1) The interior is 10 years out of date
2) The ride is awful on bumpy roads (helped by softening the suspension, but then body roll)
3) Steering feel is not good
4) The car feels too heavy (horizontally aligned engine ruins weight distribution)
5) Engine slow to rev
6) Not that much room in the backseat
7) Transmission very slow upshifts (under hard revs)
8) Drives like a front wheel drive car unless you disable traction control, which defeats the Volvo's main benefit, its safety.
9) Understeer/body roll
10) Seats wrinkle very quickly
11) Red dash is tacky
On the plus side:
12) One of the most gorgeous engine notes (remove the hood liner)
13) Engine very smooth (inline six)
14) Feels safe
15) The *only* car in its class. Hi-po wagon with a 6 cylinder engine in the USA
16) Nice mid range power
17) The dial control on the steering wheel is surprisingly good.
18) Very pretty car.
The fact that this car got glowing reviews is testament to corruption in the automotive media. This is a deeply flawed car. Johnny Lieberman got it right when it said it had "character".... which is basically it. This is an emotional purchase packaged as a practical one.
The suspension can't handle the wagon's weight and bad distribution, IMHO. Better as an S60, but why would you ever buy an S60 when you can get an S4 or a 340i track pack?
The 2017 fixes the weight distribution issue with the 4-cylinder, but you lose the mid-range punch and the sublime engine/intake/exhaust note. Definitely delete the sunroof. This fixes the tranny, ride, suspension, understeer issues.
Maybe the 2016 could be salvaged with some suspension work and tranny tuning and "adding lightness". Definitely remove everything from the trunk.
2) The ride is awful on bumpy roads (helped by softening the suspension, but then body roll)
3) Steering feel is not good
4) The car feels too heavy (horizontally aligned engine ruins weight distribution)
5) Engine slow to rev
6) Not that much room in the backseat
7) Transmission very slow upshifts (under hard revs)
8) Drives like a front wheel drive car unless you disable traction control, which defeats the Volvo's main benefit, its safety.
9) Understeer/body roll
10) Seats wrinkle very quickly
11) Red dash is tacky
On the plus side:
12) One of the most gorgeous engine notes (remove the hood liner)
13) Engine very smooth (inline six)
14) Feels safe
15) The *only* car in its class. Hi-po wagon with a 6 cylinder engine in the USA
16) Nice mid range power
17) The dial control on the steering wheel is surprisingly good.
18) Very pretty car.
The fact that this car got glowing reviews is testament to corruption in the automotive media. This is a deeply flawed car. Johnny Lieberman got it right when it said it had "character".... which is basically it. This is an emotional purchase packaged as a practical one.
The suspension can't handle the wagon's weight and bad distribution, IMHO. Better as an S60, but why would you ever buy an S60 when you can get an S4 or a 340i track pack?
The 2017 fixes the weight distribution issue with the 4-cylinder, but you lose the mid-range punch and the sublime engine/intake/exhaust note. Definitely delete the sunroof. This fixes the tranny, ride, suspension, understeer issues.
Maybe the 2016 could be salvaged with some suspension work and tranny tuning and "adding lightness". Definitely remove everything from the trunk.