Volvo S60 R-Design

Here it is. My first blog post on the updated blog. We start with a topic brought up by a follower. Car safety: Is there a point where a car has too much in the way of safety features? This is actually a very interesting topic, simply because of the nature of the topic. People who have never experienced a car accident and people who know others who have died in car accidents are likely to have very differing views on the subject.

I believe that car safety is much like clothes. Yes, this sounds strange (who walks around wearing an airbag for instance?) But think of it this way. If you wanted to go into the Arctic on a expedition, you would need some sort of warm clothing. Arctic gear is not cheap, but you could simply duct-tape seven goose down pillows around your body and you would be warm; in the same way as if you fitted your car with an airbag which deployed covering your entire body in a crash, you would be safe in a crash. Sadly, these two solutions come at a price. How do you plan to move around with seven pillows strapped to your body? Where are all the other dashboard components going to go when there are 15 airbags ready to explode at the slightest provocation? And what about style? I doubt that the next fashion craze includes having pillows taped to your body, and I doubt that 15 airbag holders fit into a neat, stylish dashboard very well. I believe that the key to car safety is balance and ingenuity. Many car manufacturers do this, but only Volvo has managed it for the longest.

The new S60 R-Design is probably the best of all the 'safest' cars out there. I believe that it combines style, elegance, sportiness and driver enjoyment AND the maximum amount of safety for the driver and passengers in one excellent well priced bundle. For a start, its Swedish, which is pretty much a by-word for safety in the world of cars (they were the first to fit their cars with seat belts and safety cells for a kick-off) Secondly, the S60 R-Design is really just a normal S60 with a much more highly developed driver-experience. All of the things which keen drivers look for in a car have been improved, such as the suspension, the bushings and the steering. You can even specify a turbocharged 5 cylinder engine which develops 304 horsepower and sounds like a V10 engine.

So what about safety. Well this is where the S60 wins. The main focus on car safety these days is about crash prevention, and this is an area where the S60 shines. I don't think I've ever seen brakes as advanced as the S60's. The on board computer can detect an accident and pre charge the brake servo to full power, so that when the brakes are applied, all of the braking force is applied. The stability control can detect a potential spin and automatically prevent it, but at the same time not interrupt the feel of the drive and the steering. The S60 can also 'see' pedestrians, and automatically apply the brakes even if the brake pedal is ignored, to spare another life in the city.

The best thing about the S60 R-Design, is that all of the safety features are behind the scenes, so that you don't notice them, and they don't hinder the driving experience like other car's safety features. They just do their job very well, without you noticing. The S60 R-Design is the best car for the driver who wants to be sporty, but not scared that they'll slide into a car coming the other way. If you want to use a clotting analogy, think of the S60 as an Icebreaker Merino top. It keeps you warm and dry in the coldest of weather. But not so as you'd notice you were wearing a big Arctic jumper. (Or have seven pillows strapped to you for that matter)