Volvo is touting the new S60 as the athletic member of the family. The brochure emphasises it’s “for the kind of driver that chooses back roads, just to get a smile on their face”. Quite the contrary of what one associates a Volvo with. A quick walk around the car tells you the coupé-like design is quite striking and, at least visually, the sporty pitch seems rather convincing. So, what’s new in the facelift?
The altered styling now uses a larger grille and accentuates the car’s facial features, giving the Swedish sedan a bit more visual muscle to better contest with the Germans. Broadly speaking, it now looks more mature and could appeal to a wider clientele. They’ve packed it with more equipment too. During our first drive of this car, we were quite impressed with the package on offer, and that got us thinking. Can the S60 now be considered a serious contender in the entry-level luxury segment? The only way to find out was to thoroughly test and measure it against a benchmark.
Which brings us to the BMW 3-series. The Three is a legend. Almost every iteration of the compact luxury sedan from Munich has trounced its German contemporaries, and this latest F30 version is no different. Back in August 2012, we pitted it against the C-class and A4 and concluded that it set the new benchmark for the class, making it the perfect yardstick.
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The goal is to size up the S60 against the best in the business and assess its worth as a genuine alternative to the typical step-on point to the luxury ladder. Prices start at Rs 31.9 lakh for the base D4 kinetic variant and the better-equipped D4 Summum variant you see here costs Rs 34.4 lakh (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi), which makes this 161bhp, five-cylinder, 2.0-litre diesel model about Rs 2.5 lakh cheaper than the BMW 320d sport, lowering the step-on point a bit too. Moreover, a good chunk of shoppers in this segment tend to be chauffeured around and hence don’t really benefit from the BMW’s dynamic finesse.
Looking at it in the metal, it’s clear that both cars have an assertive visual strength, but you’re more likely to notice the S60, for two reasons. Apart from the fact that it’s a good-looking car, its larger dimensions add to its presence. Also, the fact that it isn’t a common sight on our roads makes it turn more heads.
