Volvo stands up to the big boys

Volvo has something of a contraceptive reputation in motoring: a trustworthy marque with enough protection to prevent unplanned things from happening.

Among those outside the avid Volvo fan club, the name is synonymous with airbags, seatbelts and sturdy steel roll cages. Not the sort of things to get the heart pounding.

Yet there has long been a cult following for the Volvo brand among those interested more in acceleration than airbags. One only has to recall the likes of the 240bhp Volvo 850 T5R, which raced around the British Touring Car Championship in the mid-1990s taking on the best of the racier saloon marques; in its boxy estate body looking all the while like a carthorse in the Aintree Derby.

Those modest Swedes - who ironically live in a land where draconian speed laws prevail - have now come up with an R-version of the S60 and V70, which they believe to be a competitor with the likes of the current BMW M3, Audi's S4 and the 349 bhp Mercedes C32 AMG. A pretty powerful pack of competitors.

In fairness, the market is relatively small for such high-performance saloons and, at €73,500, Volvo is unlikely to sell more than nine a year at most. Not many, but then considering overall Volvo sales average around 3,000 a year, it's a niche within a niche.

To further qualify the S60R, it comes in at €27,090 more than the previous most powerful S60, the 2.3-litre T5.

Yet the prestige such cars bring to the brands are estimated to be worth losses made in producing them. It seems even the number-crunchers in Volvo's parent firm, Ford, can work out that particular equation, despite their efforts to cut back on everything from pens to paperclips.

According to reports, Volvo spent 10 times as much on the S60R compared with any previous R model. That's probably why the S60R features 300 horsepower, all-wheel drive, a fancy adjustable suspension, and Brembo brakes.

The R-versions are powered by a completely reworked 2.5-litre turbocharged straight five cylinder, offering up to 300 bhp. Apart from the likes of reinforced pistons and a new cylinder head, the low-pressure Mitsubishi turbo in the regular engine has been replaced by a larger KKK unit that more than doubles peak boost to 14.7 psi. The result is a galloping mid-rev performance that whizzes you past any doubtful idlers, snubbing their noses at the conservative Volvo. Yet for all that, it does not feature any degree of turbo lag and sweetly rises to its 6,500 rpm redline if you can find the appropriate conditions.

The price you pay here is a far more raucous roar than one ever expects from a Volvo, though nowhere near as sweet as the BMW M3. Zero to 62 mph comes at just 5.8 seconds, which is most notably only 0.2 seconds slower than the Audi S4 and 0.6 seconds slower than the Mercedes C32 AMG, though it's a full second slower than the BMW M3.

The engine is paired with a new six-speed manual, which offers short throws, and narrowed gates. Unfortunately it's been mated with a clutch that needs significant gym work before heading into heavy traffic and engages very high for a car in its class. This means that, when you're moving from a regular saloon, it takes a good deal of acclimatising to get to grips with the R. Yet within 30 minutes or so we were getting to grips with the S60R on Irish roads.

Our previous encounters with the car involved interminable lectures from Volvo personnel on the chassis engineering. In fairness it only reflects the effort the diligent Swedes have put in to this element of the car. It is here they hope to win the performance race, rather than with sheer brute power.

The aim was to create a car that offered the performance of a saloon racer but the ability to smoothly wend its way through motorway and town traffic. The suspension features stiffer springs, revised rear geometry, larger anti-roll bars, and a trick, three-way-adjustable shock system developed jointly by Monroe and Öhlins, a Swedish racing-shock supplier. Each shock is instantaneously adjusted based on input from seven monitors placed throughout the car. Volvo calls this technology Four-C, or Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept. Via three buttons in the centre of the dash, the dampers can be set to comfort, sport, or advanced, the last suitable only for an ultra-smooth racetrack or road; a button that will go largely unused on Irish models.

For us, the sport mode offers the best compromise over most surfaces, if you are prepared to suffer the harshness you will undoubtedly encounter on Irish roads. We dallied with the advanced mode out of sheer sado-masochism, and the undoubted benefits it brought to the car's handling, but the sports is best, and closest to the fixed stiff settings of competitors.

The final choice is Comfort, aimed for long straight cruising, though we found it too soft for bumpy roads, giving a ride comparable with a bouncy 4x4 and oodles of uncomfortable body roll that borders on a white-knuckle ride at times.

Overall, even with the anti-slippage and all-wheel-drive system, the car handles more like a front-wheel drive, drifting slightly into corners. We recently had the chance to test the car's Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) system on a variety of wet and dry conditions and for all the gadgetry the simple fact is the car is amazingly secure on even the most slippery of surfaces. This is where Volvo's safety consciousness comes to the fore in the R-version.

Unfortunately the steering is not as responsive as one would like for a car in its class, not offering up as much information from the road as one would expect. The 12.9-inch Brembo brakes, on the other hand, perform flawlessly, offering Porsche-like performance.

In terms of looks, the differences between this and the regular model - which we have always been quite taken with - are extremely discreet. Apart from small R-lettering around the car, there's a new front bumper, primarily to feed more air to the engine and a subtle rear spoiler. Blue gauges with polished metal surrounds decorate the instrument panel, though they do catch the sunlight at certain angles.

So is it really worth 50 per cent more than the next best S60? Yes. Will many choose this over the potent Germans? With the lower price, it might just tempt some away from the Teutonic trio but the story is less its ability to beat the Germans and more the great leap forward Volvo has made to be even considered in the same company as them.