Volvo's S80 sedan was the company's first car to break out of the box, design-wise, but eight years on it's looking pretty dowdy. A redo for 2007 pushes the Scandinavian design thing even harder, adds the latest safety technology (big surprise there), and ups the speed quotient with an optional V-8 and a new standard in-line six.
Overall length is the same, but the S60-like greenhouse makes the new S80 look smaller. Unlike the S60, the S80 retains adequate headroom in back (with help from a low seat cushion) and even manages to eke out a bit more legroom than before. The real news inside, though, is that Volvo has taken the modernist aesthetic even further than in the widely acclaimed S40. That car's floating center-stack panel appears here, joined by artful detailing and logically grouped controls that create a clean look without gimmicky hideaway panels or annoying iDrive-style controllers. Typical of Volvo, the seats are supremely comfortable; don't be surprised if your passengers nod off.
You could wake them up by gunning the Yamaha-built, 311-hp, 4.4-liter V-8, a sweet engine that deserved wider play than in just the XC90. Volvo has paired it with all-wheel drive to keep torque steer in check, but unfortunately, the six-speed automatic can be lazy on the downshifts. The base engine is a new, 3.2-liter straight six, and it's a lot livelier than the current car's turbo five.... Read full article