Test drive Volvo S80 2006 - 2008 sedan

All photos of Volvo S80 2006 - 2008

What to go to Riga

Country evaluation criteria are countless. Style, functionality, running qualities, the price is finally focused on their own.
Citroen C6

The prototype is represented by the public in 1999, the serial version in March 2005 at a car dealership in Geneva.
Engines: gasoline 3.0 liters (215 hp), diesel 2.7 l (208 hp).
Gearbox: 6-speed automatic. The front wheel drive.
Complete: Standart, Lignage, Exclusive.
Price in Russia: є49 90059 000 ($ 63 90074 900).

Honda Legend
The premiere of the model for the US and Japan markets took place in 2004.
Engine: gasoline 3.5 l (297 hp).
Gearbox: 5-speed automatic. A drive to all wheels.
Complex: One option.
Price in Russia: $ 69 900.

Volvo S80
The new generation is shown to the public at a car dealership in Geneva in 2006.
Engines: gasoline 2.04.4 liters (140315 hp), diesel 2.4 liters (130185 hp).
Gearboxes: 5-, 6-speed mechanical, 4-, 5-, 6-speed machines. The front drive or on all wheels.
Configurations: individual.
Price in Russia: $ 45 900 74 900.

Mercedes-Benz E
The machine modernized after four years of release appeared in the spring of 2006 at the salon in New York.
Engines: gasoline 1.86.2 l (184514 hp), diesel 2.14.0 l (136314 hp).
Gearbox: 5-speed automatic. The rear drive or on all wheels.
Complete: Classic, Elegance, Avantgarde.
Price in Russia: є43 800123 500 ($ 55 500157 000).

And what does Riga have to do with it? you ask. Be patient. It is directly related to the test in which we decided to collect new business classes: Citroen C6, Honda-Ladden, Volvo S80 and Mercedes-Benz
E-class. The company has selected motley not only by nationality, but also from a technical point of view. Since Honda is sold in a single configuration that, among other things, provides all -wheel drive, at least one of the rivals should also be all -wheel drive: we chose a Volvo. Mercedes defended the classic rear -wheel drive, and Citroen is front.

SYBARITE

You will not confuse it with any other, it is like a stigma on it: made in France. The French have always been famous for exquisite lines and beautiful design moves, whether it is clothing, architecture or cars. Citroen C6 just confirmed this again. Look at his silhouette: isn't it good? No matter what side you approach the car, you always want to slow down and consider it. Cunning eyes headlights and double chevron on the hood; huge windows behind the rear doors and glass without frames; The food that would go more like a hatchbek, and not it is interesting to the sedan in almost everything! It is a pity that is not in motion.
It is worth touching the gas pedal, as you feel the void of the steering wheel, as if in the computer simulator of the rally: feedback in the city mode is definitely not enough. The motor is very disappointed with lethargy and barely worthy of six cylinders with acceleration. Or maybe not? Why sports manners to such a dandy? Yes, he does not have powerful biceps, but the girls love him for one smile and polished boots.
The automatic machine imperceptibly sorts out six gears, noise insulation is very good, the seat allows you to take any convenient pose. Rushing about anything! Probably, it is more difficult to violate the speed limit on Citroen than on many other cars: the speed constantly looms in front of the eyes in the literal sense of the word. The French brought the speedometer projection to the windshield, so that the numbers all the time jump somewhere between the glass and the road. And here a system of control over a range of movement is also established; by means of built into the seat

she warns the driver about the intersection of the marking line. Miraculous!
Yes, and the panel of the devices for an amateur. A narrow gap behind the steering wheel is stingy with information, and attention strives to take away the screen, which came out of the middle of the panel. And under it buttons, buttons ... it’s not easy to figure it out. It is not easy to configure the seat, although there are plenty of electrical adjustments. The problem is the same specific ergonomics.
Having increased speed and glancing in the mirror, he shuddered from surprise: a small anti -winged sharply advanced from the trunk. Does the dandy have secret martial art? Unfortunately, everything ends with the spoiler, even despite the sport mode in the suspension (pneumatics also allows to reduce road clearance). If the profile of the road requires active operation of the steering wheel, and the speed moves from an impressive gait to a light coward, Citroen strives with a jack of jesting along the asphalt canvas. No, it is better to drive in a straight or slowly crawl around the city. Then (if you move to the rear sofa) you can enjoy silence in the cabin, adjusting the seat in length and expanse over your head. In a word, feel like a sibarite!
The secret of the planet Honda

