Volvo S60 And V60 Model Year 2012

14 July 2011

The all-new S60 and V60 were launched in 2010 and have already become a firm favourite with drivers, culminating in the vehicles being included among the seven finalists for the Car of the Year 2011. The four door saloon and the coupé-styled sportswagon feature Volvo's advanced safety features and its most dynamic chassis.

With handling characteristics never seen before in a Volvo, the driver-orientated dynamics allow the vehicle to be enjoyable to drive, whilst offering a commanding road presence and total predictability, no matter what road conditions it encounters. The S60 and V60 are fitted as standard with Volvo's City Safety system which can avoid low speed impacts with other vehicles up to 19mph. Additionally, both cars can be specified with the pioneering Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake which uses a mixture of radar, laser and camera technology to recognise a human over 80cm tall and will brake the vehicle automatically if it calculates an impending impact.

The all-new Volvo S60 was the most dynamic and safest Volvo ever when launched mid-2010. When the V60 joined the line-up, the future direction of design and driving dynamics could be clearly seen. The S60 benefits from a stylish coupé-like design and the V60 from a dramatic evolution of the S60 styling but with added versatility. Both are available with a choice of seven engines, from the 1.6D DRIVe, through the newly launched petrol variants and the well known diesels, up to the 304hp T6 AWD.

Those customers with either a D5 or T6 model will also soon be able to take advantage of Volvo's relationship with its motorsport partner Polestar by upgrading the engine's performance. Available later this year and priced at just £645 fully fitted, the D5 power increases from 215hp to 230hp while the T6 increase from 304hp to 329hp.

D5

Volvo's characterful D5 has been upgraded for MY12, boosted in performance and torque from 205 hp/420 Nm to 215 hp/440 Nm while at the same time reducing fuel consumption by eight per cent.

These changes mean that the fuel consumption (EU Combined) of a Volvo S60 or a V60 D5 with a manual gearbox and start/stop is now an impressive 60.1 mpg (124 g/km of CO2) and 57.6 mpg (129g/km of CO2) respectively. The corresponding figures for the automatic versions are 47.9 mpg (154 g/km of CO2) and 45.6 mpg (162 g/km of CO2).

Lowest Levels of BIK - With increased horsepower and lowered CO2 and for a premium of less than £2 a month for a 20% tax payer and £4 for a 40% tax payer, the Volvo V60 ES D5 offers an additional 31hp over the BMW Touring 320d ES. The D5 gives the highest output for a car producing under 130g/km of CO2.

For those wanting the added versatility of an all wheel drive car, the V60 can now be ordered with the D5 engine, Geartronic transmission and the additional benefit of Volvo's AWD with Instant Traction. Available in SE, SE Lux, R-Design and the newly launched Ocean Race Edition, and priced at only £1,850 above the standard D5 front wheel drive model, it represents excellent value for money.

DRIVe

Drivers wanting the highest levels of driving dynamics and class-leading safety as well as the lowest levels of emissions now have yet another choice in the Volvo range. The all-new Volvo S60 DRIVe and V60 DRIVe offer sub-120 g/km emissions from their 1.6 litre turbo diesel engines.

Fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox and start/stop technology, the S60 and V60 DRIVe cars produce just 114 g/km and 119 g/km respectively. These low CO2 producing models also deliver low fuel consumption figures of 65.7 mpg for the S60 and 62.8 mpg for the V60 (EU combined cycle).

The all-new S60 DRIVe and V60 DRIVe are available in all trim levels - ES, SE, SE Lux and the newly launched R-Design specification. The S60 DRIVe ES is available from £23,495 on-the-road while the V60 DRIVe ES commands a premium of just over £1,000, starting at £24,670.

The low CO2 emissions and starting price for the S60 DRIVe ES also means there's also good news for company car buyers looking at their Benefit In Kind payments. The S60 and V60 are both best in class, beating their German rivals. For the S60 DRIVe ES, drivers will pay just £51 a month for 20% tax payers and £53 a month for the V60 DRIVe ES.

