2009 Volvo S80 Review

Safe, luxurious, fast, beautiful. by Staff, New Car Test Drive

Overview


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Big and luxurious, the Volvo S80 is Volvo's flagship sedan. It's fast, comfortable and roomy. It rides nice around town and it's powerful and tracks straight as an arrow at high speeds. It is without question a worthy competitor to comparably sized luxury sedans from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, Acura, and Cadillac.

The S80 offers a choice of engines, headlined by a 4.4-liter, 311-horsepower V8 built by Yamaha. The V8 sounds like a Corvette engine when it first starts up then settles to a smooth idle. It's smooth and creamy when cruising and very responsive. At high speeds the S80 V8 is quiet and smooth. Its performance (0-60 in 6.0 seconds, with a top speed electronically limited to 155 mph) stretches beyond what anyone can realistically use. But where the V8 really shines is in foul weather, where buyers will appreciate its standard all-wheel drive.

Steering effort and chassis settings are adjustable, allowing the driver to set the chassis for smooth, soft sailing or taut control for more responsive handling. We found the car handles quite well for a large luxury car.

Even the base-level, six-cylinder, front-drive-only S80 3.2 can sprint to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, and risk arrest with a top speed of 130 mph. In between is the S80 T6, with a turbocharged six, all-wheel-drive, and a somewhat longer option list compared to the base model.

Inside is a sumptuous cabin with comfortable seats, sophisticated audio, and an available navigation system. Optional adaptive cruise control allows the driver to maintain set following distances with the cars ahead: the system will accelerate or slow the car as needed.

The S80 is loaded with safety equipment, from its protective structure to its state-of-the-art active and passive safety features. We think the S80 is the best car overall ever to come out of Sweden: slick, modern, pretty but understated, quick and powerful. It's relatively sporty and there aren't any rough edges on this package anywhere.

Changes for 2009 are minimal. Some models have new wheels. There's more standard equipment at very level, including Bluetooth, and the various options and option packages have been rearranged a bit.

The 2009 Volvo S80 is a luxury sedan. Three engine/driveline combinations are available: an inline-six with front-wheel drive, a turbocharged six with all-wheel drive (AWD), and a V8 with AWD. All come with a six-speed automatic transmission and Geartronic manual override.