The rotation of the ignition key, and a piece of our planet begins on the display with blue light, over which the Honda logo rises somewhere in the airless space. In front of the eyes of the colleums of the speedometer and tachometer, from which the same cosmically blue backlight pours; Around solid plastics, skin, thoroughbred wood. Before starting, we are trying to cope with the windows that have stolen after a cool night. First you need to press the climate button, then rotate the controller handle in search of the desired menu item and only in its bowels you will find a setting of air flows
But it is worth letting Honda into a gallop, as household nuances fade into the background. The engine waking up at high speeds sounds in moderation assertively, the machine cope with duties perfectly. He reacts with minimal deeds to Kick Dawn, and in those fractions of the second, while the box chooses a suitable gear, acceleration continues on the current one. Thus, inherent in many machines, thoughtfulness is almost not felt here.
In manual mode, you have to get used to the steering wheel switches, they just allow some kind of inertness in work. A little gazed, the arrow of the tachometer crossed into the red zone, and the car frantically twitched on a sharp limiter. But if you manually master the skills of switching, the machine allows you to drive exactly as you want.

Is it worth it to explain how important it is to know in a quick turn that the transmission will not exhuntally go up the step up? Moreover, if we are talking about Ledgens, which showed the nature of control truly outstanding for the sedan.
The multi -hearted colleague did not want to leave the Honda steering wheel, wrapping a circle around the mountain serpentines of the Dmitrovsky training ground. Ledgend strictly screwed into the turns at seemingly prohibitive speeds and instantly extinguished the skidding with a stabilization system. The secret of amazing tenacities lies in the advanced full drive SH-AWD (ZR, 2004, No. 10), transmitting to 70% of the torque to the desired axis and up to 100% of the moment, brought to the front or rear axle to the right wheel.
Our technical educational program and admiring remarks cut off the rear passenger: is it possible to slower? Yes, Honda remained true to her principles, creating a car for the driver. But it’s a sin to forget about passengers when it comes to a business class car! Despite the announced system of active noise reduction, in the Honda salon loudly. In terms of smoothness, she is also in outsiders, and on the back sofa it is simply impossible to imagine three passengers if only the average does not put his head on the shoulder of the neighbor
Combine incompatible

The finger presses the start button, a V-shaped eight breathed noisily ahead, and a slight trembling ran along the body. After a second, the salon fills the metal baritone, pressing the pedal and you are sharply pressed into the back of a cozy seat. I stop and try to understand this Volvo. It doesn’t fit in my head that an outwardly restrained car is capable of a lightning throw!
The beige salon of the Swede is elegant, but after Honda and all the more Citroen, his laconicism is borderline with boredom. If it were not for the console soaring in the air, but everything is clear, logical and simple here. A few arbitrary exercises with the keyboard, acquaintance with the Russified (!) Menu and in a minute you are already guided in everything as confidently as in your own wardrobe. Yeah, settings of the stereo system, climate, the effectiveness of the steering hydraulic power steering; Three modes of stiffness of the pendants and again I do not believe that the Swede can go quickly.
And in vain! The eight explosion under the hood takes the S80 forward so easily that it seems that she will have the strength to drag another of the same car behind her.

