Volvo's pricey S80 not a masterpiece, but a big step forward
a007apl
01-15-2002, 10:11 AM
One thing was certain, the Volvo did not look like a Volvo. On that, everyone agreed.
They also agreed that the demise of the utilitarian box look was a good thing.
Volvo, which Ford Motor Co. recently bought, has been remaking its lineup for a couple of years. Last year, it introduced a slinky coupe and prior to that a front-wheel-drive, entry-level sedan, the S70.
Now comes the S80, the largest Volvo and also front-wheel-drive. It replaces the S90 sedan and V90 wagon. While the grille is still recognizably a Volvo, the designers have sculpted a handsome nose and tail with low fenders and raised hood and trunk lines, plus large, interestingly shaped tail lights.
While the look goes a long way to making the S80 more appealing than its predecessor, Volvo had a ways to go to make the entire package more enticing. Mostly it has succeeded.
The S80 is a heavy luxury car. At 3,682 pounds, it weighs slightly less than most minivans and about the same as an Acura RL or Audi A8.
That heft gives the car a solid quality feel and makes for an incredibly quiet interior. But it takes power to move such weight.
Volvo offers up a 201-horsepower, 2.9-liter, in-line six-cylinder engine. It's a strong engine that smoothly moves the car up to highway speeds. There is, however, some lag in acceleration at slower speeds, such as when pulling away from stoplights, plus some high-pitched engine whine.
Volvo's four-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly though and offers a push-button that puts the car in winter or wet mode to help cut wheel spin upon acceleration.
In addition, the four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes are excellent.
Handling and ride also are quite good. The S80 has a heavy feel that carries over to its firm steering effort. Ride is smooth and controlled. The increasingly large pot holes along the freeway are only slight annoyances instead of their usual shocking jolt.
Gas mileage is good for a heavy cruiser, too. I managed 25.1 miles per gallon in a strictly highway drive and 23.8 mpg in about a 70% highway drive. The car's trip computer put the figure for the 70% highway driving at 23.2. The EPA says to expect 19 mpg city and 27 highway.
Inside, the S80 had a modern oatmeal-colored leather interior with a fairly attractive dash and good seats. There still is a bit of angularity to the dash top, but much better than the harsh square lines of past Volvos.
The seats provided good support and had eight-way power adjustments to ensure a good driving position. Some people with wide tushies may find the seat pocket a bit narrow.
But there is plenty of head and legroom front and rear, although the car is best suited to four adults. A luncheon trip with five adult males produced a number of complaints from the rear seat about hip room. And despite the passengers' middle-agedness (the right demographic for Volvo), they were not all that wide in the hips.
While there were a lot of gadgets and goodies inside, the S80 has a number of overly complicated features.
The radio is one of the more difficult to figure out. Instead of a series of channel buttons there are a couple of knobs, one for selecting the radio band or CD player, the other for selecting channels. You press one to program in the channels. It takes a while to master, but why fix something that isn't broken?
I also did not care for the oddly marked cruise control buttons on the steering wheel hub. I had to read the owner's manual to figure those out. Again, most are so simple in other cars that you'd never need a manual.
Luckily, Volvo offers some simple functions too, including the computer and climate control systems. The computer is operated by turning a ring on a stalk to the left of the steering wheel. There's even an off position if you don't need mpg figures constantly being updated.
The climate control works easily and is a dual-zone model, meaning the two front-seat passengers can coax varying degrees of hot and cool from their own vents. Volvo also has built in large air vents for the rear seat in the pillar behind the front door. That gives rear-seat folks more air than most systems.
Other basics include a storage box between the front seats. It has two levels to hold CD cases (the CD player will hold four discs) and the second offers a flat surface for writing notes. I'd move the box forward a bit, though. For short drivers with the seat up a ways, the box is a slight reach backward.
There is one cute pop-up cup holder between the seats, too, and one covered cup holder.
The rear seat also has a fold-down arm rest with two cup holders inside.
Volvo continues to be a leader in safety, with not only front and side air bags, but what it calls an Inflation Curtain. It inflates along the roofline in a side-impact crash to protect occupants' heads. The S80 also has the Whiplash Protection System with seats designed to minimize whiplash in a rear-end collision.
My chameleon-colored, silver-tan test car was the base S80, starting at a luxury price of $35,820. But it added the leather seats, sun roof, fancy CD player and a few other options to push the price to $40,075. That's pricey enough that I'd expect a less whinny engine. Still, the S80 is a big improvement from past Volvos.
Note, too, there's a T-6 version that adds a 268-horsepower turbocharged engine, if you have a need for speed. That will run you $40,385 for starters.
They also agreed that the demise of the utilitarian box look was a good thing.
Volvo, which Ford Motor Co. recently bought, has been remaking its lineup for a couple of years. Last year, it introduced a slinky coupe and prior to that a front-wheel-drive, entry-level sedan, the S70.
