Test drive Volvo S60 2000 - 2004 sedan

Love at first sight

Our acquaintance with the Volvo S60 T5 began with a gloomy autumn morning. The rain drizzled. Lead clouds persecuted by the cold wind were pressed to the psyche. I wanted to shoot faster - and at home. However, the mood changed dramatically as soon as the object appeared in sight. It was impossible not to fall in love with this car at first sight.
 
If the car is painted in a different color, our opinions in assessing its appearance probably would have parted. But, my God, how red goes red! Like the boys, who first saw a naked female nature, we devoured the Swedish eyes.
 
She looked really spectacular. It is very similar to the older sister of the S80, but more elegant, more elegant. A lot of epithets were spinning in my head, which could be awarded the beauty, but the flight of fantasy had to be stopped. In the end, we were going to conduct a test, and not drag the young lady in the room of a nearby hotel.
 
The interest in the upcoming work was warmed up on the trunk lid, next to the model index, a mulch T5. Wow! We got the most powerful of the sixties offered by dealers now.
 
Under her hood, on a bar, installed in a spacer between the front pillars, for the time being, as in a hammock, a 250-horsepower turbocharged motor. Such an intricate attachment to the body was invented by the Volvians to maximize the vibration transmitted by a five -cylinder engine to the body both at idle and during movement.
 
It should be noted that the sheepskin was worth the costs, since it is possible to determine whether the motor was launched or not, it is possible only at the tachometer arrow. Vibration in the cabin is practically not felt. Only a very sophisticated nature can notice it, and even then provided that at this moment an audio system will be turned off.
 
But I don’t want to stop music at all. The last time I personally heard the sound of such a quality in a friend who drove 4 thousand dollars into the equipment. And here such frequencies are issued by a regular CD magnet. Stunned. Not a car, but a Philharmonic on wheels. So they would sit, listened to the CD and did not live in warm air jets flowing from a powerful heater. By the way, its control allows you to choose the optimum temperature for the driver and for the front passenger separately. The rear passengers are not deprived of heat, but for them the choice of climate is common.
 
In general, the whole interior of the sixties is permeated with care of people. The ergonomics of the command post is delightful. Sticking up driving, you can secure very comfortable conditions for yourself. Not only does the seat settings are electric, but also the steering wheel can not only be installed at an angle that is optimal for viewing the instrument panel, but also moved or moved away. The last adjustment, by the way, is very useful, since many are annoyed by the steering wheel hanging over the acquired beer tummy.
 
The jacket removed in front of a long road or in hot weather can be hung on a hook attached to the headrest of the right front seat. On the way, it will not be difficult to extract a business card from a pocket, a wallet or a notebook.
 
A cell phone will not have to be caught from clothes. It is enough to pull out a SIM card from it and insert into the nest on the central console. After that, dial the necessary number on the keyboard located in the same place, on the console, and you are in touch. If they call you, then to answer, there is no need to remove the hands from the steering wheel. Press the button and talk in a loud -speaking mode, and the interlocutor's voice will pour from the speaker installed in the headrest near the left ear.
 
In the armrest of the front seats, a remote tube is also displayed - for lovers to be chosen. Her cord is enough to ensure the confidentiality of the conversation to the seated in any of the five seats.
 
Supporting the concept of a family car, Volvo took care of the smallest passengers. The windows of the windows can be blocked from the driver's place, so that the child does not exercise in the fishing of the wind during the long road with his hands. Well, if you still let the baby train glass, be sure that they will not harm him. Rising glass, having met the slightest resistance, will instantly drop. In addition, the armor of the back row of seats in the blink of an eye can turn into a convenient children's place equipped with a three -point belt.
 
If we were talking about belts, we note that the driver can sit in the car for a long time without fastening, even with the engine of the motor. But it is worth hitting the road, as an annoying bell will begin to act on the nerves and will not calm down until the careless ride is blessed. For a long time resisting an annoying proposal, I still fastened. This, you must admit, is better than trying on a stretch for the berets.
 
Although, as it seems to us, it is almost impossible to get serious injuries here in the case of a traffic accident, since the car is mass-equipped with six airbags, inertial belts with a preliminary and a restraint of the tension, as well as active headlines of the front seats. In addition, the front and back strength structures of the body are significantly modified.
 
Active safety is also on top. The DSTC system provides the car with excellent exchange stability in almost any situation. When necessary, the system slows down one or more wheels, prevents the enchanting of the drive wheels, makes the necessary adjustments to the operation of the ABS. Moreover, if on previous models DSTC came into effect only upon reaching 40 km/h, then on the S60 it works in the entire speed range.
 