At the same time, the sharp metal sound at the dispersal is distinctly shifted to the right, as if the motor was squeezed and put into the glove compartment. With such a volume and power, Volvo would not lose acceleration even with an unimportant automaton, and its box works perfectly.
But on winding roads, the pace will have to be reset. First of all, because on high -speed turns, the driver falls out of a flat and slippery chair. Where Honda did not give a reason to doubt himself, with Volvo you have to be careful if the wheels are not too flat, all defects of the canvas come to the steering wheel and strive to change the trajectory besides your will. Strange, because the car was adapted for our conditions: the suspension is quite adequately responding to potholes.
As for all-wheel drive, he showed himself in Scandinavian reliably and calmly: predicted reactions allow you to control slipping, but they do not accept Honda permissiveness.
Strange turned out to be a car! Too noisy motor, too sharp behavior for a business class sedan. A difficult task is to combine incompatible.
The character is Nordic

The recently undergone modernization of the Mercedes E-class distinguish from the previous model only frantic admirers of the brand, although in fact 2000 (two thousand!) Changes were introduced into the car. All the same ovals of the headlights, a traditional radiator grill and mean rear lights. Nobody pays attention to you. You are lost in the crowd of your own kind. I am going and trying to understand: why do they love and honor this brand all over the world? Why do people overpay a lot of money? Really for the star image?
At the traffic light I look around the salon: gray leather, plastic of normal quality. Against their background, even strips of polished tree look ordinary. The seats are moderately tough. Design? No aplomb: calm scale panels, quite simple and logical (not counting a typically Mercedes steering wheel switch) controls.
The machine turned out to be the most thoughtful out of four. Supplying the lever to the left and right (or acting with steering wheel petals), you are trying to choose the right gear, but the car rolls on the same, it seems, a few more seconds! Mercedes seemed to teach: I have already achieved success and I know how to live. Do not fuss. However, this feature is noticeable only in the comfortable mode of the box, switching to sports eliminates it completely.

On the move, Mercedes gave a surprise: no one expected from him such a decent dynamics, taking into account the volume of the engine. After all, E200, albeit a compressor, despite the index, is equipped with a 1.8-liter unit! Acceleration is smooth, but with character, although not the fastest. Pedal efforts are optimal. The brakes are amazingly good: it is easy to besiege Mercedes in any situation at any speed, while he continues to obey the steering wheel.
When it reaches comparison of sled qualities, you have to make an amendment to different layouts. It is difficult to resist Honda and Volvo in the tenacities of Mercedes, although he holds well as well as well. Allowing light rolls, the e-class stably follows a given path, and when the laws of physicists prevail, the predicted absence of the rear axle develops. Returning the car to a given corridor is not any problems, since the steering wheel is accurate, and the actions of electronic systems are verified.
A good car, I would go to Riga on it, our colleague, tester Sergei Klochkov, who had traveled a path of 974 km along the Rigamoskva highway, summed up. The path where areas of very different quality alternate and a considerable concentration is required from the driver. Perhaps this assessment criterion is the most true? After all, it allows you to accurately determine which vagaries can be forgiven by the car and which are not. In our case, the least will have to ask for forgiveness to the Mercedes of the E-class.

Citroen C6 French charm on wheels. A catchy, individual, but uninteresting for a driver and too extravagant for a business class sedan.
General assessment 7.8
+ Great sound insulation, spacious rear sofa, folding rear seat.
- meager dynamics, mediocre handling, specific ergonomics.

Honda Legend Fit of High Technologies, packed in a representative body. It was created primarily for the driver to deliver the joy of driving.
General assessment 8.1
+ Excellent controllability, excellent front seats, close to the ideal, convenient acceleration control, high quality decoration, long warranty period.
- mediocre smoothness, complex menu of the on -board computer, a close rear seat.

Volvo S80 without a pronounced nature:
Restrained in everything except the engine. Even a powerful motor and all -wheel drive do not cause a desire to drive headlong.
General assessment 8.3
+ Excellent dynamics, understandable controls, Russified menu, folding rear seat.
- A noisy engine, insufficient lateral support of the seats is not very convenient to sit back.

Mercedes-Benz E is verified from and to, it is as if outside fashion, worldly fuss. Perhaps it is precisely in the goodness, predictability of most properties of the secret of his success.
General assessment 8.3
+ Excellent dynamics for small liters, a classic style, a convenient rear seat, a large trunk, high smoothness on mediocre roads, a large road clearance, intelligible handling.
- Crowned backing back, requiring the addiction, steering wheel switches, delay in the operation of the machine.