Volvo S80 2.5T
To gaze at some executive large saloons is to imagine that needing a big car is a little like winning the technological warfare arms-race.
So many buttons for so many features. From unintelligible park-itself technology to cooling and massaging lounge suites.
Enough buttons to create the inevitable I-drive, not so much to simply feature but to hide them. A race with one winner, the guys who inevitably make money fixing, I mean replacing them. Gizmos up the gazooka. Stuff that you will never realise is even there, let alone find. As gadgets begin to abound, and feature creep really begins to set in, one wonders what the alternative would be like?
Understated, simple replaces bling. Masculine, quiet spoken and in a decent suit, replaces gold chains and flash around neck. Has the age of silicone enhancement reached it's zenith? There will be a few more gadgets to come, with the online car a reality. Google auto is around the cyber-corner.
I certainly can’t see anyone adding chromed wheels to this one. So to the car itself. WYSIWYG in the best way. Austere and good looking. Think well-fitted suit over taut muscles. No Steroid popper, just sporty, well built and successful.
A bit of a bargain amongst the large sedans at just over 420k for the standard model. Ticking too many options will send it over into expensive. But stop and consider…
Active bendy lights that pretend to go around corners are passé and not that effective, b i g g e r wh e e l s a r e l e s s comfortable. The interior works, the sound system is good. Buy it standard, add the Garmin integration for a few hundred bucks and pop a Makro special on it.
Do that and only some of the amazing safety options would ever be really and truly missed. It is already a comfortable leather cosseted, climate controlled place to spend hours in traffic.
Volvo does have incredible safety options. Consider the collision avoidance and blind spot stuff and maybe speed sensitive cruise control, that adapts to the cars in front of you for really worthwhile options. But I digress, the point of this is bare bones comfort. A long capable, solid and reliable cruiser with decent performance and an emphasis on comfort.
Steering feel a bit dead? So what, this is no tight mountain pass, lightweight rapier at any level. Why should it pretend to be? No V12 or even V8?
So what, a frugal 2.5 Turbo with 231 horses (170kw) 340nm to pull your executive class ass about 7.5 seconds and 9.6 litres are the numbers that matter here. Enough. If you want to settle disputes at traffic lights this is the wrong category anyway. The point of this car is, it is a great car NOT to be noticed in. Understated and quality. Good looking but not a statement.
Buy one of these for going to work and a true tail-out sports car such as a Nissan 370z for when you need it and have change from the big guns in the category.
