The same is true of cars. If a brand is recognized by consumers all over the world in one aspect, it is easy to ignore its performance in other aspects. This phenomenon happened to Volvo.
When it comes to Volvo, the first word that comes to mind is almost always safety, and the temperament of safety is often associated with safety and firmness, which almost runs counter to BMW's most prominent movement and manipulation. It is also for this reason that Volvo's consistently excellent sportiness has been ignored. It was not until the official launch of the new generation S60 that many people finally realized that Volvo is also a very "sports" brand.
Why does the brand-new S60, which is famous for its safety, become the rival of BMW 3 Series?
The first reason why the sportiness of the brand-new S60 has attracted attention is that it was accidentally inserted-after the replacement, it became one of the few domestic models of the same class that did not extend. Lengthening the wheelbase and body will often reduce the handling and sports performance of the whole vehicle while improving the interior space, so the luxury car with standard wheelbase will naturally give people a better sense of handling.
At the same time, the BMW 3 Series, once the benchmark of luxury B-class cars, further compromised on comfort after the replacement, which disappointed many sports-oriented consumers. In contrast, the brand-new S60, which insists on introducing the standard axis, has attracted the attention of some sports fans.
In addition, the overall design of the new S60 is also trying to create a sense of movement. It is still a car with a horizontal engine, but the overall body posture is very similar to a typical rear-wheel drive, and this temperament is vividly reflected on the side of the car body.
The wheels arranged as far as possible towards the front of the car bring a very short front suspension, and the distance between the front wheel and the front door and fender is much longer than that of the ordinary front wheel. Without opening the hood, it is difficult to guess that the new S60 is a horizontal front-wheel drive model.
In addition, by thickening the C-pillar, the side of the brand-new S60 presents a dive posture with low front and high back. Through the short canard design above the rear of the car, the brand-new S60 shows a stronger sportsmanship than the BMW 3 Series.
Of course, this is just the appearance of the new S60. Does this car really have the sports strength of PK BMW 3 Series?
The neglected performance advantages of the new Volvo S60.
Just as BMW 3 Series is divided into power versions such as 320, 325 and 330, Volvo's new S60 is also divided into power versions such as T3, T4, T5 and T8. So what is the performance of different power versions of the two models?
The extended wheelbase version is undoubtedly the main sales version of the BMW 3 Series. But in order to be fair, we still list the data and performance of the standard axis and long axis versions of the 3 Series, and compare them with the parameters of Volvo's brand-new S60:
T3 version of Volvo's brand-new S60 corresponds to 320/320Li of Series 3. The maximum power and peak torque of the new S60 are slightly higher than the acceleration performance of 320/320Li, 0- 100km/h, and the new S60? The score of 8.9 seconds is also slightly better than 9 seconds of 320 and 9. 1 second of 320Li.
New S60? The T4 version corresponds to 325/325Li, and its dynamic parameters are slightly higher than the new S60, while the speed-up performance of 0- 100km/h is the new S60? T4 version 7.7 seconds, better than 325Li? 8. 1 sec.
New S60? T5 corresponds to 330/330Li, in which the engine parameters of the new S60 are slightly lower than those of the 3-series high-power version, and the score of 0- 100km/h is 6.5 seconds, which is also slightly lower than 6.2 seconds of 330 and 5.9 seconds of 330Li.
It can be seen that among the three power versions, Volvo S60 and BMW 3 Series have their own advantages and disadvantages, but the gap is very small. The two cars are at the same level in power parameters and 0- 100 km/h acceleration performance.
Different from the 3 Series, this generation of new S60 has introduced a super T8 high-performance electric drive hybrid version. The system has a comprehensive maximum power of 288kW, a peak torque of 640n·m, and a performance of 0- 100km/h of 4.6 seconds. It is the only car of the same class in China that entered the 5-second club.
Regarding the motion characteristics of a car, besides the dynamic performance, there is another parameter that people often ignore, and that is the braking performance. If the power performance of the new S60 is equal to that of the 3 Series except for the T8 version, then its braking performance is an obvious advantage.
In the braking test in car home, the braking distance of 100km/h is excellent within 39 meters. Brand new S60? The measured result of T5 reaches 36.4 1 m, while the actual result of BMW 325Li is 37.38 m.. This level has a gap of 1 m, and the braking performance has a leap-forward gap.
In fact, in addition to the advantages in fierce driving, braking performance is also the embodiment of a car's safety performance. Many Volvo models are characterized by the pursuit of ultimate safety and equally excellent handling performance. In this respect, Volvo's brand-new S60 embodies more sports genes than that.
Volvo's safety gene is actually a sports base?
We all know that Volvo is a brand that takes safety as the highest pursuit. Therefore, when most luxury brands adopt the vertical layout of engines, Volvo insists on the horizontal layout of engines for a long time, in order to leave more impact-resistant space in the engine compartment and avoid the erosion of the passenger compartment by longitudinal engines and gearboxes. The "disadvantage" brought by horizontal layout is that only predecessor architecture can be adopted. However, it is worth noting that although the front-wheel drive has sacrificed at the drift level, it does not mean that the front-wheel drive cannot achieve excellent handling and sports performance.
