2007 Volvo S80 V8 all wheel drive
In a crowded market of upscale performance/luxury minded sedans, Volvo upped the ante and dropped the completely redesigned S80 into the market place. At first glance the makeover may seem more cosmetic then major surgery, however a closer peak confirms Volvo's claim that this baby shares nothing with its last generation. If you liked the old design and loved it's baby brother, the S60, you will be a very happy camper as the S80 took the best from both rides and made this a very maturely designed car. The sweeping taillights seem to be Volvo's signature design feature and they look great. The S80 should finally pull that last nail out of the coffin for those of you that still think of Volvos as unemotional boxy vehicles that worry more about safety then looking cool.
Minus a meatball warmer it would be tough to get a more Scandinavian feel to the interior of the S80. Our tester came equipped with light tan interior with dark wood trim and unlike most cars in its class, felt remarkably uncluttered. The floating center consol taken directly from entry level S40 sedan works well in Volvo's flagship car however the quality of the plastic surrounding material was less than inspiring. No matter how good looking the car is you can be sure safety was front and center and the S80 has a ton of cool features. We especially loved the blind spot detection information warning light that sits in eyes view of the outside mirrors. The seating is very supportive and about as good as it gets short of installing an aftermarket barcalounger. Though slightly small in the rear for three adults, this is a very capable cruiser for long hauls or trips to the supermarket
Get the V8, we did, and it not only performs great but sounded like a million bucks as well. Volvo went out of house and hired Yamaha to make the 4.4-liter V8 that pumps out 311 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. Four-wheel drive comes standard when you choose the V8 option making it a hard box not to check. The S80 has great low-end power perfectly suited for city driving and was nicely balanced at highway speed too. The exhaust note is perfectly throaty yet non-intrusive as you would expect in a luxury sedan. Another cool safety feature not normally found on cars that sell for less than six figures is Volvos collision warning system. If you are not paying attention and the car in front of you slams on the breaks, an audible warning goes off and the brake calibers adjust to give you a split second advantage when you hammer on the brake pedal. The Volvo S80 is taking aim at the big boys with the reintroduction of this fine automobile, and it might be time for BMW and Mercedes to duck!
--Chad Doering
