VOLVO S60 drive

Volvo is one of those companies that have changed dramatically in the not-so distant future and is now trying to be anything that it couldn't in the past. Fortunately, the Swedes, together with their Chinese owners, are on the right pathway. The cube-dominated design has been forgotten not only by company employees, but also by the public, who is ready to accept the new Volvo. In fact, this is what the carmaker has managed to achieve so far - and it's not a small thing: Volvo has convinced the world that it has a new identity and that it shouldn't be judged by its past image. Now that the automaker has our attention, it needs to keep up the good work and start creating itself a place in our hearts minds. Enter a Volvo showroom and you'll instantly realize that the company wants us to view the S60 as the devil on its shoulder. We've already tested the S60 and concluded that this is the naughtiest Volvo indeed, but we are now back behind the wheel for a different reason. As you know, the entire automotive world is now focused on efficiency. This means that automotive company employees are more busy than ever. Designers have to mix beauty with a low drag coefficient more than ever, engineers need to keep upping the ante on the efficiency front and marketing people have to find a way of bringing this to our attention. As a result of this last need, Volvo gathered around all its three-hugging cars and gave the "DRIVe" designation. We wanted to see how this works for the S60, so we took its DRIVe version for a test drive. Is it just a marketing trick or is it ready to fight eco heroes such as EfficientDynamics or BlueMotion? We got our hands on a range-topping SUMMUM equipment level, with our test car also being fitted with multiple optional goodies. Of course, all these ingredients, which have been added to Volvo's premium ambitions, have brought the price to EUR38,000 ($53,000). So, let's see what you get for the money.