An identity crisis is always a difficult ordeal to go through. Defined by Wikipedia as: “the failure to achieve ego identity during adolescence”, Volvo is searching for itself. However, we are far beyond the adolescent days of this renowned Swedish brand which was officially founded in 1927.
In fact, Volvo quickly established its “ego identity” as early as the forties as being one of the safety feature leaders of the automotive world. This safety obsession became a calling card for the company and, as it became popular or cool to be safe, Volvo ranked high amongst safety-conscious consumers. Those were good times. These days, every carmaker, large and small, is big on the “s-word” with, for example, subcompacts now offering up to 10 airbags, ABS brakes, stability and traction control as standard equipment.
To continue to strive and make a name for itself, Volvo recently came up with City Safety, which automatically stops the car at speeds below 31 km/h, and Pedestrian Detection. Somehow, these new gadgets have “failed” to capture the imagination of the pseudo-luxury car buying public. Having noticed this a few years back as sales were declining, Volvo decidedly worked out a new plan: make safety sexy.
Enter the new Naughty-for-2011 S60. Let me preface this review with the fact that Volvo has tried to make their cars sexy on a few occasions, with mixed results. First came the 850 T-5 R although, if you did not know it was an R, you could scantily ever have guessed it was special. A generation later, the S60 R and V70 R. Once again, if you missed noticing the alloys and twin pipes, you would have never guessed it was a 300-hp, AWD performance car.
Having learned these lessons, Volvo made a one-and-the-same car out of safety and performance. If you've paid any mind to Volvo's advertising efforts, you'll surely have noticed that there is as much emphasis put on the car's styling as there is on the S60's safety aspects. Is the car worth the attention?
In person, the S60 is immediately recognizable as a Volvo. Its profiled shape, low snub-nose and rising beltline tie the car into the dynamic-looking C30 and C70. Large aggressive headlamps which climb half-way up the hood and fender give the front end a cosmetically stretched look that makes the car seem as though it is going fast even when stationary.
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| If the S60 was an Audi or a BMW, it would sell, because it is good enough. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |
In fact, Volvo quickly established its “ego identity” as early as the forties as being one of the safety feature leaders of the automotive world. This safety obsession became a calling card for the company and, as it became popular or cool to be safe, Volvo ranked high amongst safety-conscious consumers. Those were good times. These days, every carmaker, large and small, is big on the “s-word” with, for example, subcompacts now offering up to 10 airbags, ABS brakes, stability and traction control as standard equipment.
To continue to strive and make a name for itself, Volvo recently came up with City Safety, which automatically stops the car at speeds below 31 km/h, and Pedestrian Detection. Somehow, these new gadgets have “failed” to capture the imagination of the pseudo-luxury car buying public. Having noticed this a few years back as sales were declining, Volvo decidedly worked out a new plan: make safety sexy.
Enter the new Naughty-for-2011 S60. Let me preface this review with the fact that Volvo has tried to make their cars sexy on a few occasions, with mixed results. First came the 850 T-5 R although, if you did not know it was an R, you could scantily ever have guessed it was special. A generation later, the S60 R and V70 R. Once again, if you missed noticing the alloys and twin pipes, you would have never guessed it was a 300-hp, AWD performance car.
Having learned these lessons, Volvo made a one-and-the-same car out of safety and performance. If you've paid any mind to Volvo's advertising efforts, you'll surely have noticed that there is as much emphasis put on the car's styling as there is on the S60's safety aspects. Is the car worth the attention?
In person, the S60 is immediately recognizable as a Volvo. Its profiled shape, low snub-nose and rising beltline tie the car into the dynamic-looking C30 and C70. Large aggressive headlamps which climb half-way up the hood and fender give the front end a cosmetically stretched look that makes the car seem as though it is going fast even when stationary.
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| Having learned these lessons, Volvo made a one-and-the-same car out of safety and performance. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |