[civ4647]

Volvo S60 T6 Rebel Blue with Black interior

No. of kms at time of writing the initial review: [1600kms]

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Hello Everyone,

First off the format for this review is heavily borrowed from Axe77's review of his BMW 3 GT.

A little bit of background information on the thought process and current cars in the garage:

My family is pretty small. Just 3 people. Me and my parents. Mom does not drive. Dad drives maybe about 10 kms a day max. And he prefers petrol cars. Most of my driving is in the city. and I drive around 20-25kms a day. On some days none of the cars go out. Our house and office are in the same building.

Some of you might remember that i had a slightly modded Honda Civic earlier (2007 to 2010). (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...n-civic-4.html). Back in 2010 i moved to Dubai for work and sold the car. As my father also did not spend more than 3 months a year in India, we decided we did not need more than one car. So selling off the Civic left us with our 2010 White Swift Dzire which was in turn sold when Ford Came out with the Ecosport. 2013 i was the proud owner of a White Ecoboost Ecosport Titanium. With the low running we had petrol made more sense and I was happy with the car. But the itch to have a slightly more powerful car was still there. I currently own a 2012 Ford Taurus in Dubai with a 3.5 V6 putting out 288HP and everytime i came back to india that itch would resurface. Honda had finally launched their Earth Dreams 1.5 iDtec City and being a Honda lover we picked up a 2014 Honda City SV iDtec. The car was a lot of fun in the city with its low speed responsiveness and everybody in the family loved the back seat. It was the perfect city car. But the itch to pick up a powerful car was always there at the back of my mind.

Currently Visakhapatnam has only two luxury car showrooms, mainly Audi and Volvo. But with people in my friends group owning various cars I have been able to extensively drive most of the cars which were under consideration.

REQUIREMENTS:

- Had to be below 50 Lakh.
- Preferably Petrol. or an extremely good diesel. Our cars generally run a maximum of 7k kms a year.
- Front seats had to be good. Back seat comfort was not a high priority.
- Had to have a local service centre.
- Be reasonably reliable. (We generally don't abuse our cars) our cars generally never do long trips. Mostly city use.
- Have decent handling and ride quality.


1. OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

Audi:

None of the VAG group cars were considered. I have heard quite a few complaints from friends about service. The A6 was considered for a bit. I like the look of the current Matrix A6. But ultimately discarded. The only VAG product i might buy comes with only two wheels. Ducati guy here. Maybe someday. I really liked the S5. Test drove the car in Dubai. and drove the S4 in india when I was invited for the Audi sportscar experience. But at 73 on-road I was not too keen on it.

Mercedes:

The C Class:

The new C currently is one of my favourite cars. I love the Mini S styling. On the inside it feels the best in class. I was able to drive both the petrol and the diesel. Decent to drive. But nothing extraordinary. The pricing fell within my bracket. and my folks are a bit old fashioned. They still feel Mercedes is the end all of all cars. So the petrol C was brought in for a test drive. Dad liked it. The car really makes you feel special. Talk to the sales rep about service and he tells us that they have a service centre in Vizag. Thats great. And then he drops a bomb saying that service is carried out in Mahavir Auto. Which is the authorised SKODA service centre. Thats it. That was the end of discussion. No way i was going to send my 50 odd lakh car to be serviced in a service centre which i had bad experiences with. The C was discarded. Sad. Because this was a car which would have kept both me and my Dad happy.

The E Class:

Same reason. Service centre was not what i wanted to deal with.

BMW:

BMW does not have a showroom or A.S.C in Vizag. But all of my friends who own BMW's have very good things to say about the service. The tech comes down to do all the services. only the major services had to be done in the A.S.C
A compromise, But one i was willing to take to have the Ultimate Driving Machine in my garage.

The 328i:

This was the car which i wanted. Since the showroom could not arrange a TD for me, i actually took my dad to the BMW showroom in Dubai and made him TD the car there. while he complained about the low seat position he was fine because i was happy. Now i was away in Dubai for 5 months. I come back and call up the showroom and the Sales rep gives me a shock. The 328i had been discontinued in india. Why BMW, Why???? With a heavy heart i looked towards the diesels.

The 320D:

A close friend owns a red 320D Sportline. The car was good. On an average day it would keep me satisfied. But after driving the 328i, i just could not bring myself to settle for this and go through the service hassle of waiting for the tech to come down. It just wasn't exciting enough for me. But the car was being offered with heavy discounts. So it was still in contention.

