Test drive Volvo S80 2006 - 2008 sedan

Scandinavian "I"

Calm, measured life, small neat hotels, farms at a distance and fishing villages. Here, in the south of Sweden, they do not save on a comfortable rest, are given to aristocratic sports golf, tennis, and they value prestigious cars.
Overkill?
Nevertheless, even by the standards of a successful Scandinavia, this is overkilling several dozen of the latest sedans of the VOLVO S80 premium-class. A local policeman does not miss the opportunity to consider the novelty, and at the same time correctly offer the driver an alcohol tester. Say, service
Somewhere in German autobahns, I would from the bottom of the heart against the accelerator, evaluating the new engines of the eighties. On mountain serpentines, Spain would endlessly change the settings of the adaptive steering wheel amplifier and active pendants in search of optimum. Here, in a rank and strict country, no-no, at least on ordinary roads.
Therefore, at first, life in the car seems too languid. It is amazingly comfortable, excellently equipped with everything necessary, finished with natural wood, skin, thoroughbred soft plastic. In the world of comprehensive comfort, it doesn’t matter to you how many cylinders and horses in the motor, how a 6-speed automatic transmission is consistent with them, front-wheel drive here or complete. I would like to fall apart on a spacious and soft back sofa and eat the novelty as the owner.
One whole
However, in the car so many interesting things are not up to Siberity. Explains Sylvia Gulsdorf, director of the S80 project: we do not pursue the goal of filling the car with all kinds of technical news. We consider it as a whole, where high -tech solutions harmoniously interact, creating comfort and convenience in movement
Over there, the eighties of the previous generation flashed nearby. Powerful rear lights, heavy profile and this one seemed to drop off extra pounds and plays with the muscles of accurate, but more smoothed lines, clearly demonstrating the modern course of designer thought. It's all about the special bends of the body: they not only give the appearance of compactness, but also reduce the risk of injuring a pedestrian.
The S80 interior is a special aura of the driver and machine. Individual style, color scheme, quality of materials. You seem to thin in the smooth contours of the front panel, the harmony of spacious seats, a chubby steering wheel, an abundance of the functions of a truly Volovian central console. But in just a few minutes you are imbued with the logic of relations with the machine.
For example, adaptive cruise control (ACS) using the radar helps to maintain a safe distance before the car walking in front. It automatically regulates the speed of movement, if necessary, slowing down the S80. In the left corner of the front panel, the CW system projector is clearly visible (a warning about a possible collision with passing machine). At a dangerous speed of a rapprochement of the gaping driver, a sharp sound signal and a bunch of red light projected onto the windshield will excite a sharp sound signal. At the same time, the function of support for emergency braking is activated.
Are you not enough? Then pay attention to the BLIS system, which informs about machines that have fallen into the dead zone of external mirrors. Or take a walk along the central console, where there are an active chassis control buttons with Four-C technology. Well, you can complete the choice of one of the three options for the effort on the steering wheel. Although why to complete? Dick in the settings of the climatic installation, the recent -generation audio systems or the latest mobile technologies can be infinitely. There would be a desire.
Cheerful customers
It is no secret: the corporate buyer is mainly focused on relatively inexpensive, basic machines. Having offered new engines, Marquetologists Volvo expect to primarily attract connoisseurs of prestigious versions of the eighty. They are striving to seduce the capabilities of a seriously redesigned in-line six (3.2 liters, 238 hp). The original layout (attachment equipment was transferred to the back of the engine) made it possible to make the power unit very compact.
Another champion of small forms and remarkable forces of the V8 motor (4.4 liters, 315 hp) is already familiar to us on the CHC90 crossover. Now the flagship engine Volvo is also offered for the S80 in combination with the original all -wheel drive. Soon he will appear on the other eighties.
With a breeze in Swedish
It is difficult to resist constant flirting with electronic systems. I would like to change something in the settings of the car all the time, exclaiming each time: but it works great!. Nevertheless, some standard: steering wheel for maximum information, and pendants, on the contrary, in the comfort zone. This is in the best way corresponds to the conditions of movement. The chassis perfectly copes with the irregularities of the roadway and at the same time demonstrates stability in relatively fast turns. Six cylinders under the hood are barely audible reminiscent of themselves even with intense acceleration. And when you go to the cruising 110120 km/h, you even forget about the engine, it is so drowned out in your workspace. Somewhere there, behind the windshield, the weather changes, the road surface, and you are completely isolated from what is happening.
The moderately fast, conveniently painful engine is excellently agreed with a machine gun. Soft gear shift, a smooth speed set yes, everything is subordinated to his majesty comfort. Of course, if the driver changes sharply style, there is a small pause: they say, you accidentally drowned gas on the floor or really want maximum return? And then the adaptive box makes its adjustments and the S80 immediately becomes frisky, assertive, while without losing the rest.
With three hundred horses under the hood, this is another car. The masculine principle is expressed in the bassovata of the exhaust system. Here you have to constantly restrain yourself and the car in order to stay within the framework of the permitted. The pendants shaking at small irregularities are more denser. Most likely, the emerging sports is the influence of low-profile 18-inch tires as an option installed on the top version. But handling is good. The car allows you to control the nuances of behavior to the subtleties. The big sedan suddenly turned into a well -tuned and surprisingly convenient tool for expressing desires and ambitions.
By standards
The new Volvo S80 is another step towards the sophisticated consumer, this does not cause doubt. The car is not only modern and richly equipped. The asset has a traditionally solid set of security systems, assistance to the driver in braking, acceleration, and loss of stability. And they are brought to such perfection that you do not even think about their presence.
Marketers are sure of the novelty will be able to squeeze competitors and consolidate the success achieved by XC90 on the Russian market. Well, let's see, the first S80 will appear in us in September. It is planned that the most powerful version with the V8 engine will cost from $ 75,000.
TWO IN ONE
In the new six -cylinder engine (3.2 liters, 238 hp), there are a lot of technical innovations. CPS technology is designed to combine efficiency and dynamics in one motor. Fists of different profiles work depending on the traffic modes, setting a different height of lifting inlet valves. Changed gas distribution phases (VCT) allow you to get maximum return in the entire working range. To place the six across (!) Of the motor compartment, conjured over the layout of the attachment equipment. So, the steering wheel pump pump, the compressor of the air conditioner is transferred to the back of the motor. The generator equipped with a direct drive is located in the block. Thus, the engine and transmission occupy a minimum space under the hood.
Security concept
four different brands are made of steel and effectively extinguish the energy of the impact as it approaches the passenger salon. From lateral blows are designed to protect two chambers of airbags. The lower one, with high pressure, protects the hips that can withstand high loads. The upper protects the human chest.
 
Sergey Voskresensky
  
 
 

Source: The magazine "Driving"