After Its Safety Dance, Volvo Learns to Tango

Don’t get me wrong; everyone appreciates a safe car. But the nurturing values that Volvo promotes in its family-first cars — like the terrific XC60 crossover — can come off as prissy to buyers of sporting machines. Especially if those buyers suspect that “safety” is the car’s point, with a few sprinkles of excitement tossed on as a garnish.

And when a good citizen like Volvo does proclaim a breakthrough in BMW-style performance, with cars like the first-generation S60 sedan, the results often raise a question: um, have you guys ever driven a BMW?

Now, the company that sometimes sees drivers as Bubble Boys, in need of protection from any suggestion of sex or pinprick of sensation, is promoting its remade midsize sedan in national ads as the “naughty S60.”

Unexpectedly, they’re right; the naughty tag isn’t just ad agency hyperbole. Think of the S60 not as Ralph Nader but as a younger Hugh Hefner.

This Swedish sedan — the first new model since Ford sold Volvo to the Chinese automaker Geely — plays up, and plays on, the curves. And it does so with such panache that the usual water-cooler arguments over sport sedans — which mainly flatter BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Mercedes or Infiniti — must now include a word for Volvo.

That’s especially true for the S60 T6 model. Its splashy first impression is aided by a 300-horsepower, 3-liter turbocharged in-line 6 with standard all-wheel drive. This month, Volvo is adding a front-drive S60 T5 as a 2012 model, powered by a 5-cylinder turbo with 250 horsepower. The T5 comes at a reasonable base price of $31,850, compared with $38,550 for the T6. And the less expensive version will save more money with its excellent federal economy rating of 30 miles per gallon on the highway (20 in town), versus 26 highway, 18 city for the T6.

For the T6, seat-of-pants impressions are magnified by the engine’s lusty 325 pound-feet of peak torque. That is much more than any rival, including the BMW 335i, Audi A4 2.0T, Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G37 or Mercedes C350, and it matches the rating for the big 4.4-liter V-8 in the Volvo XC90 crossover. The result is a cool, quenching rush of turbo power, and a car that can storm from a standstill to 60 m.p.h. in 5.6 seconds, barely behind the BMW and Infiniti but still provocatively quick in this class.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Volvo without something from the safety wizards in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their latest is Pedestrian Detection, a camera- and radar-based system that can automatically stop the S60 to avoid striking someone at speeds below 22 m.p.h. At higher speeds, the system can at least markedly slow the car before impact, possibly the difference between a fatal accident and a trip to the hospital.

The system complements Volvo’s City Safety, first offered on the XC60, which does the same trick to avoid collisions with cars if a distracted driver fails to hit the brakes. While City Safety is standard, the S60’s pedestrian protection is part of a $2,100 technology package that includes adaptive cruise control, a collision-warning system with full auto-braking, and monitors for both following distance and lane departure.

For obvious reasons, I tested the system not with a human volunteer, but with a stationary dummy named Bob. Behind the wheel of the S60, I shot toward the dummy several times at up to 22 m.p.h. The hardest part was resisting an almost primal urge to hit the brakes.

When I ignored a flashed visual warning inside the car, the Volvo braked itself forcefully and left Bob unscathed, stopping with about a foot to spare even when I was sure the dummy was toast.

The system combines the speed-and-distance measurement of a radar unit with a camera and sophisticated computer algorithms. The camera confirms an endangered pedestrian by comparing its real-time images against a huge database of human walkers, picking out details like heads and swinging arms to avoid false alarms. The system operates at up to 50 m.p.h., but isn’t yet reliable enough to work at night, when the majority of pedestrian injuries occur.

Considering his unbeatable view of the Volvo’s looming shape, I might have asked Bob to assess the styling. Even a dummy could see that the S60 handsomely advances Volvo’s evolution from boxy-and-utilitarian to today’s dynamic, fine-boned designs. The S60 nods to current fashion with the coupelike arch of its roof. But the rest of the car takes now familiar Volvo cues — the slender hood, sprinter’s stance, flared rear haunches and a pert, cliff-hanging rear deck — and heightens them to create the prettiest Volvo sedan yet.

Compared with the previous S60, the new model carves out a welcome 2.1 inches of added rear legroom. But the cargo area shrinks from to 12 cubic feet, from 13.9, tying the BMW 3 Series as the smallest in the class.