The 3 GT:

The 3 GT which i drove owned by another friend was a black with beige interiors. It was a luxury line i guess. It still was not exciting enough, But here was maybe the most practical car in the class. It was ultra comfortable. Had good ground clearance. Vizag has a lot of speed breakers. The rear looked a little odd to me, But it wasn't something i could not live with. Driving the 3 and 3 GT back to back, I could make out the slight difference in handling, The GT felt a little loose. But it wasn't a deal breaker. So the 3 GT was also added to the final list.

The 520D:

With the discounts being offered on the 5 it too was considered. It would have been a step-up in class. I really like the look of the current 5. The 530D with the M-Sport kit would have been awesome, But way out of the budget i was planning for.

Out of the 3 BMW's considered The GT was at the top of the list. If i could not have the engine i wanted, i would atleast have the comfort.

Volvo:

No volvo's were initially considered as i never felt that they compared favourably to the german trio. and the diesels were a bit of a disappointment.

(Continued...)

[civ4647]

What I Like

- Performance. The Supercharger and Turbo combo really makes the car fun to drive. I was an NA guy. But after the Ecoboost Ecosport and now this I am slowly moving to the Dark Side.
- Not the Ultimate driving machine. But i feel its better than the other cars i had on the list, other than the 328i
- Aisin 8 speed gearbox is pretty good.
- Superb ride quality.
- Black interiors are really nice.
- The front seats are superb.
- Local Service Centre.
- Comes fully loaded with pretty much everything.
- Tires are regular and not RFT. and all new Volvos come with the spare donut now.
- Exclusivity. As of now the Vizag showroom is serving the whole of the newly divided Andhra Pradesh state. This is the only Rebel Blue S60 T6 in the entire state.
- The colour turns heads wherever it goes.

What I dislike:

- Front Wheel Drive. My biggest disappointment.
- No Manual Handbrake.
- Lack of a spare wheel in a proper wheel well.
- Rear seat space. While not a problem for me personally, still would be nice to have more space.
- The paint is very soft. Already see swirls even after being very careful.
- Disappointed with the missing side window blinds.
- The centre console and interface feel a bit dated.
- Auto Park does not come with the car. I was told that it can be installed, but at a price of approx 2 lakhs.

How Volvo came into the picture:

As i had never considered Volvo's i did not even bother to visit the showroom. But a couple of friends had Volvo's. One was a Black V40 Diesel Cross Country and the other was a White XC60 D4. As luck would have it the sales rep who sold them the cars met them one day when we were all together. This guy was the same person who was there when i had bought my Civic. and he knew all about my love for petrol cars.
Fast Forward two months and i read about Volvo re-launching the S60 T6 on Team BHP. I called up the sales rep to enquire about the car and he said they would be getting one car in Rebel blue and he would inform me once the car arrived at the showroom. I started doing a bit of research online and while the FWD part was a bit of a letdown, I still was looking forward to seeing it as i had never seen the Rebel Blue shade in person, nor had I driven the old AWD T6. The day i got the call that the car was in the showroom was the day before i had to go back to dubai. So i went to see it.

The car in that colour stands out a lot. The S60 while is not breathtakingly beautiful, In that colour the car looks amazing. Its not something everyone will love, but it sure turns heads. Since i was leaving the next day, there was no way i could decide anything and put the process on hold. I was in Dubai for 6 months and all throughout i was in touch with the sales rep. Turns out I was one of 3 people who showed interest in the car. I watched every single video review i could of that engine on youtube. As that specific engine was not available in dubai i couldn't TD it.

December came and i was back in India, and luckily dad was also here. So i convinced him to come to the showroom. He was a little apprehensive of the colour. it was too loud for his taste. But he said he would be okay with the colour if the car was comfortable enough. So we took a TD of a S60 D5 inscription. and luckily turned out that he loved the seats. And the fact that there was a service centre in Vizag and that it got good reviews from friends went a long way in convincing him. We started the formalities and December 16th was decided as the delivery date by my mother.

Price:

The On-Road price for the car was quoted at 52.7 including Zero-Dep end to end insurance.

We knew the car was not going anywhere. It had sat in the showroom for almost 5 months. Spoke to the Sales rep and told him I would take the car only if I could get atleast a 10% discount. After talking to his superior, the price was brought down to 50. On enquiring we found out that Volvo was not offering any service packages on the car. No service packages and 50 on-road wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Pushed for more and finally brought it down to 48 on-road.
The rest of the process went very smoothly. We took delivery of the car on the morning of the 16th. Straight to the temple for puja and then home.

(Driving and other experiences coming up...)

