| Volvo S60 Revealed | ||
 |
||
|
(Tue 10 Nov 09) Volvo has issued the first official images of the S60, which it describes as being "sportier and more dynamic" than any of its previous models.
At first glance the production car is almost identical to the S60 Concept which was unveiled at this year's Detroit Show and previewed in our news story the month before. There is one significant difference though - the Concept had radical rear doors were operated by pressing a button, at which point the back of each door swung out, followed by the front, and then the whole door slid backwards. Intriguing, but not practical, largely because the lack of a central pillar left a whacking great hole in each side of the car which compromised body rigidity and (very importantly for Volvo) safety. The production S60 will therefore be a conventional four-door. Few other details have been confirmed, though that will change shortly before the car's formal introduction at the Geneva Show next March. Volvo has said, however, that the new Pedestrian Detection system (which applies the brakes if someone steps in front of the car, assuming the driver doesn't do so first) will definitely be fitted.
The S60 Concept used the 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine which produces around 180bhp but gives very good fuel economy and CO2 figures, and which will be introduced in the Ford Focus and C-MAX towards the end of next year. The S60 will arrive at around the same time, and although Volvo has not yet confirmed that it will definitely use the same engine, it seems reasonable to assume that it will. The rest of the engine line-up is likely to follow that already used in other Volvos. |
