2015 Volvo S60 T6 Drive-E

Specifications

1. A 2.0L turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder that makes 302 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. 2. The T6 Drive-E FWD comes equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission. 3. The S60 T6 Drive-E FWD is officially rated at 24 mpg city and 35 mpg highway. 4. Pricing for the 2015 S60 T5 Drive-E FWD begins at $34,225 before destination charges.

Preview

After a few years of minor tweaks and mild styling refreshes, 2014 marks the start of a new era. Later in the year an all-new XC90 crossover will set the benchmark and styling direction of all future Volvos. But in the meantime, a new family of engines has debuted. Dubbed Drive-E, the new group of engines are set to replace all current Volvo power-plants in the coming years.

To start, only front-wheel drive (FWD) Volvos will receive Drive-E power-trains as all-wheel drive (AWD) versions are still a few years away. For North America, the Drive-E engines come from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder in two states of tune. The first version is dubbed the T5 and receives a turbocharger to produce 240 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. The naming convention used here is to indicate which engine the new Drive-E four-cylinder is destined to replace. The T5 is a turbocharged five-cylinder replacement while the T6 is the turbocharged inline-six replacement.

Interior

The interior’s design was updated last year and we do like the revisions, but find some components that were left uncharged, like the display screen and dashboard top, look grossly out of date. We do like the customizable gauge cluster, two-tone comfortable front seats and great sounding stereo. Volvo has finally added paddle shifters to the S60 and the quality of these paddles feels great.

The rear seat is a bit tight and only offers 33.5 inches of rear legroom. We were able to fit a s-xi-foot-tall passenger back there, but three would be quite uncomfortable. The trunk is also on the small side offering a mere 12 cubic feet of total cargo carrying capacity.

Under The Hood

For 2015, this car can be had as a T5 Drive-E FWD (new four-cylinder), T5 AWD (old five-cylinder), T6 Drive-E FWD (new four-cylinder) and T6 AWD (old six-cylinder).

Aside from the new engine, Drive-E equipped cars also come with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. Paired to the T6 twin-charged engine, this drivetrain turns the Volvo S60 into quite the efficient rocket. Volvo claims the car can hit 60 mph from a standstill in just 5.6 seconds. That makes the S60 one of the fastest front-wheel drive vehicles on the market today.

The T6 Drive-E engine makes gobs of power thanks to the trick dual charger system. Lower engine speeds up to 3,500 rpm utilize the supercharger, which produces instant wheel spinning torque. Once at 3,500 rpm, the turbocharger has spooled up and takes over to keep power building all the way up to redline. It really is the best of both worlds since there is no turbocharger lag to wait for initially and no supercharger power-trail-off at higher rpms. It all adds up to quite possibly the most responsive four-cylinder we have ever driven. Power is always on tap and the transition between supercharger and turbocharger is seamless. Plus, the low rpm supercharger whining mixed in with higher rpm turbocharge whooshes makes for a fantastic soundtrack.

In an impressive display of Swedish engineering magic, despite having two forms of forced induction the 302 hp 2.0 liter engine is quite efficient. Thanks in part to the well programed eight-speed automatic, the S60 T6 Drive-E FWD is officially rated at 24 mpg city and 35 mpg highway. During a 70 mile drive of predominantly country roads, we averaged 31.3 mpg, which is not far off of the Volvo V60 wagon we also drove that day with the less powerful turbocharged-only T5 Drive-E engine. And like the wagon, the S60 T6 Drive-E can further bolster fuel economy via an Eco+ mode that automatically transfers the car into neutral when off the accelerator pedal coasting occurs to save fuel.