Now comes the S80, the largest Volvo and also front-wheel-drive. It replaces the S90 sedan and V90 wagon. While the grille is still recognizably a Volvo, the designers have sculpted a handsome nose and tail with low fenders and raised hood and trunk lines, plus large, interestingly shaped tail lights.
While the look goes a long way to making the S80 more appealing than its predecessor, Volvo had a ways to go to make the entire package more enticing. Mostly it has succeeded.
The S80 is a heavy luxury car. At 3,682 pounds, it weighs slightly less than most minivans and about the same as an Acura RL or Audi A8.
That heft gives the car a solid quality feel and makes for an incredibly quiet interior. But it takes power to move such weight.
Volvo offers up a 201-horsepower, 2.9-liter, in-line six-cylinder engine. It's a strong engine that smoothly moves the car up to highway speeds. There is, however, some lag in acceleration at slower speeds, such as when pulling away from stoplights, plus some high-pitched engine whine.
Volvo's four-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly though and offers a push-button that puts the car in winter or wet mode to help cut wheel spin upon acceleration.
In addition, the four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes are excellent.
Handling and ride also are quite good. The S80 has a heavy feel that carries over to its firm steering effort. Ride is smooth and controlled. The increasingly large pot holes along the freeway are only slight annoyances instead of their usual shocking jolt.
Gas mileage is good for a heavy cruiser, too. I managed 25.1 miles per gallon in a strictly highway drive and 23.8 mpg in about a 70% highway drive. The car's trip computer put the figure for the 70% highway driving at 23.2. The EPA says to expect 19 mpg city and 27 highway.
Inside, the S80 had a modern oatmeal-colored leather interior with a fairly attractive dash and good seats. There still is a bit of angularity to the dash top, but much better than the harsh square lines of past Volvos.
The seats provided good support and had eight-way power adjustments to ensure a good driving position. Some people with wide tushies may find the seat pocket a bit narrow.
But there is plenty of head and legroom front and rear, although the car is best suited to four adults. A luncheon trip with five adult males produced a number of complaints from the rear seat about hip room. And despite the passengers' middle-agedness (the right demographic for Volvo), they were not all that wide in the hips.
While there were a lot of gadgets and goodies inside, the S80 has a number of overly complicated features.
The radio is one of the more difficult to figure out. Instead of a series of channel buttons there are a couple of knobs, one for selecting the radio band or CD player, the other for selecting channels. You press one to program in the channels. It takes a while to master, but why fix something that isn't broken?
I also did not care for the oddly marked cruise control buttons on the steering wheel hub. I had to read the owner's manual to figure those out. Again, most are so simple in other cars that you'd never need a manual.
Luckily, Volvo offers some simple functions too, including the computer and climate control systems. The computer is operated by turning a ring on a stalk to the left of the steering wheel. There's even an off position if you don't need mpg figures constantly being updated.
The climate control works easily and is a dual-zone model, meaning the two front-seat passengers can coax varying degrees of hot and cool from their own vents. Volvo also has built in large air vents for the rear seat in the pillar behind the front door. That gives rear-seat folks more air than most systems.
Other basics include a storage box between the front seats. It has two levels to hold CD cases (the CD player will hold four discs) and the second offers a flat surface for writing notes. I'd move the box forward a bit, though. For short drivers with the seat up a ways, the box is a slight reach backward.
There is one cute pop-up cup holder between the seats, too, and one covered cup holder.
The rear seat also has a fold-down arm rest with two cup holders inside.
Volvo continues to be a leader in safety, with not only front and side air bags, but what it calls an Inflation Curtain. It inflates along the roofline in a side-impact crash to protect occupants' heads. The S80 also has the Whiplash Protection System with seats designed to minimize whiplash in a rear-end collision.
My chameleon-colored, silver-tan test car was the base S80, starting at a luxury price of $35,820. But it added the leather seats, sun roof, fancy CD player and a few other options to push the price to $40,075. That's pricey enough that I'd expect a less whinny engine. Still, the S80 is a big improvement from past Volvos.
Note, too, there's a T-6 version that adds a 268-horsepower turbocharged engine, if you have a need for speed. That will run you $40,385 for starters.
thaa
01-22-2002, 08:13 AM
the T6 has twin turbos. awesome car to drive... my friends grandfather(!) bought one at the age of 80! fully loaded - all options... how cool isn't he? :)
edonis
05-27-2003, 01:27 PM
I hope your not comparing the S80 to the A8??!?!? The S80 is the size of the Saab 9-5 and priced accordingly.. maybe a little more expensive, if im not wrong.
NSX-R-SSJ20K
06-17-2003, 01:07 PM
Audi A6 then ?
sonofabisket404
06-17-2004, 01:02 PM
yea, the s80 is a better comparison to the audi a6, I was thinking about going Audi, but it seems where I work everyone has an a6
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