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.