VIVACIOUS VOLVO V60 WAGON LAUNCHED

Beauty is said to be in the eyes of the beholder, so I behold that the new Volvo V60 is a stunningly beautiful motor car, let alone wagon. I’d even place it in the list of top 3 most attractive wagons in the country today. That may not sound like much considering how few wagon derivatives we have, but the few that are present are quite competitively designed too.

Risky is this business where Volvo itself does not sell as many S60s as what BMW and Mercedes-Benz sell in 3 Series and C-Class, yet it feels bold enough to introduce a wagon version of the thing. Scarier is how people have almost completely replaced their wagon sense with SUVs. Worse still, Volvo didn’t skimp on engines; no less than seven in total, plunked into eleven different models, are immediately available at your nearest dealership. By the end of this month the R-Design suite of cosmetics will adorn both S60 and V60, thus increasing models synchronously.

“The typical sports wagon customer is a S60 buyer who would like some extra space and flexibility, but without the slightest compromise on sporty design and exciting driving properties,” says Gerry Keaney, Senior Vice President Marketing Sales and Customer Service, and adds: “The competition is razor-sharp and the customers in this segment know exactly what they want. That is why we have further boosted the interior's sense of exclusive quality and packed the car with safety - and comfort-related technical innovations. The result is a truly unique sports wagon, in total harmony with its sporty attitude.”

Key here is how Keaney paddles around and swiftly past the words “station wagon”, with their old housewife connotations. This car is nothing like that. It’s sexy without being crass, ergonomically functional, very-well equipped from engine to interior, and very importantly, quite satisfying to pilot.

I went gallivanting in four of these models during the South African launch down in the overcast side of the Western Cape. The first key led me into a D3 baseline model. New in Mzansi this turbo diesel engine features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor making 120kW at 3000rpm and torque of 400Nm. A 6-speed manual gearbox was offered as a go-along and things went well enough. Front-wheel-drive is the system and performance claimed at 9.4 seconds 0 – 100km/h and top speed is 220km/h. Volvo says it will sip fuel at a rate of 5.5 litres per 100km on average. I found the small diesel quiet and responsive but the gearbox probably took the cake with its smooth operation.

Next I took out the D5 which carries a 2.4-litre turbo engine with 151kW at 4000rpm and 420Nm of torque. A short drive was enough to realise it was a little noisier than its smaller sibling but of course provided more pull at throttle prod. The 0 – 100km/h time is said to be a best of 7.9 seconds, top speed 230km/h and fuel consumption a best of 5.4 litres per 100km. C02 emissions are as low as 142g/km on the manual transmission.

I then topped off with a T6 which I’m already familiar with from the S60 launch in 2010. Same 3.0-litre straight-six petrol turbo motor with 224kW at 5600rpm and 440Nm. Importantly the T6 has AWD (all-wheel-drive) which allows it to reach 100km/h from idle in 6.2 seconds, according to figure obtained by Volvo themselves. Top velocity is limited to 250km/h.

There are other new engines also which were not part of the initial S60 launch but are available for that model as well, like the 1.6 turbo T3 with 110kW, 1.6 T4 making 132kW and 2.0 turbo T5 with 177kW.

Although the V60 is essentially a wagon by design, Volvo sketchers seemed to have been inspired by higher powers when penning it. Shaped a lot like a bullet, the car has a rising side profile going from bonnet to boot, signified by rapidly shrinking side windows and a mid-line that drops its load from the A-pillar, only to pick it up midway through the rear doors. The rear end appears to stand on a Z shape that’s highlighted by big brake lights.

The interior in found to be quite accommodating, comfortable to sit in and spacious. Seats are leather which comes in different hues to match anyone’s tastes. My preference went to the brown. Volvo’s mid-dash stack is now global trademark, with its single ski slope (available in a variety of materials, including wood) floating from the dash and integrating into the centre console. The infotainment system is accompanied by 12 speakers and something called MultEQ which supposedly eliminates the distortion caused by the car’s cabin acoustics, therefore improving the sound experience quite dramatically. Because I didn’t get a chance to check it out, I will have to wait for the test car to arrive.

As stated earlier, R-Design, Volvo’s cosmetic enhancement specialist division, will offer its range of sporty kits for the entire new S60 and V60 team, starting at the end of February. That means for every V60 bought, customers can order R-Design apparel to go with it, from the baseline T3 manual right up to the T6 AWD. We have prices for R-Design but cannot publish them due to their sheer size and volume. We’ll do so at a later stage. Your nearest Volvo dealership will have them though.

While I truly admire the manner in which Volvo has pulled off a stunning look for the V60, turned it into a supermodel in a tracksuit within the small world of wagons, I can’t help but wonder if some of the practicality has been compromised as a result of it being smaller than the old 850 wagon for example. However, they must be commended for not only turning heads with something one might expect at a school mama’s chicken fete, but also the risk they are taking by introducing virtually the whole range to South Africa at a time when wagons are out of fashion and money largely out of pocket.

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Volvo V60 Pricing (including C02 emissions tax and VAT)

T3 manual (R317 700)

T4 manual (R341 900)

T4 Powershift (R359 300)

D3 manual (R362 700)

2.0 T manual (R366 000)

D3 Geartronic (R376 800)

2.0 T Powershift (R382 100)

T5 manual (R390 300)

T5 Powershift (R406 300)

D5 Geartronic (R418 300)

T6 AWD Geartronic (R474 700)