Review of the new Volvo S80 Range

Free beer! Complimentary iPods! Halve your income tax rate! No matter how hard I try to grab your attention, I just seem to be coming across as some sort of second rate spam emailer. The trouble is, I need some sort of tactic to draw your interest to Volvo's latest S80 because, to be blunt, I don't think any picture of this vehicle is going to do the trick. It's not that the S80 is an unattractive looking car, far from it. Merely that it looks disturbingly similar to the model it replaced.

Most will see this vehicle as a facelift instead of the all-new car it actually is. They'll spot the reassuringly familiar proportions, the solid, dependable Volvo design cues and the emphasis on safety and assume that all is pretty much as before. No amount of free beer or consumer durables is going to change this perception. Their loss. For those who are either easily attracted by my cheap attention seeking or who are a little more curious about this latest big Volvo, priced from £23,495, there's plenty worth looking at.

Let's start with that styling. It's only when you get the old S80 next to the latest car that you'll see quite how far it has evolved. Yes, many of the primary design cues are still much the same. The car retains the distinctive shoulders that run all the way back to the tail lights that look like a piece of ornate marquetry. The roofline is still arched in an almost coupe-like manner and there's still a rather bluff grille up front. Where the biggest changes have been made is in the vehicle's stance and its fine detailing. Compared to the latest model, the old car looks notably less athletic. It seems to ride higher and the front and rear overhangs are longer.

"The all new S80 is about evolutionary design," said the Volvo Cars Design Director on the occasion of the vehicle's launch. "All the shapes and materials it uses represent a continuous development of the Volvo design language. We have given the all new S80 a more youthful and dynamic stance, and created an even more inviting atmosphere by using refined materials and colours that blend smoothly with smart, user-friendly technology," he continued. Today's S80 is packaged better than its predecessor and is far better finished. Just take a look at the headlights, a small feature I know, but indicative of the attention to detail that Volvo have put into this model. The bi-xenon lamps are integrated beautifully with the grille and bumper assemblies, giving the front of the S80 the same dynamic look as the smaller S40.

"The all new S80 is about evolutionary design," said the Volvo Cars Design Director on the occasion of the vehicle's launch. "All the shapes and materials it uses represent a continuous development of the Volvo design language. We have given the all new S80 a more youthful and dynamic stance, and created an even more inviting atmosphere by using refined materials and colours that blend smoothly with smart, user-friendly technology," he continued. Today's S80 is packaged better than its predecessor and is far better finished. Just take a look at the headlights, a small feature I know, but indicative of the attention to detail that Volvo have put into this model. The bi-xenon lamps are integrated beautifully with the grille and bumper assemblies, giving the front of the S80 the same dynamic look as the smaller S40.

The interior pursues a different set of design goals than many of the S80's direct rivals. It's refreshing that a premium manufacturer has the nous to go its own way in terms of design and the S80's 'Scandinavian Luxury' take differs from the increasingly prevalent Teutonic themes offered by the majority of the other premium brands. Volvo claim their 'design language' radiates a simpler, more stylish and modern feel by combining aesthetics and technology in a more inviting and intelligent way. The interior design offers a blend of no-nonsense Scandinavian style with a slim 'floating' centre stack, quality materials for upholsteries and a choice of inlays and colour schemes that blend smoothly together. As ever, Volvo is highly committed to providing safety leadership in its class.

Safety technology for the S80 includes a unique Personal Car Communicator (PCC) and new active safety systems - Collision Warning and Brake Support - with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), active Bi-Xenon headlights and a patented body structure developed at the Volvo Safety Centre. The S80 includes an optional key fob offering 'keyless drive' and incorporating a world first innovation - the Personal Car Communicator (PCC) which features intelligent technology to remotely check if the car is locked or not, alert you if the alarm has been activated, and a heartbeat sensor which warns if there is anyone in the car.

Another interesting technology is the Collision Warning system which alerts the driver, via a 'heads-up' warning display on the windscreen plus audible buzzer, if the gap to the car in front closes so fast that a collision is likely, while the Brake Support system boosts the braking force to ensure braking is as effective as possible. The active Bi-Xenon headlights turn the beam of the headlights in the direction the steering wheel is being turned, allowing better visibility deeper into corners at night and also helping to highlight the immediate verge where a pedestrian, cyclist or parked vehicle could be obscured.

Volvo have, to date, been rather hamstrung in their upmarket aspirations for the S80 by the fact that only a certain amount of power will happily be transmitted to the road through the car's front wheels. The 272bhp deployed by the old S80 T6 really was straining at the limits of what the chassis could reasonably handle and Volvo could only look on helplessly as very powerful versions of the rear wheel drive BMW 5 Series, Jaguar S-TYPE, Lexus GS, and Mercedes E Class proved highly profitable for their respective makers. Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system fitted to its A6 seems to have prompted Volvo's engineers to greater things and they've responded in quite some manner with the latest model.

With a 315bhp V8 four-wheel drive flagship model on offer, Volvo have really upped the ante but elsewhere there are more accessible attractions that also catch the eye. Take the 3.2-litre 235bhp six-cylinder powerplant for example, a unit designed by Volvo that is built at the Ford group engine plant in Bridgend, Wales alongside six and eight-cylinder units for other Premier Automotive Group brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover. Despite being a six-cylinder engine, it has been designed to be more compact than Volvo's five-cylinder engines thanks to the camshaft drive mechanism and ancillaries being relocated and integrated into the engine block itself. In addition, two of Volvo's five-cylinder engines have been carried over from the old S80 - the 200bhp 2.5T petrol unit with 320Nm of torque and the D5 (185bhp) turbo diesel with 400Nm of torque and the option of all-wheel-drive. Other engines include two diesels (a 136bhp 2.0-litre unit and a 163bhp 2.4D) and an entry-level 145bhp petrol 2.0-litre. Trim levels run from SE through SE Lux to SE Sport and Executive.

Is it enough? Those three words may well be playing on loop replay in Volvo executives' minds for the next few months. It faces a tough task but the thoroughness of Volvo's engineering could well see it prevail.

TOP 5 S80 DEALS

The results below show the top S80 deals on buyacar

Volvo S80 DRIVe [115] SE Lux 4dr [Start Stop] Diesel Saloon
Price £24,043 Read S80 Reviews	Save £5,552
Volvo S80 T6 AWD [304] SE Lux 4dr Geartronic Saloon
Price £33,502 Read S80 Reviews	Save £6,743
Volvo S80 T6 AWD [304] Executive 4dr Geartronic Saloon
Price £34,257 Read S80 Reviews	Save £6,838
Volvo S80 2.4 D5 [215] SE Lux 4dr [Sat Nav] [Start Stop] Diesel Saloon
Price £27,589 Read S80 Reviews	Save £5,996
Volvo S80 2.4 D5 [215] SE 4dr Geartronic [Lthr] Diesel Saloon
Price £27,715 Read S80 Reviews	Save £5,310
VIEW MORE DISCOUNT S80 DEALS