Short Take Road Test
Volvos are safe. Everyone thinks so, anyway. Our government crashed the flagship S80 from the front, and again from the side, and awarded it the highest rating of five stars in both tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashed it and named it a "Best Pick." For 2004, Volvo's efforts on the occupant-protection front focus on luring more occupants into S80s to reverse a trend that has seen sales of the Volvo flagship fall to less than half the modest 33,549 that hit the bricks in its first full year, 1999.
As bait, the company has identified some 700 improvements and revisions to the S80, including a subtle restyling of the grille, taillamps, bumpers, and decklid, plus new chrome trim around the windows and different dash gauges. But the big draw will be this all-wheel-drive model that uses the same Haldex system that debuted on the S60 AWD (the front axle gets all the power until there's wheelspin, which turns on an electronically controlled pump that pushes fluid against clutch plates to direct up to 65 percent of the torque to the rear, depending on conditions).
Other components pulled from the S60 parts shelf include a 2.5-liter light-pressure-turbocharged five-cylinder engine (good for 208 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque) and an Aisin AW five-speed automatic transaxle. Even the rear suspension was cribbed from a Swedish-market V70 ambulance. Added to that is a bit of tuning and calibration, a longer rear driveshaft, and- voilà!-it's a new model. Ain't platform-sharing grand?
While that may sound like an engineering feat that Sven and Ole could have dashed off between breakfast lefse and lunchtime lutefisk, the polish of the finished product suggests a bit more effort was expended. The new hardware is perfectly integrated, and having driven plenty of turbocharged front-drive Volvos, we can assure you that the all-wheel drive gets used every time you mash the go pedal from a stop, especially if the steering wheel is turned. The front-drivers are quick to spin a tire, then invoke a big traction-control intervention. With Haldex at the ready, you just get smooth, uninterrupted acceleration.
Granted, acceleration is muted somewhat by the added friction and weight (about 130 pounds) of the all-wheel-drive hardware, but at 7.7 seconds to 60 mph, the 2.5T never feels lethargic. And although we haven't tested one yet, we suspect the base S80 2.9 is not much, if any, quicker. That car's unboosted inline-six gives up 14 horses and 29 pound-feet to the turbo five, and its GM Hydra-Matic tranny has only four cogs. The top-of-the-line S80 T6 is way quicker (6.3 seconds to 60 mph), but as fond as we are of that kind of accelerative force, we're generally put off by the torque steer and nonlinearity of the T6's power delivery when the turbos come online.
Those vices are utterly absent in the 2.5T AWD. This drivetrain seems to suit the character of the S80. Deep down, this is not a sports sedan. It rides comfortably, its seats are cushy, and although the 17-inch Michelin Pilots generate 0.80 g on the skidpad, the car generally doesn't encourage cornering on the door handles. For those who are bound and determined to make an S80 sporty, however, the S60R's Four-C variable-damping suspension is now available on the 2.9 and T6.
Our biggest complaint with the 2.5T concerns its engine note, which approximates that of a Shop-Vac or UPS truck. The sound isn't loud; it just isn't the least bit melodious. We also think the interior could be a bit richer-looking to play in the $40,000 league. Speaking of money, the 2.5T AWD appears to have been priced to render the S80 2.9 unsalable at its base of $37,730. For just $155 more, this car gives you more power, torque, traction, and transmission gears, plus heated seats and rain-sensing wipers. The T6 opens at $45,210. The choice inside a Volvo dealership seems like a no-brainer.
But before you get there, you'll have to decide to drive past the VW Passat W-8 4MOTION and the Audi A6 Quattro (the Jag X-type 3.0 and BMW 330xi are also in the price range, but they'll feel small to an S80 intender). We're sporty types, so the available six-speed manuals and Teutonic suspensions might reel us into the VW/Audi store. But the S80 2.5T AWD surely has what it takes to increase the ranks of Volvoisti.
