2020 Volvo S60 T8 Long-Term Review Wrap-Up | The Final Verdict

Twelve months of motoring in the 2020 Volvo S60 T8 went by rapidly. Our time in Volvo’s sharp, plug-in hybrid sedan is about, and it is time for a closing verdict. The S60 noticed two fully unique worlds in its time with us. We took supply in standard days — you know, pre-world wide pandemic — but most of its tenure in this article was in a Covid-19 planet. That remaining the case, it did not get out and journey the place as a great deal as our extended-expression take a look at autos normally do.

Prior to finding locked down, our S60 took trips to Chicago, Buffalo, the northern reaches of Michigan and somewhere else in the area. Even when its prolonged driveway sessions started, we snuck it away when to the East Coast for a brief again-and-forth summer time trip.

We constrained our motor vehicle swaps to when a thirty day period in an energy to stay away from just about every other on workers and keep just about every other protected. That meant that just about every of us received to commit for a longer period stints than typical in the driver’s seat — our standard plan wouldn’t have inspired this conduct pre-coronavirus. It was much more like a true ownership encounter, which is particularly what we goal to convey with extended-expression tests. We plugged it in each and every night time, used the Volvo smartphone app to keep track of it and built-in the motor vehicle much more thoroughly into our lives.

The odometer examining sat at sixteen,866 miles in the end. A fantastic number of those miles were completed underneath electric power, many thanks to the car’s 22-mile electric vary when thoroughly charged — our vary testing noticed it fulfill or exceed that figure if pushed with a mild foot.  And considering that the motor vehicle was sitting down at house so typically, it was functioning with a complete demand in most conditions. Extensive highway trips noticed us match the car’s mixed mpg score of thirty mpg. Most fill-ups would return a a great deal larger effective mpg number, while, as all the electric motoring aids it along. People with shorter commutes need to get detect, as S60 T8 ownership will enormously minimize the number of required fuel stops.

Thanks to the Volvo’s extended 10,000-mile maintenance gaps, it only required to make a single typical dealer end in our time. Besides that, there were two other trips to the dealer. We had remember get the job done completed — there was an problem with the computerized crisis braking method — before the very first typical provider. And a sunroof snafu was the car’s second and previous unscheduled trip to the shop.

Browse on below for all of our closing impressions on the 2020 Volvo S60 T8.

Street Test Editor Zac Palmer: The S60 T8 is a a little bit sporty sedan, but it is no sports activities sedan. My favourite detail about driving it is just matting the throttle from a end, because this motor vehicle is sneaky brief. It does not sound quick or intense in the minimum, but the sensation of acceleration in no way received previous about my months with the motor vehicle.

It falls quick of the sport sedan qualification for a several motives. While the S60 is a decent handler, there’s no hiding how significant it feels when you check out to chuck it close to. Steering is direct and weighted properly, but the chassis does not disguise its body weight (four,447 lbs) well. You are also constrained by the drivetrain structure. This sedan is technically all-wheel generate, but the only power remaining applied to the rear axle is via the electric motor. Predictably, this isn’t often adequate to keep up with the strong two.-liter turbo- and supercharged motor sending its torque completely to the entrance wheels. There is an imbalance to the power supply that you you should not get in other all-wheel-generate cars. All that electric torque is fantastic, but it would be even increased if there were even much more of it aiding the rear axle.

The brakes struggle to keep up when you actually commence to get following it on a miles-extended highway of successive corners, as well. There is a rationale the Polestar Engineered model of this motor vehicle has larger Brembo brakes. You are not meant to generate the non-Polestar S60 as you would a sports activities motor vehicle. That’s produced even clearer by our Inscription trim’s lack of paddle shifters or any type of guide equipment variety. There is a Sport mode that increases the transmission’s tuning to keep gears and downshift in braking, but I’m however missing that relationship to the motor vehicle. 

The point in this article is that the S60 T8, inspite of its four hundred horsepower and 472 pound-ft of torque, is not a sports activities sedan. It’s a supremely snug and trendy cruiser that will bolt from a stoplight way speedier than Volvo’s security standing has anybody anticipating. This blend of straight-line muscle mass, pure electric vary and Volvo design is a winner in my guide. There are loads of other people in this class of 4-doorways that will thoroughly satisfy the sports activities sedan itch.