The new 1.6 litre DRIVe engine ensures both models fall below the 120 g/km threshold, ensuring that there is no first year road tax and thereafter, only a £30 a year road tax bill - great news for retail and business users alike.

The 1.6 litre engine is fitted in a transverse configuration with four cylinders, eight valves and a turbocharger with variable turbine geometry. This all helps to give the cars a healthy power output of 115PS with 270Nm of torque while still delivering outstanding CO2 figures and low fuel consumption. To keep fuel consumption as low as possible, the cylinders are fed via a common rail system fitted with Piezo electrically controlled fuel injectors that maximize precise fuel delivery.

In order to meet the stringent Euro 5 emission regulations, the engine is fitted with a controlled exhaust gas recirculation system and combined catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter (DPF). The coating present in the DPF allows the engine to fulfill these requirements without the need for additional additives previously necessary in some variants.

Start/Stop technology (disabled via the DRIVe button on the centre console) helps to reduce fuel consumption by up to five per cent in the combined cycle by automatically switching off the engine when the vehicle is at a standstill. To ensure that interior climate and infotainment controls are unaffected by the engine stopping, there is an auxiliary battery located behind the front bumper ensuring a constant electrical supply, along with various sensors monitoring the driver settings. Due to the obvious increased number of engine starts required, a more robust starter motor has been fitted, rated to manage up to three times more starts than a standard starter motor.

To help boost economy during driving, the S60 and V60 DRIVe are fitted with Brake Energy Regeneration. This uses the car's own kinetic energy to charge the battery. Once the battery has reached 80 per cent charge, the engine management will only engage the alternator during negative torque (engine braking). Because of this, there is less energy drawn from the engine, saving up to three per cent of the car's fuel consumption.

Due to the aerodynamically clean lines of the S60 and V60, no modifications are required to the bodywork or chassis set-up to help meet the sub-120/km CO2 figure produced by both models. The DRIVe models (except R-Design and cars fitted with 18" Sleipner alloy wheels upgrade) come fitted with Michelin's Energy Saver tyre to help reduce rolling resistance.

D3 - 2.0D

The D3 with 163 hp and 400 Nm of torque was introduced in the Volvo S60 and V60 in 2010. It is, in principle, the same engine as the 2.4-litre D5 version, but with a shorter stroke that reduces displacement to 2.0 litres and only a single turbocharger.

The two-litre diesel engine's driveability is now further improved thanks to fine-tuning of the turbocharger. This is an excellent example of the fact that efficiency enhancements in modern combustion engines are now taking place at microscopic levels.

Its injection system has the same type of piezo-electric fuel injectors as the D5, but tailored for the smaller engine. The injectors reduce combustion with exceptionally quick and precise injection sequences under high pressure. The result is particularly effective combustion.

In order to give the car even better driving properties, it is fitted with a variable-geometry turbocharger.

"When comparing modern diesel engines, torque is of far greater interest than the horsepower. It is the available torque that gives the diesel the sort of acceleration and potent driveability that many petrol engines can barely match," explains Derek Crabb.

The corresponding figures for the D3 engine with manual gearbox are 57.6 mpg (129 g/km) in the S60 and 55.4 (132 g/km) in the V60, while if fitted with an automatic gearbox, the S60 returns 48.7mpg (152 g/km) and the V60 returns 47.1mpg (159g/km).

T6

Volvo's most powerful production engine to date offers refinement and power from its 3.0 litre in-line six-cylinder configuration. With the help of a twin-scroll turbocharger, it offers up an impressive 304hp with 440 Nm of torque and is coupled to a six-speed Geartronic automatic transmission. To help put the power down on the roads, the T6 is fitted with Volvo's All Wheel Drive system with Instant Traction via a Haldex coupling. This system helps increase stability and traction by automatically monitoring and adjusting the power delivery to each wheel.

Fuel consumption figures for the S60 T6 and V60 T6 is 28.5 mpg (231 g/km) and 28.5 mpg (237g/km) respectively.

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