[civ4647]

About the car:

The S60 (Current and Pre-facelift) i feel always had a good shape. But the colour is a head turner. It is bluer than the bluest blue u can imagine
My friends have decided to name it the Smurf Monster


Engine, Gearbox, Braking and Suspension:

Engine:

The 2015.5 update for the S60 T6 is a new engine. The old one was a 3.0L inline-6 Turbo petrol AWD. To be completely honest this is the car i would have preferred. But Volvo in their infinite wisdom have decided to discontinue it in India. The new engine is a 2.0L inline-4 Supercharged AND Turbocharged petrol driving only the front wheels. The end result is 302HP and 400NM of torque. While the FWD results in some torque steer in certain conditions if not careful, it does plaster a smile on your face. This car can reach some silly speeds before u realise it. The engine noise is pretty well controlled and gives you a false sense of speed. The exhaust note is faintly audible in the cabin and only at Wide Open Throttle it gets pretty vocal. Looking at aftermarket options for the exhaust. Heico I believe makes one for this motor.

The highlight of the car is the Supercharger/Turbo combo. The Supercharger gives the car instant boost till approx. about 3500RPM while allowing the turbo to spool up and take over. The transition is pretty much seamless. And the car pulls almost linearly all the way to redline.
The way the engine delivers power has to be felt. I always loved High revving NA motors mated to manual gearboxes. But in ever increasing traffic conditions, automatics and FI engines are starting to make more sense.

Gearbox:

The gearbox is the new Aisin 8-speed. While its not as fast as the ZF 8-speed in the BMW's, its pretty good. The shifts are fast and smooth. The only negative point is that the gearbox does not hold a gear even when using the paddle shifters. But i have been told this can be remedied with the Polestar remap. The Box in normal D mode is smooth and nice enough for everyday driving. Shifts are seamless. No jerking around. Push the accelerator and it does hesitate for a second before jumping down, sometimes even 2-3 gears. In Sport mode it always runs in a lower gear and it always feels like the car is ready for any sudden acceleration. Shifts in sport at redline are more defined. and it feels much closer to the experience the ZF gives. Closer, but still not as good.

Braking and Suspension:

The car comes equipped with 18" wheels running 235/40/18 Continental tires. I believe they are the same size as on the S60 D5. The grip from the tires is pretty good, but i felt the road noise from them is on the higher side. The braking is one area where i feel Volvo could do better. While the brakes feel good enough on the D5, On this T6 i felt they were inadequate. They are not unsafe. But they are not exactly confidence inspiring. I am still trying to see if i can find any solution for this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The biggest surprise for me was the Handling and Ride quality. The handling while not on the same level as a BMW 3, i felt it handled atleast as good as a 3GT. The steering feedback though is non existent. While the system offers settings for changing steering responsiveness, it does not make much of a difference. The ride quality on the other hand was superb. I expected the 18's to be a cause for concern. Vizag roads aren't exactly the best and we have a lot of speed breakers too. But the car is very good at absorbing small to medium potholes and imperfections. And surprisingly it has not scraped anywhere except for one speed breaker and that too on a full load of 5 people. I have two friends who are prone to mild motion sickness and neither of them have complained till now.

(Continued....)

A few edits and a pic when i took the car along for a ride with the V Superbikers (Vizag Superbikers) group.

[civ4647]

Interiors:

Display and Centre Console:

Volvo's Floating console looks good. But in the company of the new Mercedes C, The S60 interior feels a bit dated. and the in-car system while performing flawlessly, also feels old. The interiors definetly feel well put together. But they certainly don't feel special. Everything is very well laid out. and storage spaces are decent enough. The storage space behind the floating console is very useful.

The Driver Console on the other hand feels amazing. The different selectable themes are a nice touch and the everything feels crisp. The centre console also changes color according to the theme selected for the main display. In the Performance theme The display chages to a proper analog style tacho with a digital speed display in the center. The Eco mode changes everything to green showing an efficiency meter on the left side display. I found this display to be a little confusing. I find the eco meters on the Honda city and ecosport to be more practical. And when you want everything else to take a back seat and just drive peacefully with no distracting colors, there is Elegance. Elegance mode switches everything to a soothing Black with slight white and red accents.

The seats:

Ahh the seats. Those awesome luxurious front seats. They are one of the best seats i have sat in. They support you so well. Full marks on the front seats. The T6 comes with the R-Design's seats which look sportier and feel like they offer more support. They do not however have the same stitching as the R-Design seats. While the Rear seats are also similarly comfortable, the space in the rear is average at best. I am one of those people who puts his seat back and that does cramp things a bit. The interiors which came with the T6 are all black with silver aluminium accents. Even the headliner is black and is looks gorgeous. I saw a white D5 with Brown Leather seats and that was simply stunning. Wish that was available on this car, But then again it might not have looked good with the Rebel Blue. Anyway i am very happy with the Black interiors.

