Volvo / S80 / sedan range
Overview
VOLVO has been in the luxury car doldrums for far too long and the flagship of the second-generation S80 is evidence of just how serious the Scandinavian maker is about eroding the market supremacy of large sedans like BMW's 5 Series, the Mercedes-Benz E-class and Audi A6.
Finally, the new S80 brings V8 power and all-wheel drive traction to the menu of Volvo's flagship, while a new straight six with AWD reduces the V8's already-outstanding sub-$100,000 pricetag by a further $20,000.
Throw in a grunty-but-frugal front-drive turbo-diesel option for a starting price of $72,000, plus a host of cutting edge safety features, and there's no reason this super-comfortable, well equipped and highly refined Volvo kingpin shouldn't finally make BMW and Benz sit up and notice.
Model release date: February 2007
Previous model
Volvo's original S80 led a short but eventful life Down Under. Launched in May 1998 in 150kW/280Nm 2.9 six-cylinder and 200kW/380Nm 2.8 T6 guises, it was joined by the 2.9 and 2.8 T6 SE in July 1999, but was let down by a four-speed auto, too-light steering and underdone suspension. A 75th anniversary 2.9 in December 2002 and a 154kW/320Nm 2.5T (complete with five-speed auto and a new $75,950 starting price) couldn't help the big front-drive Swede's decent into discontinuation, which was complete by July 2005.
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