2015 Volvo S60 T5 Review

Due to a misdiagnosis on the dealer's part, my car had to go back in to the shop.  This time 'round, they gave me a 2015 S60 T5.

2015 Volvo S60 T5

Having driven it for a few days, I feel a lot more at home in this car than that monster truck XC.  Spacious interior, relatively familiar console controls, and a very smooth ride.  The steering is surprisingly responsive as well, but it's a heavy mid-sized car which can really be felt when abruptly turning or accelerating.

Fully loaded with factory options, this car also has BLIS (BLind spot Information System) and Park Assist.  The rear camera is quite a treat, especially when you want to spy on people behind you at a red light.  On the other hand, BLIS was a bit of a let down.  Its purpose is to illuminate orange warning lights when a car is driving in your blind spot. However, I found it only registers cars about half the time.  It might be a setting I have not yet discovered, but it is quite frustrating, especially with how large of a blind spot this car has.

2015 Volvo S60 Interior

Unlike the T5 engine in the XC60, it's a much better fit in the new S60.  Another 8 speed automatic makes it virtually impossible to use the geartronic shift feature, unless you like bumping the gear selector ever 400 revs.  On previous automatic Volvos, if you came off the throttle, the car would automatically up shift - if you quickly pressed the gas, it would downshift.  Lifting off the throttle does nothing for the S60.  I went to pass a truck this morning, pushed the pedal 3/4th to the floor, and the car downshifted to 4th gear.  I passed the truck at a steady 4500RPM, but coming off the gas, the car did not shift.  It continued another eighth of a mile screaming at 4500RPM.  Thinking this was a fluke, I slowed down and attempted to replicate the situation.  Once again, it maintained the high RPM until it decided it was ready to shift.  It did not matter if I was in Sport mode or Drive, the gearbox clearly has a mind of its own.

The turbo does provides necessary power when you need it, but power delivery lags a lot compared to what I'm use to.  Over the past few days, I have used this car for my 140 mile commute on mostly back roads and highways.  My euro-tuner C30 averages 29mpg on those roads, but this S60 is only getting 25mpg.  Quite a disappointment since engine and transmission technology is supposed to be improving fuel efficiency.

All in all, this car is an example of progress for Volvo; the luxury is visually apparent and the safety can clearly be felt.  I would highly recommend this car for leisurely driving around the city, but there are much better options for highway commuters.  I haven't driven the all-wheel-drive T6 S60, or an S60 with a Polestar tune, but I assume those would suffice for someone in search of a sporty sedan.  However, unless Volvo releases another platform of smaller cars, they may lose my make allegiance once I'm ready to move on from the C30.