I am unable to post any good pics of the interiors. All the interior pics were taken with a phone.

Audio:

The audio feels strictly average. Volvo does not offer the Harman Kardon speaker system on the T6. It comes with the Volvo Premium System which is ok. Nothing as good as the Harman Kardon on the R-Design S60 or the amazing Bowers & Wilkins on the XC90. The driver armrest houses the USB port and the AUX port for the audio system. I have an iPod Touch 64gb hooked up, and it plays everything flawlessly. But the system did have trouble playing songs from my 160gb iPod Classic. It kept freezing randomly.

Fuel Efficiency:

Talking about Fuel Efficiency in a car which put out 300HP is funny. But this is supposed to be a daily driver and Volvo does call its new engines Drive-E and they are supposed to be fairly fuel efficient. Keeping an eye on the real time display throws up some really crazy numbers.
Throttle pinned to the floor in Sport mode shows 2.8 kmpl But with regular driving the car has been showing an average of 7.5 - 8 kmpl.
Please take into account that Vizag has relatively light traffic. Its the constant slowing down for speed breakers which creates a problem. The 1 or 2 trips on the highway have yielded numbers of 10-11 and 12-13 with eco+ switched on and a very light foot. But I doubt that is achievable consistently.

Overall I am satisfied taking into consideration the performance the car offers.

Well thats all for now people. Feel free to ask me anything regarding the car or the entire experience.

I shall keep updating this thread as an when the services are done and report on the A.S.S experience, Cost of maintenance, Future mods and more pics too once i am back in the country.

The Polestar Remap is being considered and i shall get this done after the first service. Shall update when its done.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[arvi86]

Congratulations civ4647! You've got a beauty there. I must also appreciate you for choosing to be different. Not many choose the blue you did.

Wishing you many years and thousands of miles of happy ownership with the S60!

[sidparekh]

Congrats civ4647
That rebel blue shade certainly is gorgeous. Loved the way you put in your decision process in the beginning. A very well-thought out choice I must say.

The first picture from the Superbikes set belongs in their brochure

Looking at this car, now I have a new garage goal. Someday I shall have my own Rebel Blue, although in a much humbler avatar as the V40 R-design with a Polestar remap. Ok, maybe the next gen, when it's updated with the E-drive engines and Sensus systems.

P.S. I see what you did there, in the first interior pic.

[reignofchaos]

Beautiful car! Looks amazing in that shade of blue. I have a red V40cc T4. Welcome to the club.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by civ4647

Volvo S60 T6 Rebel Blue with Black interior

No. of kms at time of writing the initial review: [1600kms]

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Congrats civ4647 on your latest acquisition and she looks almost divine buddy

I had always wanted this race blue colour from the moment I saw it on Laura VRS. But boy this shade goes one up and is a stonker to say the least

Wish you a happy and safe motoring, albeit blistering drives.

[civ4647]

Thanks a lot everyone.

@sidparekh - I wish they had given the Volvo sensus app connectivity for this car. the remote start would be very useful on extra hot days. and I haven't seen the V40 in Rebel Blue live. But in pictures it looks amazing.

@arvi86 - The car was more of a want than a need. A fun to drive good looking car. So had the option of going for that color. But its a Love it or Hate it color. Its not something everyone will like.

[fiat_tarun]

Congrats on the S60. My most enjoyable drive till date has been in an Audi S4 with that beautiful Supercharged engine. I can only imagine how this will drive with a Super + Turbo combination !

A higer rated version of this engine has been awarded the best engine for 2016 by Wards Auto - http://wardsauto.com/10-best-engines...l-turbosuper-4

Wish you a wonderful ownership and yes - nice colour choice !

[civ4647]

@fiat_tarun - Thanks. And regarding the S4/S5, I feel that it is a better engine/car package than the FWD S60 T6. I was able to drive the S4 at an Audi Sportscar experience and I loved it. If Audi's service was better I would have maybe stretched to get the S5. The grip from that Quattro system was simply superb.

[StallionAmit]

Congrtatulations man!! Awesome looking car, how is the ground clearance, is the underbody protected?

[Enobarbus]

Congratulations civ4647, the review was great. The car looks absolutely smashing. I like the indicators, they look rather cool.

[W.A.G.7]

Wow! Another Volvo! Congrats, that blue colour looks really nice. Not many people would choose the Volvo to buy a car, but then apart from anything else, I am always impressed by the safety equipment they offer in their cars. Enjoy your ride and keep updating the thread. What safety features apart from airbags are there in the car?

Do you have any plans for upgrading the ICE, since you have mentioned that the current system is average?