl in-line | 163 bhp | 400 Nm |
Engines added during first year of production:
Petrol engines | Displacement | Configuration | Output | Torque |
T5 | 2.0 | 4-cyl in-line | 240 bhp | 320 Nm |
T4 | 1.6 | 4 cyl in-line | 180 bhp | 240 Nm |
T3 | 1.6 | 4-cyl in-line | 150 bhp | 240 Nm |
Diesel engines | Displacement | Configuration | Output | Torque |
1.6 D DRIVe | 1.6 | 4-cyl in-line | 115 bhp | 270 Nm |
Volvo said that the initial annual target for the all-new S60 is 90,000 cars with Europe (including Russia), North America and the rest of the world each accounting for about one-third of total sales.
The first cars will be delivered to customers in early summer 2010.
See, the Swedes wanted to show journalists how the 2011 S60 sedan's new 'Collision Warning with Auto Brake' system works in action, so they catapulted a test car out of a tunnel at around 35km/h towards a parked truck.
