Psst, psst! Wanna save eight grand?
I’ve just finished driving the 2013 Volvo S60, priced at $38,170.
S60 sedans I drove two years ago and last fall carried sticker tags of $46,200 and $46,875, respectively. Those were 6-cylinder-powered Volvos.
Beneath the hood of this cheaper one is a turbocharged inline-5-cylinder engine, a strong performer which produced a fuel-mileage reading of 26.3 miles per gallon. It lacked navigation and rearview camera, though it is equipped with all-wheel drive, so important in these parts as winter lurks around the bend.
Volvos, of course, are based in Sweden, which shares terrain and weather similar to Colorado. A sturdily built Volvo with four-wheel grip is at home in either setting.
The product’s continued suitability to the U.S. and Europe raises a question: What of Volvo and its future, for it is now tied directly to China.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a large automotive manufacturing enterprise headquartered in Hangzhou, China, purchased Volvo from Ford Motor Co. in 2010. Geely has been granted approval from its government to build an automobile factory in Chengdu, China, for production of Volvos, which should be underway in 2013. Geely hopes to sell 200,000 Volvos in China within two years of production startup.
Geely officials haven’t been specific on what models will be produced, only that vehicles will range “from luxury high end to small-sized cars.” Geely plans to double Volvo sales to 800,000 cars globally within 10 years.
But at what cost is a question asked by Volvo buyers in the U.S. Since the days of the “indestructible” 240 series from the late ’70s to early ’90s, American supporters have been sold on Volvo quality and safety, and don’t want that tampered with. “That they don’t lose that identity,” is the concern.
There is no dilution of quality in the ’13 Volvo S60 T5 AWD, which I drove. Settled into the beechwood brown (actually an orange/gold tint), finely stitched leather seats, I could imagine it being the cabin of the more luxurious S80 sedan.
It is, though, the interior of the midsize four-door, equipped with the turbocharged-5 and 6-speed automatic transmission. By foregoing 6-cylinder power and the nav, the new S60 saves a buyer $8,000 over those two previous S60s I’ve reviewed.
Exterior look of the S60 is dominated by its raked windshield and sharply sloped rear window. Over the years, the model has grown some. It is 3 inches longer in wheelbase and 2 inches overall since one that we drove in New England in the fall of 2001. Front seat is very roomy, with legroom and headroom okay in the rear seats, too. Air vents in the B pillars aid comfort for the rear-seat passengers. Trunk space is 12 cubic feet, far short of the Lincoln MKZ’s 16.5 cubic feet and Cadillac CTS’ 13.6.
An interior highlight is the “floating” center stack, which Volvo introduced years ago. The thin face of the stack, which has storage space behind it, features a high-end audio system with HD radio, MP3/WMA capability, USB and Sirius.
With the turbo in force, the 5-cylinder offers a nice blend of performance and economy. The 2.5-liter is rated at 250 horsepower and 268 lbs.-ft. of torque. The Volvo’s handling is enhanced and balanced by anti-dive and anti-lift geometry in its coil front/multilink rear suspension. In normal driving, 95 percent of power is at the front drive; the electronically controlled Haldex all-wheel-drive system, though, instantaneously transfers torque to the rear as needed in adverse conditions.
Addition of the AWD, a power moonroof, heated front seats and heated windshield washer nozzles pushed sticker price from a base of $31,750 to the $38,000-plus figure.
Lesser-powered Mustang is 3.7-liter
A race red exterior enhanced the V-6-powered 2013 Ford Mustang delivered to me earlier this month.
It came two months after the Mustang GT with 420-horsepower V-8, which we drove to LaVeta and back.
Like the savings with the Volvo S60 reviewed at the top of today’s column, the lesser-powered Mustang comes in at a sizable price reduction over the GT model. The V-6 Mustang carries a sticker price of $30,880, compared with $40,770 for the Mustang GT with V-8.
The 3.7-liter V-6 puts out surprising horsepower of 305 and 280 lbs.-ft. of torque. There are no paddles with the V-6, but the 6-speed automatic shifter can be dropped into Sport mode, then use of the switch on the side of the shifter knob will upshift or downshift as desired.
The Mustang averaged 22.7 miles per gallon in a 50/50 split of city/highway driving. Its EPA estimate is 19/31.
Optional items added to its base price of $26,200, besides the automatic transmission, were 19-inch painted aluminum wheels, painted side mirrors, 3.31 limited-slip axle and reverse-parking assist.
Saturday Drive can also be viewed online at DenverPost.com/Autos. Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
