I just test drove the unit yesterday. I'm no car sales man. Neither do I own or am associated with Volvo other than a current driver of a S60 T5. Here are my thoughts:
The Interior. The interior is simple and luxurious. The seats super. Very comfortable. Sufficient ventilation on my butt (only worry about dissipation of my gas when I let go... wonder if it distributes to the rear)
Bells and Whistles. I especially love the dash, the keyless entry, the climate control system, audio system control. Clean design and functional.
The audio system is mediocre, I wouldn't say its great based on initial tests. BUT it plays MP3s, have a MP3 connector for your IPOD.
The remote is another awesome thingy. In the comfort of your air-con office, you can use your remote to wind down the windows of the car 5 mins before entering. In our climate, a definite practical addition that adds value to our lives...
CON: The rear shutter is still manual. The BMW, Merc, Audi all have it auto.
CON: No factory fitted GPS. An aftermarket unit (Imported from Taiwan Volvo) which retracts INTO the dashboard is available for sale for about $3000 according to the salesman. This unit will be operated by remote and no dashboard control is available.
The drive... I enjoy the drive much more than the S60 T5 that I'm driving now. The selectable 3 chasis modes controls the suspension to provide varying degrees of luxurious or sporty drive. I would love to do a SG to Thailand drive on this baby.
CON: The turning radius has improved, but you still need 2.5 lanes to turn.
These are the first thoughts. Doing another drive tomorrow and maybe buying one... :>
Kuali Baba
And it's a handsome machine!
The large turning radius is just a drawback of having a large engine in front and front-wheel drive (I believe it's still this configuration?).
breytonhartge
so what's new??? there are better european cars out there... and the volvo isn't one of them.
AE86tofu
volvo nt bad wad....LOL...I think its safer than BMW IMHO....I know that in a collision i can just unbuckle my seatbelt...dust myself off, open the door and walk away