First Drive: 2011 Volvo S60

Ask yourself nearly every one American citizens what single word projects to mind once they believe up of Volvo, plus which they tend to be already doubtless to claim, “safety.” No alternative automaker has were given thus burned the security message back to our brains in comparison to Volvo has over decades of promotional and whole management. Naturally, Volvo continues to capitalize on that reputation allowing for the all-new 2011 S60, which integrates added active and passive safety systems than ever previous to, which included a groundbreaking new pedestrian-protection system.

But Volvo needed more for the recent S60, which hits U.S. dealerships in mid-September 2010. Knowing the simplest approach competitive the entry-luxury sedan market could be, Volvo wanted the S60 to be though horny because it looks sensible and as scintillating to drive as it is to appear at. Peter Horbury, Volvo’s former artwork director who came back back to Volvo persist year after a stint at parent Ford, led Volvo design in a awfully hot direction back throughout the 1990s with the S80 sedan. So, for more than solely a decade, Volvos suffer from been fine-looking vehicles, whether or no longer we’re talking sedans, wagons, SUVs, coupes, or convertibles. Less than they haven’t come back close to equaling other European brands in terms of his or her or him driving experience. Is enough to the 2011 S60 amendment that? Back reading.

Safety comes naturally, also for pedestrians.
Volvo’s all-new pedestrian-detection system is the legal a section of the $2100 Technology Package, which also contains adaptive cruise management, collision warning with full automatic braking, and warnings for maintaining distance and staying within your lane. But pedestrian detection is the distinctive offering these. Volvo’s radar- and camera-based system can detect pedestrians in front of the auto, warn the driving force if any or all one walks out into its trail – and then automatically activate the S60’s full braking power if the driving force fails to retort in previous point.

How does it work? The system uses a newly developed radar unit integrated into the S60’s grille, a camera fitted in front of the interior rearview reflect, and a central control unit. The radar’s task is to detect any object in front of the automobile and to determine the space to it whereas the camera determines what sort of object it is. Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake can steer clear of a collision together with a pedestrian at speeds up to Twenty-two mph if the driver does not react in time. At higher speeds, the principal purpose of interest is on reducing the car’s speed the maximum amount as potential prior to the impact, to lessen its severity.

In a check that Volvo decided up for united states during our first drive of the S60 in Portugal, we tend to drove at concerning 15-20 mph toward a stationary dummy, to mimic low-speed driving in a crowded urban space. “Just keep driving steadily toward the dummy,” suggested Tomas Andersson, senior manager for active safety electronics at Volvo. We did as we were instructed, and as we got closer to the dummy, the S60 sounded an urgent tone and flashed lighting at us. Simply as it appeared that the dummy’s days were over, the car took the reins up of us and slammed on the brakes. The S60 stopped in its tracks, the dummy’s life was once saved, and that we were galvanized. The radar’s field of view is about 60 degrees, but the camera’s field of view is barely about Forty-five degrees, “so the proscribing factor is the camera,” explains Andersson. “We need redundancy to carry out about that kind of harsh maneuver.” That means, both the camera and the final radar have to acknowledge the presence of a pedestrian at the identical time, communicate this knowledge with one a closer, and then take action by applying the brakes. The pedestrian-detection works up to Eighty kph (50 mph) but does not work at night or in other low-light stipulations.

The pedestrian-detection system is a follow-up to Volvo’s existing collision-avoidance systems, including City Safe, customary on the new S60, which automatically brakes the car if the driver fails to perform so once approaching another vehicle from at the back.

Volvo also offers its blind-spot detection system as a $700 stand-alone option. Curtain air luggage, seatbelt pretensioners, whiplash protection, and every one the 2nd safety systems we’ve come to be expecting from Volvo also are in play here.

At launch, standard six-cylinder and all-wheel drive.
The 2011 Volvo S60 arrives in the u. s. with only one powertrain initially, but it’s an excellent one: a turbocharged, 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder manufacturing Three hundred hp and 325 lb-ft of torque and mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is standard.

“We will introduce a more cost-effective volume engine as neatly,” says Volvo Cars of North America brand manager Frank Vacca, “and it are going to be mated to conventional front-wheel drive.” Vacca won’t confirm, but it’s very likely that this second engine, which comes on-stream in the first quarter of 2011, will be the 203-hp turbocharged direct-injection 2.0-liter four-cylinder that Volvo is offering in the S60 in Europe from launch. It likely will be mated to a dual-clutch automatic transmission. For currently, Vacca likes to indicate out that, with 325 lb-ft, the S60 has as a lot torque because the 4.4-liter V-8 in the XC90 SUV. A relative bargain

The 2011 Volvo S60 could also be a relative discount. With a base value of $38,550, the S60 includes 18-inch wheels, leather sport seats, hundreds of standard safety apparatus, and a five-year, 60,000-mile guaranty that comes with all scheduled repairs. Here is a catalogue of option packages and prices:

Premium Package - $1,500

Power glass moonroof

Power passenger seat

Dual Xenon gas discharge headlights with Active Bending Lightweight (ABL)

Climate Package - $800

Heated front seat

Heated windshield washing machine nozzles

Headlight washers

Rainsensor wipers

Interior Air Quality System (IAQS)

Multimedia Package - $2,700

Volvo Premium Multimedia Sound System with MultEQ XT by Audyssey, Dolby ProLogic II, 650 watts, Twelve premium loudspeakers

Rear park assist camera

Navigation system with genuine time traffic updates

Map Care with two complimentary navigation updates

Technology Package – $2,100

Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Queue Assist

Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake

Distance Alert

Lane Departure Warning

Single Options

Metallic paint - $550

Premium Electrical Silver paint - $675

Urbane Picket inlays - $300

Front and back Park Assist - $500

Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) - $700

Non-public Car Communicator (PCC) - $550

Touring chassis – N/C option

FOUR-C (Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept)

Active Chassis - $750

17-inch "Njord" alloy wheels - N/C option

17-inch "Njord" alloy wheels with self supporting tires - $500

SPECS

Base Price: $38,550

On Sale: September 2010

Powertrain

Engine: Turbocharged 3.0-liter DOHC 24-valve I-6

Horsepower: 300 hp @ 5600 rpm

Torque: 325 lb-ft @ 2100 rpm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Drive: All-wheel

Measurements

L x W x H: 182.2 x Seventy-three.4 x Fifty-eight.4 in

Legroom F/R: Forty-one.9/33.5 in

Headroom F/R: 38.3/37.4 in

Shipment capability 12.0 cu ft

Curb Weight: 3901 lb

Estimated EPA Rating (city/highway): 17/26 mpg