Information Editor Joel Stocksdale: I’m actually going to overlook our S60. In fact, I’ve now been missing our S60 considering that it in no way received again to me following the pandemic locked us down. But each and every time I received to generate it before then was a enjoyment.

A massive section of that was the way it drove. I concur with Zac, it is not a complete on sport sedan, and the lack of paddle shifters is my largest gripe. But it is however a enjoyment motor vehicle. The chassis is playful and responsive, even if it is a minimal significant, and the acceleration is fantastic. But it is the fact that it is enjoyment when also remaining actually snug, quiet and economical that helps make it fantastic. The vary is even good adequate that I could really a great deal do my commuting to and from the office on electric power, as extended as I charged at the office. Or at minimum, I would be in a position to as extended as I was in a position to keep my foot out of it.

The inside on the S60 is superb, as well. Volvo’s minimalist layout with welcoming, rounded edges is however as lovely and calming as at any time. And the seats are among the ideal for any motor vehicle, giving aid in all the ideal spots with no remaining overly organization. The infotainment method is not the ideal, but the inside in general is such a pleasurable area to be, it is challenging to get upset by it.

One other detail, the S60 is significantly good hunting, athletic even. In some way it has a rear-generate car’s sprint-to-axle ratio. The sheetmetal is taut and crisp. It has a square-shouldered stance. But it is also uncluttered and isn’t going to make guarantees it cannot keep.

It may possibly not be an out-and-out sport sedan, but it is a killer all-’rounder with its good seems, cozy inside, and enjoyment-adequate driving manners. If I had the revenue for a single, I might adore to have it as a day by day driver.

Associate Editor Byron Hurd: I’m going to commence with the S60’s flaws, lest I end up repeating anything previously mentioned verbatim. For starters, it is significant, and in a sneaky way. It accelerates rapidly. The tires offer loads of grip and the suspension is chic it feels planted, tiny and sporty. But get a minimal greedy with your corner entry pace or get a minimal careless in a downhill series of switchbacks, and you can expect to rapidly be reminded just how a great deal mass you might be slinging close to. 

While other tiny European sedans are nipping at the heels of the two-ton mark, the S60 T8 weighs about as a great deal as a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and offers up quite a bit to that massive coupe in the braking division. Granted, our extended-termer was an Inscription design, not the sportier Polestar Engineered variant, which may well take care of the heft a bit better, but mass is mass and physics is physics. 

I had some other gripes with the S60 in this article and there, but most both pale into the noise level or, like my ongoing problem with Android Automobile refusing to get the job done, simply just vanished into slim air a single working day and in no way gave me even an additional trace of trouble. To say it won me about is an understatement. While the T8 powertrain is not for everyone, it is an wonderful ambassador for plug-ins, giving up V8 performance and fully affordable fuel financial system. The powertrain is tough close to the edges, to place it kindly, but just check out to catch it flat-footed. You will not likely. 

I wouldn’t propose this to just anybody shopping for a luxurious motor vehicle. It is really a Volvo, so I might be expecting it to be a bit bratty from time to time, and that calls for the form of operator who is keen to take the chance of a fewer-than-flawless ownership encounter. Volvo’s dependability standing has been strengthening in the latest yrs, and in addition to, the only other compact European luxurious motor vehicle I uncover as persuasive as the S60 (while in a extremely unique way) is Italian, and comparing the Volvo’s dependability to the Giulia’s calls for dividing by zero. 

You have possibly discovered on your own on the ideal highway with the completely wrong motor vehicle. Whether it was a commute, a extended highway trip or a minimal blast by means of the hills, the S60 in no way still left me with that gnawing regret of remaining not able to get benefit of whatever option just transpired to current alone, and it often looked good doing it. Excellent motor vehicle. 

Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: Excellent motor vehicle, without a doubt. In addition to a good deal of college fall-offs and grocery operates, I took this S60 on various regional drives, generally to Northern Michigan, in a vast wide variety of weather conditions. I appreciated the means to do most of my quick trip driving underneath electric power, when acquiring the independence to get those extended trips to the cottage with no applying a ton of fuel.

Which is not to say, while, that you can realistically use it as a complete EV, even if you in no way generate past its 22(-ish) miles of electric vary. There is no way to totally lock out the gas motor if you drive the accelerator pedal as well had, it will unavoidably chug to daily life and commence consuming hydrocarbons. It is really possibly for the ideal that it does, because you you should not want to be still left with no the means to summon up any obtainable power if you uncover on your own needing to pull some form of brief defensive maneuver. Also, in get to make use of all-wheel generate, you want the gas motor managing to power the entrance wheels. Rear-generate-only is not excellent in the winter, and I discovered myself applying much more fuel when points received slippery.

But boy was it enjoyment applying the inside combustion and electric motors in tandem. When you commit a good deal of your time trying to generate proficiently, you ignore what the S60 T8 is capable of. Set it into Dynamic mode, and it will rocket away from a end with all 4 wheels delivering power and traction. For a sedan that seems so clean-lower, it can be a authentic surprise.

The S60 was a great auto for those extended drives. It is really snug and quiet, with loads of power to confidently overtake on two-lane highways where the window of option may well not be substantial. It is really easy adequate to keep discussions even on stretches of highway with a seventy five-mph pace limit. When managing out of points to talk about, the Harman Kardon sound method gives good, crystal clear top quality no matter whether you might be listening to audio, podcasts or audiobooks — there is a Bowers & Wilkins improve obtainable if you want your motor vehicle to sound like a live performance hall. The Pilot Assist adaptive cruise regulate is a great method, primarily when you hit rush-hour congestion.

My largest criticism about our S60 was with Volvo’s Sensus infotainment method. The touchscreen is large and the pictures crisp and crystal clear, but it is challenging to navigate the menus. Even following a yr with the motor vehicle, I however struggled to uncover specific features, in no way being aware of no matter whether I required to swipe to an additional web page or dig further into whatever menu was on the monitor. But, there is good information. As Volvo goes totally electric (good information #1), it will switch about to Google’s Android Automotive Operating Technique. Android launched on the XC40 Recharge, and comes to the C40 Recharge future. I received to use the method on the Polestar two, and actually relished it, while my impression is not universal.

Whether the S60 alone survives going ahead is still to be seen. I might overlook it if Volvo drops the sedan as it moves towards crossovers. However, if the consolation is all-electric Volvos, I’m Alright with that. The S60 plug-in hybrid is however close to for now, while it is now named the S60 Recharge. It is really a fantastic all close to sedan, with or with no the plug. In fact, a pal of mine bought a non-hybrid S60 following I gave him a journey in our extended-termer. That may well be the ideal praise I can think of for the S60 following all.

James Riswick, West Coast Editor: I in no way received to generate our extended-expression S60. Never even noticed it for that matter, as Covid and my Portland site produced that rather hard. Even so, my colleagues’ encounter with the T8 presented abundant ballast to send out my father in the course of the Volvo S60 when he started his lookup for a new motor vehicle. After examining our posts and Byron’s complete S60 critique, a brief take a look at generate had him marketed. He then did research into residing with a plug-in hybrid, contacted electricians to get house charger set up quotes and was thoroughly geared up to pull the cause.

Regrettably, inventory for the T8 (or Recharge as it became identified for 2021) was minimal in equally Phoenix where he lives, and even the increased Los Angeles spot. Coloration preference was slim, options even even worse. There was also the matter of the hefty federal tax credit score that would noticeably decrease the price tag. This was all towards the end of 2020, which meant that if he waited right until 2021 to uncover a Recharge that met his specification (or simply just purchased what he required), he’d want to hold out virtually an overall calendar yr to see that credit score from Uncle Sam. In the end, he failed to get a T8/Recharge. As a substitute, he received the foundation T5 motor in an Inscription trim level painted white with a brown inside. You know, particularly like our extended-termer. The motor vehicle pictured up there? Which is his, not the extended-termer. 

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