2012 S60 T5 FWD

[jimmy57]

I'm in Fort Worth Dallas area and had the use of a 2012 S60 T5 FWD this week during all this ice and snow that was crippling to this area. I was awe-struck at this gem's ability to go and stop. I had to go to work and it was not bad at all.
The roads in this area are not cared for in this weather as it is not normal and there is no spending for snow plows and very little sanding equipment since it has little use normally. Driving on ice potholed roads and in ruts is the norm. The car has the 235/40R18 tires which aren't really M+S tread and are too wide for the best formula for winter use in snow but it was very tractable anyway. I was not creeping either.
No hill climbs as it is so flat here but this ride did better than the 98 XC70 did in level ground travel. My guess is the fronts had decent traction and the drag of rears on the snow and crushed ice kept it stable when the AWD is breaking loose a bit front and rear.
On Monday before the storm I also got to experience how fast it is !!!!!!
Bluetooth voice activated cell phone linkage worked great too.

[jblackburn]

I've been wanting to test drive one of those for some time now - I know I'll probably never be able to afford a new one, but they sure are nice-looking. The new Saab 9-5 and Audi A/S5 are great lookers as well.

The S60 is also probably quite a bit heavier than the XC too, so it'd have an advantage there.

I recently had a 2011 Chevy Impala as a rental car - it was definitely no nice brand-new S60, but I was actually very impressed with its poise in snow/ice too; it did loads better than my S70 which is already notches above most other 2WD cars I have had out in the snow. The traction control system only kicked in twice when I got a little over-zealous with the gas pedal taking off on hills, and it pretty much kept wheelspin in check, and there was NO kicking out the tail at all going around corners like the Volvo does. It was also HUGE and heavy, but drove very smoothly and got better gas mileage out of a huge V6 than I usually get out of my tiny 5-cylinder.

[matthew1]

Those T5s are within one second to 60mph vs. the 300hp 6-cylinder AWD models, but you save almost $7000, which tends to soothe the pain .

I've never had an ailment that was not cleared right up by seven grand. Of course you lose things like AWD, leather interior, etc.

$30,975 2012 MSRP Volvo S60 T5; 20/30mpg economy
$37,700 2012 MSRP Volvo S60 T6 AWD; 18/26mpg economy

Prices do not include $875 destination charge.