In addition, active safety, as a major field of safety performance, is also closely related to the handling performance of a car. In the Nordic region where Volvo is located, ice and snow roads are common, and elk can be seen everywhere, and Volvo models have excellent performances in these scenes. The elk test reflects the ability of a car to avoid danger in extreme road conditions, and also reflects the handling limit of a car.
After the replacement, the sports potential of the new S60 has been further improved. This car is based on Volvo's new SPA extensible module architecture, and its key structure has changed substantially compared with the previous generation.
The first is the front suspension. McPherson suspension was adopted in the previous generation S60, which saved space, but it was not conducive to the stability of limit state control. An obvious disadvantage brought by it is that the front wheel steering angle is small, and it is often necessary to reverse one more time than other models when turning. The new S60 is upgraded to the front double wishbone suspension, which greatly improves the flexibility of low-speed steering, and the tire grip is also greatly improved during intense driving, especially when cornering.
At the same time, the new S60 rear suspension adopts an innovative new structure, and the spring rod made of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) replaces the traditional spiral spring. The reason why this structure is adopted is that the previous Volvo models adopted a suspension mode that easily occupied the trunk space in order to ensure the flexibility and handling limit of the rear wheels, while the new S60 replaced the GFRP spring rod structure, which greatly liberated the trunk space while maintaining the flexibility of the rear wheels.
Thanks to the flexibility of SPA's extensible module architecture, the new S60 can easily coordinate the power of motor and engine, thus giving birth to the hybrid version of T8 high-performance E-drive, with a combined maximum power of 288kW and a break of 100 in 4.6 seconds.
The dynamic performance does not lose 3 series, the braking performance is ahead at the same level, and the suspension structure has great motion potential. The brand-new S60 takes safety as the first goal, and does not lose the benchmark of the same level in maneuverability and sportiness.
What's the difference between the new S60 and the BMW 3 Series?
As early as many years ago, the BMW 3 Series began to compromise on comfort, and this generation of 3 Series is more obvious. This has become an industry knowledge.
When I test-drive the 325Li, I obviously feel that the steering force is softer than before and the suspension damping is softer. At the same time, its seat is more comfortable than the previous generation 3 series, which fits the curvature of the back better and the texture of the seat filler is softer. It's hard to imagine that this is a BMW if you are sitting in the 3 series blindly.
However, the sports foundation of Series 3 is still very solid. The 8AT gearbox is still responsive and the power is on call. After the comfort adjustment, the original thick chassis is more calm when encountering bumps. However, if you try to change the line urgently at medium and high speed, you can feel that the posture of the car body is not as calm as that of the previous generation 3 Series, and the suspension compression stroke is obviously larger.
If measured by the standard of a family car, the new generation 3 Series is undoubtedly a good and comfortable car. However, it is undeniable that its motion characteristics have indeed been greatly weakened. With the improvement of the overall NVH, the engine operation and exhaust sound are more gentle, and the feedback from the road surface to the carriage can only be clearly felt when there are large potholes and bumps, while the more subtle road surface information has become very vague. Coupled with the overall comfort of the seat, it is difficult for the driver to have a fight in it before.
The new S60 is completely different. Compared with the previous generation S60, this generation has actually eased the steering strength and shock absorption hardness, but its overall handling texture is obviously more original than the new 3 series.
When encountering slight bumps, the road condition and even tiny lines can still be clearly transmitted to the seat and steering wheel. It's just a relatively large potholed road, and the shock absorption is thicker than that of the previous generation S60. The most impressive thing is that when driving at high speed on a flat road, you can obviously feel the fit between the tire and the road. When driving on the uneven road, the suspension can always press the car body firmly on the road.
In addition, thanks to the non-lengthened body, the overall handling of the new S60 is obviously more dexterous and smooth than that of the lengthened 325Li.
At the same time, the overall NVH of the new S60 has been improved, but it has not caused more interference to the engine and exhaust sound. The performance of 8AT gearbox in quick response is not inferior to that of 3-series longitudinal 8AT, while the new S60 gearbox is smoother than 3-series gearbox when the throttle is turned off after acceleration.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that as an old owner of the previous generation S60L, when I got on the new S60L, I obviously felt that the sitting posture of this car was much lower than that of the previous generation. After the seat is adjusted downward to the lowest, it is almost close to the floor. The range of longitudinal adjustment of the steering wheel has also increased a lot compared with the previous generation, making it easier for drivers to find their position.
In addition, many people have neglected that the height of the new S60 has been reduced from 1.866mm of the previous generation to 1.850mm, and the overall body center of gravity has been further reduced. This still helps to improve mobility.
abstract
As an old owner of S60L, I actually have a deep understanding of Volvo's genes in sports performance for a long time, but under the aura of safety, this trait has been ignored by the public. With the launch of the brand-new S60, Volvo's performance in sports and handling has finally been gradually understood by consumers.
With the BMW 3 Series moving closer to comfort, Volvo's new S60 has found a new balance between sportiness and comfort while maintaining excellent handling characteristics. Consumers who really know how to manipulate and will not be blinded by the brand effect can easily find the charm of this car after experiencing the brand-new S60.
In the future luxury brand B-class sports car field, there must be a place for Volvo's brand-new S60.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.