Volvo S60 R-Design DRIVe Powershift Start Stop
Car review: RALPH MORTON
What is it?
Volvo’s four door saloon given the go-faster treatment with the R-Design spec. It works, too. More to the point, here is an automatic – right in the heart of company car driver land – that costs no more in its company car tax banding than the manual version. Volvo calls this auto Powershift – a dual clutch autobox that allows very fast and smooth changes. Not only that, there’s a fuel-saving stop-start function too. The Volvo S60 R-Design tested here costs £27,980 on the road. 
What’s hot?
- Figures first: the S60 is an auto but emissions are just 114g/km, which means a company car tax band of 16%
- Translated into pounds shilling and pence, that’s £75 a month company car tax for a 20% tax payer
- Then there’s 65.7mpg fuel economy – so running costs for any business are going to be very well contained
- It’s also well under the corporation tax allowances for 2013, too, whether you are a business that’s leasing or buying your company cars
- R-Design adds sporting touches to give the Volvo saloon real road presence
- There are sports seats, an exterior styling kit, and big 18 inch alloy wheels
- Despite the sports looks, motorway progress is serenely mile-eating
- Thanks also to a comfortable cabin with excellent in-car entertainment system, and easy to use controls
- Plus an extensive range of brilliant safety kit, from the standard City Safety system – auto vehicle stopping at low speeds if the driver doesn’t react – to adaptive cruise control
- Smooth-acting gearbox and unobtrusive stop-start
What’s not?
- Those figures – look under the bonnet and you’ll find a 1.6 diesel engine with only 115hp
- Which means – unless you’ve got a good run at it – don’t bother to overtake cars on A-roads and so on…
- …because you simply won’t have the puff
- Sportingly firm ride will irritate some company car drivers who want more ride compliance
- A few bits of the R-Design trim could do with better finishing
Business Car Manager verdict
What a refreshing company car choice this is for business car buyers. Boldly standing out from the default choice German crowd, the Volvo S60 R-Design DRIVe offers sporting good looks, exceptional running costs and low company car tax.
The Volvo is not quite as good in this executive car field in a company car comparison as the class leading BMW 320d EfficientDynamics automatic.
But then the BMW is fairly exceptional.
