Car Review: 2008 Volvo S80

I’ve rented this beast from Hertz for one day. I need to travel from downtown Boston to middle of nowhere, Connecticut, roughly 240 miles of city and highway driving. The last Volvo I drove was a late 80′s 240 wagon (245?) which I enjoyed just because it was so different and yet so dorky at the same time. I really did not know what to expect from the vehicle. I do recall sitting in the XC70 at the NYC Auto Show thinking that I really liked the interior. So, will this S80 bring back magic of the 240/5?

The car:

A Hertz rental with approximately 14,000 miles. Base model, and it seem to hold up pretty well given the rental abuse. Nothing broken, no rattles, drove straight and true, brakes were fine.

Outside:

Judge for yourself, nothing too exciting for me. Actually, on second thought, it’s very bland – how bland? When I was looking for it in the Hertz parking lot, in sea of many other cars, I’ve walked by it and did not see it. Twice. And that like never happens to me.

From side profile, the one thing I really don’t like is the short rear overhang; it just bothers me more than it should. Looks like someone chopped part of the butt off, or put the rear wheels too far back.

Otherwise  it’s a Volvo, it won’t sweep anyone off their feet and yet it won’t offend anyone. It says about itself “I’m a car, a different kind of car, but not really that special”. Personally, I prefer the looks of the previous generation S80.

Inside:

Front seats are rather large and comfortable. They offer adequate support and a wide range of adjustment. The leather is soft, and overall your butt will be comfortable; it’s the other parts of your body that won’t be happy… Like, your neck for instance. The headrests are designed in such way, that no matter how you adjust your seat, your head is always pressing against the headrest.  I don’t know if these headrests are part of the new “active head restraint” law or something conjured up by the safety freaks at Volvo, but they are not very comfortable. I felt like my head was constantly being pushed forward by the headrest, and I couldn’t stretch my neck without getting out of the car. The worst part about the whole thing, in my opinion, is that this could help an already tired driver fall asleep faster. But hey, this is a Volvo, and they have thought about a sleepy driver.

Although my borderline stripper model was not equipped with these features, the nicer S80s can be equipped with the following lazy/tired driver options:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Distance Alert, ok, this one is easy, you can figure out what it is.
• Collision Warning with Auto Brake, yup, it goes along with the above; slows you down before you hit someone, at highway speed, which unless you’re drafting/tailgating does not really happen that often.
• Driver Alert Control (DAC), holly shit, ok, directly from Volvo’s website: “The Driver Alert Control is the first in the world of passenger cars to alert the driver when his or her concentration level is affected. Together with the Lane Departure Warning, which signals when the car crosses road markings without obvious reason, the system is designed to address the risk of accidents caused by driver distraction.” No joke, it displays a coffee cup on the dash. How cool is that? Does it work? I don’t know, have not played with it, it may be awesome or it maybe awful.
• Lane Departure Warning (LDW), take a wild guess what this is. Hopefully it can be switched off.

So, basically you don’t need to drive anymore. Great.

One note, all this alleged safety shit should be standard on a flagship, $40k+ Volvo. Which brings me to the point, that Volvos should once again use safety as their selling point, because these cars won’t sell on looks alone, or whatever their marketing strategy de jour is… do they even have one? “For Life”? What is that that suppose to mean? Consummate your marriage in the back seat?

Ok, so you’re finally sitting down, head against the headrest. Large, nicely appointed steering wheel in front of you. At first glance the layout seems clean and logical, but soon you realize that radio buttons are too small and HVAC controls are placed too low and armrests are not in the best of spots, but now I’m being picky.

What did get to me though, was the steering wheel mounted controls for radio and cruise control. The cruise control uhmm,.. controls (buttons) are on the left side of the steering wheel and the radio are on the right. It should be the other way around. Why?

Say your phone rings while you’re driving*, you pick it up with your right hand**, but first you must lower the radio. But your phone is in your right hand and your left hand is on the left side of the wheel. You see what I’m getting at here? If I’m going to use my right hand to operate the radio, why wouldn’t I just use the knob on the radio itself?

Cup-holders are nice; perfect location and size. I like to see a little cubby for a cell phone in the middle of the dash, like there was on the M35 I drove recently. The rear seats fold, which is a feature I love, but additionally the front passenger seat folds flat allowing you to transport long (but not very tall) objects; now that’s a great quirky feature I expect to see from Volvo. The “water fall” dash is nice, but you get over it quickly. Not much else to write home about.

 Driving:

The steering is a little loose. Every time you press the loud pedal you’re being reminded that this is a front wheel drive vehicle. The ride is set for comfort, but on/off ramps can be taken at speed with a very fair amount of predictability. Off the line the power is good enough. Frankly, there is nothing really bad about driving this car, just as there is not much good. It’s plain, it feels like a bunch of other cars that are trying to be something they are not, which brings to me to the biggest downfall of this car, the price.

 Price:

It starts at $40k. Really? What am I exactly paying for? Furthermore, it goes into mid $50′s for a fully equipped AWD V8 model. Really? Why? What is the justification for this price?

I can get an Acura TL for less money, which I think is a much better vehicle, holds better resale value and will very likely be a lot more reliable over time. Dimensions are almost the same, price is lower, and all available features (sans the V8) are almost the same. The only thing that may get away from the TL is its looks, but it’s not like the Volvo is a beauty queen.

Summary:

A nice daily driver but a plain daily driver. You don’t get much for your money.

* you should ignore it

** ok, fine, answer it, you should use a hands free blue tooth thingy