Volvo S80 History
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The Volvo S80 is a full-size sedan, and the largest sedan in Volvo’s lineup. With an emphasis on safety and technology more than outright performance, along with available all-wheel drive, the S80 takes on the likes of the Cadillac STS, the Acura RL, and the Lincoln MKS.
Built on a completely new platform, the S80 replaced the 940 and 960 in the Swedish automaker’s lineup in 1999. Initially the S80 was powered by a 197-horsepower, 2.9-liter V-6 with front-wheel drive; this engine provided reasonable power but didn’t feel that perky in this big sedan, and it was rather thirsty. A 2.5-liter turbocharged model (the 2.5T) was added in 2004, paired with a five-speed automatic transmission, and this engine could be had with front- or all-wheel drive. It’s considerably quicker than the V-6 in real-world driving. In any of these S80s, ride quality is good but handling, although confident, couldn’t be called sporty. While rare, the sporty T6, with a turbocharged 2.8-liter in-line six making 268 horsepower, is the performance choice; the available 4C active suspension gives this model considerably better cornering ability and body control. Through this first generation, safety and technology were the clear selling points; the S80 offered lots of options and upgrades like dual-zone climate control, HID headlamps, and a backseat dual-screen entertainment system.
Either for its time or compared to new cars today, those first S80s offered a level of safety as good or better than any other large sedan. All S80 models included side airbags, and active front headrests, but electronic stability control wasn’t fitted to all models. Top-of-the-line T6 models have stability control, but in a lapse of the “core safety” Volvo philosophy, the safety feature was an option on other models.
Volvo redesigned the S80 for 2007; with a lower and leaner look overall, the entire line became much sportier, with a new 235-hp, 3.2-liter six and six-speed automatic transmission. This model actually felt somewhat sporty, but above that there’s both the 281-hp, 3.0-liter turbo six in the T6 and a 311-hp, 4.4-liter V-8 engine in the S80 V8. Among these models, the rip-roaring V-8 is by far the most fun to drive, with accessible torque, a willing transmission and AWD system, and a surprisingly throaty, audacious sound for a Volvo. 0-60 runs take less than six seconds; that said, the S80 still isn’t a full-fledged sport sedan—it’s happier with sweeping corners than tight canyon roads or taking on hundreds of miles a day thanks to the amazing front seats.
On this second-generation S80, Volvo introduced a slew of safety technology, along with even more interior conveniences. A Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) uses warning lights next to the side mirrors to warn about adjacent vehicles, while the Personal Car Communicator (PCC) is a more sophisticated key fob system that will alert you if your car’s been broken into. It even includes a heartbeat sensor. These versions come with more impressive interior trim and an excellent available Dynaudio sound system.
Over the past couple of model years, Volvo has streamlined and simplified the S80 lineup, which now consists of the base front-wheel-drive model and the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive T6. For 2011, Volvo dropped the S80 V8, and it reconfigured some of the S80's features and options. Then for 2012, Volvo's City Safety obstacle-alert system was made standard in the S80, and the automaker managed to boost the front-wheel-drive S80's EPA ratings 1 mpg, to 20/29 mpg.
