Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine is a subtle yet sporty hybrid saloon - Wired.co.uk

The turbocharged, supercharged, petrol plug-in hybrid Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine is as complicated as it sounds, but don’t let that put you off. In many ways, this is the thinking person’s brisk saloon car.

It serves up all the performance you’d expect from 390 horsepower, all-wheel-drive and hybrid assistance car, but does so without shouting about it. There is no lairy styling, no chiropractor-inducing suspension, and no obnoxious pops and bangs from the exhaust. In other words, it's very Swedish.

Yes, the plug-in Volvo S60 T8 offers a slice of Scandinavian sensibility as an antidote to aggressively styled German super saloons. It offers most of the performance you’ll ever need in daily driving, but also provides up to 30 miles of emissions-free electric driving on a full charge, a welcoming, comfortable and well-appointed interior and family-friendly practicality.

To be clear, this isn’t a direct response to the likes of the BMW M4, Audi RS4 or anything from Mercedes’ AMG catalogue. Instead, the Volvo is the result of an already quick saloon being gifted with an extra 86bhp of electrical shove on the rear axle. This means an impressive 0-62mph sprint time of 4.6 seconds, and a top speed electronically limited to 155mph.

But despite the complexity of the Volvo’s drivetrain, all remains calm above the surface. Yes, there is a sport mode and you can shift between the gearbox’s eight speeds using paddles behind the steering wheel, but in reality the car can be left in its default mode. That way, the systems decide when to draw power from the 11.8kWh battery pack, and when to use the two-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine to top the electrical charge back up again.

Should you wish to switch between modes, Eco does what you’d expect, softening throttle response and juggling the engine and motor to produce as much range as possible at the expense of performance.

At the other end of the spectrum, Power mode sharpens the throttle and does all it can to give you maximum performance. There’s also the option to keep the motor on permanently to make the car four-wheel-drive, or you can switch it off to save battery power for later in your journey. In reality, you’ll only ever need the default mode, called Hybrid.

In all modes, the engine drives the front axel and the electric motor sends power rearwards for all-wheel-drive.

We may have been inclined to activate the car’s Power mode more often, but this is the ‘regular’ S60 T8, not the ‘Polestar Engineered’ model, which features high-performance Ohlins dampers to help reign in the car’s not-inconsiderable 1,980kg. As such, the car remains composed without being overly firm, yet lacks the overtly sporty nature of a member of BMW’s M division. And you know what? The Volvo is all the better for it.

With a full charge, the hybrid system quietly gets on with its job, shuffling power around almost imperceptibly, with the engine quietly firing up when needed, before shutting down while coasting or stationary. If you are particularly restrained with your right foot, the S60 T8 will reach the UK motorway speed limit on electric power alone.

Volvo’s claim of 30 miles of electric-only range is about right, and if your commute is 10 or so miles each way, you could feasibly install a charger at home (providing you have off-street parking), plug the car in each night and scarcely use the engine.

The Volvo serves up a comfortable and quiet ride that is genuinely relaxing, while still surging forward with that electrical assistance when overtaking slower traffic. In our week with the car, its turn of pace never failed to surprise.

Although the S60 T8 lacks the deeply contoured steering wheel and hip-hugging seats of similarly powerful saloons, it feels tight, precise and composed on twistier roads. It isn’t the last word in sporting prowess, of course. This isn’t a car to exhilarate in the way a 400bhp sports saloon might. But that’s entirely the point, the Volvo is fun without making the driver look like they should know better.

Apart from the silent electric mode and extra grunt of the motor when you want it, the real point of buying the Twin Engine over the regular T8 is fuel economy. Volvo boldly claims 122.8 miles per gallon is possible. While, yes, this might well be possible in laboratory conditions mimicking a very favourable route, in the real world your results will vary from around 35 to 50mpg. While not Earth-shattering, the latter isn’t bad for a car of this performance. And if you charge regularly you will see a reduced monthly fuel bill - but the figure still depends massively on how you drive.

Inside, the S60 T8 shares the same dashboard layout and infotainment system as the rest of the Volvo family. This means a central, 9-inch touchscreen in portrait orientation, with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available via a USB port.

Those aside for a moment, Volvo’s Sensus Connect system is smart and responsive, but can appear complicated at first glance, especially when swiping across to a page packed full of settings and toggle switches. Thankfully, a physical home button comes to the rescue if you ever get stuck, and you’ll soon learn the majority of those settings only need interacting with once. After this, you’ll have the car set mostly how you want.

Physical buttons and switches are few and far between, but Volvo has sensibly retained a volume dial with integrated play/pause button, along with track skip buttons, and physical controls for the heated front and rear windscreens. As with some other manufacturers, the climate controls remain permanently in place at the foot of the touchscreen, making them easy to use after just a few miles of muscle-memory acquisition.

A word on optional extras. The heated seats and steering wheel are worth forking out for, so too is the £2,500 Bowers & Wilkins sound system. With 1,100W of power and 15 speakers (including one on top of the dashboard for cancelling out sounds bouncing off the windscreen), this system is one of the best we’ve had the pleasure of listening to.

We can see the rest of the Volvo S60 T8 slotting into a family’s everyday life with ease, for now at least. There is ample seating for four adults, a decent sized boot, and none of our passengers complained about ride quality, though we suspect they might have questioned the extra firmness of the more tightly sprung Polestar version. Although the styling will appeal to those in the know - we think it even has a hint of BTCC touring car racer about it - the Volvo will slip by everyone else unnoticed.

Verdict

It may not have the out-and-out performance and dynamism to match an equivalent BMW, Audi or Mercedes, but that really isn’t the point. The Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine delivers enough performance when you want it (really, 0-60 in 4.6 is plenty for a family car), yet it’s design helps it subtly blend in when you just want to get to the office.

Inside, the Volvo is a masterclass in refinement, with an attractive and well-appointed cabin, and an infotainment system that, while a little complex at first, soon makes a great deal of sense.

The hybrid powertrain works smoothly and quietly, to the extent that it’s often easy to forget it’s even there. And, while MPG figures can vary massively depending on use and how often you charge up the battery, if you can plug in each night then most office commutes should be possible on electricity alone, which is no bad thing. Of course, thanks to Government plans to bring forward a ban on the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrids from 2040 to 2035, this should be factored into any consideration of a hybrid, even if you are buying 15 years before the ban.

Ultimately, deciding between the Twin Engine and regular S60 T8 depends almost entirely on whether you have a charger at home (or at work), and feel you can get the most out of that battery pack on a regular basis.

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Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine is a subtle yet sporty hybrid saloon - Wired.co.uk

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