Car Guy Magazine Car Guy Magazine Issue 215 | Page 44

WORDS Jim Sherman
So there I was in the cold pouring rain
staring at this little red wagon thinking
to myself; “Self, what a perfect day for a
fling with a Sweede”. Now don’t get me
wrong I am loyal to my daily driver, which
will remain unnamed. But this was a Volvo, the classic example of brand identification, who would ever argue against
Volvo’s safety? Ask anyone what the safest car on the road is and they are nearly
guaranteed to say Volvo. How much of
that is legendary marketing vs true statistics is really a topic for another day.
The R-Design is the sport designation for Volvo. This particular example,
the V60, is a sort of hatch but not quite
a wagon type crossbreed. Equipped
with the turbo charged I6 putting out
325/354 hp/tq through a six-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive. Definitely
has plenty of power to have some fun
with.
Off the line in the cold north Texas rain
it’s a missile. Thrust line under heavy
acceleration in low traction is almost
perfectly straight, which is not typical
to many all-wheel-drive cars. A whisper
of a roar, a couple of shifts and boom
this thing is fun. I think the best way to
describe the handling is well balanced,
this is an easy to drive sport wagon for
sure. You can toss it around, you can
drive conservative, you can sit in traffic,
this car does everything well. Brakes are
strong and it takes a lot to get them to
start to show a little fade. Each corner
was grip and go regardless of the conditions. I really love all-wheel-drive.

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Volvo and style usually don’t go hand
in hand. This one though, is an exception, well if you like wagon cars. Sweeping lines with a tapering roof line is easy
on the eyes. 19”wheels that fill the wheel
wells for a sporty look. This is where I
would typically say large brake calipers,
but while they look big, a closer look reveals that they are “normal” sized with gigantic brackets. A good healthy exhaust
note with limited road noise. If you opt
for the cross bars be ready to have an irritating symphony of sounds from them
at speed. I had to finally just pull over
and take them off even though it was
fun trying to play a tune by varying my
speed between 60-80mph.
I would have to say that the interior is
the simplest most user friendly I have
seen in a long time, typical for Volvo. The
right buttons are in the right places and
there is not a whole lot of extra frivolous
electronic things that you don’t really
need anyway. It took hardly any time at
all to sync up my phone and program
the radio.
Interior seating is well thought out.
Full sized adults can sit comfortably in
the back seats. Cargo space is versatile
with flat folding rear seats and a built-in
dog net for the furry kids. One downside
is the roof-line tapers towards the back
so you loose height in the cargo area, a
seemingly small price to pay for a less
boxy appearance. The front seats are
firm but supportive, something I could
definitely take on a 1000-mile road trip
without worrying about comfort. But