For years, Volvo cars have been among the safest on the road. With less curves than Kate Moss, however, most Volvo cars had a shape similar to tissue boxes.
Realizing that it took more than safety to sell vehicles, Volvo finally began to focus on improving the design of its cars along with the handling and performance while continuing to advance the safety features available.
The 2007 Volvo S80 is a perfect blend of performance, safety and luxury wrapped up in a stylish package. In addition to a laundry list of safety systems, the performance and luxury capabilities of the second generation S80 should give the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5-series some serious competition.
The most captivating aspect of the S80’s exterior is the sculpted, curvaceous beltline that is shared across the Volvo lineup and helps distance the new design from that of past Volvo vehicles while creating a trademark look heading into the future. The optional ($2,495) sport package accentuated this S80’s looks and added, among other things, active bi-Xenon headlights and 18-inch, 14-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in performance 245/40XR18 tires. The Xenon headlights help improve visibility while cornering by turning with the car up to 15 degrees to keep the driver’s path well lit.
With just the touch of a button, the 311-horsepower, 4.4-liter V-8 comes to life and releases a menacing note from the chrome-tipped dual exhaust that sounded more like a Mustang GT than this Swedish luxury flagship. Volvo paired up the transversely mounted engine to a six-speed automatic transmission with an unenthusiastic manual shift mode. Combined with the Haldex all-wheel drive system, the S80 rumbled from zero to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds.
The safety advantages of the AWD and Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) systems are quite noticeable especially in rainy conditions. One of the scariest occurrences that a driver can encounter is hydroplaning. Even with the sport package’s performance-rated tires replacing the standard all-season tires, the Volvo maintained full control after hitting a puddle on the side of the road at almost 60 mph.
Once inside the S80, the perforated leather seats included in the sport package offer high levels of comfort thanks to the soft leather and adequate padding. More side bolstering in the front seats would be appreciated, but the overall comfort afforded in most driving conditions is stellar. All five passengers get three-point seat belts and headrests tall enough to help prevent whiplash. The front seats are equipped with Volvo’s unique Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS). When a sufficient rear-end collision is detected, the head rests and seat back slide up and back to help absorb some of the impact and then tilts forward with the back, neck and head to cradle helping to reduce whiplash.
The layout of the instrumentation and controls are both easy to use and easy to read. The instrument cluster is simplistic yet useful with two circular gauges for the speedometer and tachometer with all information and messaging systems located in the center. To scroll through the information and messages, the turn signal stalk features an easy to use dial to navigate to the desired data. The S40’s waterfall center stack carries over to the S80 housing all radio, HVAC, and driving mode controls. Despite the numerous buttons in the center stack, adjusting the controls require little effort and are within a short reach from the driver’s hands. The A/C modes are easy to figure out since the controls represent a person seated and split into three zones: head, midsection and legs. It can’t get any easier than that.
After perfecting the art of protecting occupants in the event of a collision, Volvo began to focus on the prevention of accidents in the first place. Most of the S80’s safety systems work actively at collision avoidance and are easy to understand and operate.
The most advanced system on the S80 is the Adaptive Cruise Control that includes the Collision Warning with Brake Support. During normal cruising, the driver simply sets a desired speed and time gap between cars. If the radar sensor mounted in the grille detects no traffic, the vehicle travels at the desired speed. If the sensor picks up traffic, the vehicle automatically slows down and maintains the set time gap (even if the upcoming cars are performing hard stops). If the sensor detects imminent danger from something in the S80’s path, the Collision Warning with Brake Support system kicks in and warns the driver with an audible noise and a red flashing light on the dash. Furthermore, the system pre-charges the brake system for quick brake response helping to eliminate the collision or reduce its severity.
The BLIS uses small cameras under both outside mirrors to locate cars approaching in the S80’s blind spots. When the car senses a car in the blind spot, the indicator glows orange and if a collision is detected with a vehicle in the blind spot the light begins to flash. While the BLIS illuminated erroneously a few times and was a bit distracting at night, the small feature was very useful especially while driving in congested areas (and is easily turned off).
Entry into the S80 is as simple as pulling on the door handle (when the key fob is within three feet of the car). With the key fob on the driver’s person, entry into the vehicle and starting the vehicle are at the push of a button. Exiting the vehicle, once all of the doors are closed, the vehicle can be locked by pressing the black button on any one of the door handles. The fob also benefits from the Personal Car Communicator, which is a two-way radio between the key fob and the vehicle to give an update of the vehicle’s status to determine whether the vehicle door’s are locked or unlocked as well as if someone is hiding in the car via the heartbeat monitor. Simply press the information button on the fob to initiate the communicator.
All five passengers get three-point seat belts and headrests tall enough to help prevent whiplash. The front seats are equipped with Volvo’s unique Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS). When a sufficient rear-end collision is detected, the head rests and seat back slide up and back to help absorb some of the impact and then tilts forward with the back, neck and head to cradle helping to reduce whiplash. The 2007 S80 received the highest possible ratings in frontal, side and rear impacts from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Roof-mounted side airbags and front seat mounted side impact airbags are standard.
Storage inside the S80 is adequate with a deep and useful center console that houses the AUX input for the stereo system. The trunk is large and spacious and includes a separator to keep desired items separated or toward the rear of the trunk (such as groceries). The folding 60/40 folding rear seats and folding front passenger seat help create sufficient cargo capacity inside the S80. One downfall of the S80’s storage areas is the glove compartment, which does offer ample space for storage but its design hinders quick and easy access. When searching for a particular item in the compartment from either front seat, awkward positioning that would make a contortionist feel at home is required to see into the glove compartment while seated in either front seat.
In the city, the S80 got 300 miles on one tank of gas and averaged just over 17 mpg. On a relatively short highway trip, the powerful V-8 managed around 24 mpg (official EPA estimated for the S80 V-8 are 17 mpg city/ 25 mpg highway).
Volvo’s S80 starts with a base MSRP of $47,350 and this almost fully loaded S80 V-8 AWD raised the price to $56,025 – still well under most of its European luxury competition.
2007 Volvo S80 Pictures and Wallpapers
Review written by: Jeffrey Ross
All photos copyright Jeffrey Ross/Autotropolis.com © 2007