Even 240 km/h you feel in the car calmly and peacefully. S60 so tenaciously holds the way that it seems that only an earthquake of 12 points can knock it off the true path.
 
The designers achieved this not only by the introduction of electronics, but also to the unification of the S60 with the older sister. Almost the entire suspension migrated here with the S80. Minor changes affected only levers. Hence the widest car track in the class: 1563 mm at the front wheels and 1560 in the rear. As a result, a completely equipped 1427 -kilogram machine is practically not fired in corners, does not peck with the nose during braking and does not squat on the rear axle with sharp acceleration.
 
And to go to the point on T5, believe me, you can. Only 7 seconds are needed to disperse the car to 100 km/h. The sensations are comparable to those that you experience when taking off the aircraft. It takes a breath throughout the run and releases only when the maximum speed is set.
 
By the way, only with lightning rods in space, the engine begins to listen to in the cabin. However, its baritone is so pleasant that sometimes you stomp the pedal only in order to listen to this singing.
 
True, the seven -end line will submit to you only if you learn not to confuse the programs. You may have to get used to the elasticity of the joystick towering above the central tunnel.
 
Why? Yes, because it is very difficult to catch a neutral with habit. We, brought up in the best traditions of the domestic automobile industry and know firsthand that in a neutral position, the lever should hang out like a pencil in a glass, it was not clear for a while where to look for this neutral. The curtains are short, and in almost any position the lever had the same backlash. But a little later they figured out.
 
Do not perceive the Volvo S60 T5 as a car intended exclusively for dynamic sports driving at maximum engine speeds. A high torque of 330 Nm at 2500 min-1 allows you to move in the city crowding in almost one third gear. Sometimes you get the impression that you drive a car with an automatic box, only instead of the brake pedal you need to smoothly release the clutch pedal. True, this pedal, in our opinion, has an unreasonably long move.
 
The sun that appeared for a short time revealed one feature: the cream -colored torpedo was quite clearly projected onto the windshield, sometimes interfering with a clear perception of the road situation. And the rest of the review from the driver’s place can be considered impeccable, because even in reverse maneuvering can only be performed in mirrors, but mainly in the external ones.
 
The fact is that in the sake of aerodynamics and elegance, the rear window of the S60 has too much slope. In this regard, it is almost impossible to correctly determine where the feed of the car ends, looking only in the salon mirror. During orientation, the head restraints of the back row of seats interfere, hiding the edge of the trunk from your eyes.
 
The luggage compartment of the sixties is very spacious. The volume can also be increased by folding the backs of the rear seats together or separately. If desired, the trunk is fenced off the lid of a shallow compartment for various small things. The cover is fixed in an upright position, and small bags or even a diplomat can be attached to it.
 
But to transport something large-sized will not be easy. For example, it is unlikely that you can squeeze the TV through a small opening.
 
Having rolled in a car almost a whole working day, none of us experienced even a hint of fatigue. The car is comfortable, functional and, despite its power, not so gluttonous. The display of the route computer showed a completely acceptable average and instant fuel consumption.
 
Subsequently, having counted his testimony, we found that fuel consumption coincides with the numbers declared by the manufacturer, and is 9.3 liters per 100 km with a mixed cycle. Agree, for a sports and family sedan, an acceptable appetite is quite acceptable.
 
There are more versions more. However, the savings consists not only in frugality, but also in the ability to choose the right product. Why are we? And to the fact that even the weakest of the three S60 officially supplied to Russia - with a 170 -horsepower engine - needs an average of 8.7 liters of gasoline per 100 km. So is it worth it to mean? Moreover, a person who has found 33 thousand dollars for the purchase of the cheapest sixty, as it seems to us, will easily cut another 12 thousand from his budget and take the T5 supermodification. Love, so the queen.
 
Technical characteristics Volvo S60 T5
 
Body - 4 -door supporting
Number of places, people. - 5
Equipped mass, kg - 1427
Dimensions (length/width/height), mm - 4580/1800/1430
Base, mm - 2720
Maximum speed, km/h - 250
Acceleration time to 100 km/h, s - 6.8
Control consumption of fuel, l/100 km (mixed cycle) - 9.3
Engine:
- Type - 5 -cylinder, in order
- working volume, cm3 - 2319
- Power, L.S. at MIN -1 - 250/5200
- torque, NM at min -1 - 330/2500
- power supply - distributed injection
Transmission - 5 -speed, mechanical.
Tire size - 225/45R17
Wheel suspension:
- Front - Mcphereson
- rear - multi -link
Brakes:
- front - disk, ventilated
- rear - disk
Steering - with a hydraulic wrap
Price, $ - 45000
 
Text: Oleg Kalaushin
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [12/2000]