 2015 Volvo V60 R-Design. Click image to enlarge |
Review and photos by Justin Pritchard
The station wagon was once a handsome and powerful creature sought out by the family-hauling masses for its room and flexibility. But today, thanks to pesky crossover SUVs, the once-majestic station wagon has become as overlooked and irrelevant as third-page Google search results.
A shame, partly, because a wagon is more like a car than a crossover is. That means they’re typically lower, lighter, trimmer, and sportier – not to mention better on fuel, easier to park and more fun to drive. Plus, driving a wagon tells fellow motorists that you’re serious about your duties as a fertile, offspring-minded family man.
In a fairly bold move, Volvo’s just launched a station wagon version of their S60 sports sedan. This is marvelous, mainly because the S60 is one of the most beautiful-to-drive-in-any-conditions sports sedan models on the market today, and because the V60 wagon, which is basically an S60 wearing a backpack, is seriously sexy.
The V60 is a turbo wagon. And the awesome thing about turbo wagons is that they go like stink and have room for your stuff. This makes them an easy sell to the wife: a good thing, since you’ll want to sell your wife on one of these, big time.
The V60 variant in question is the T6 R-Design, which caps the V60 model range as the most powerful Volvo wagon yet. You get a generous cargo area for easy pet access, or for tailgate picnics, or for family camping or so the missus can load up with a weekend worth of shopping. There’s a pop-up cargo divider, and split-folding rear seats to set the V60 up for nearly any combination of passengers and gear required.
  2015 Volvo V60 R-Design. Click image to enlarge |
V60 also provides drivers and their families with all the top-notch safety stuff that comes along with Volvo ownership. Like a rolling NORAD base, the V60 emits a constant array of radar and laser, while using cameras to actively scan the world around it for hazards. It can warn drivers if they’re drifting from their lane, about to rear end someone, or about to take a surprise snooze at the wheel. The V60 can even automatically brake if it’s about to hit a pedestrian or cyclist, though Volvo staff made me promise not to try that system out.
Further, there’s an all-wheel-drive system designed in Sweden by people who go downhill skiing on their lunch break, so there’s no getting stuck.
The gist? There’s plenty of storage, cargo room, flexibility and all that wholesome warm and fuzzy sensibility that comes from buying a safe and level-headed family hauler. Yes, the wife will love her safe and sensible new V60 R-Design, which is good, because so will you.
