Vehicle: 2007 Volvo S80 V8 AWD with Luxury Pkg, Security Pkg, Premium sound system with 12 Dynoaudio speakers (aux input) and aluminum inlay
Price as tested: CDN$74110

Performance: This is the second application of V8 in Volvo vehicles. The first is the XC90 SUV, the S80 is the first Volvo passenger car to receive an V8 treatment. With 311 ponies and 325 lb/ft of torque, its certainly not the most powerful V8 in its class. Its neither the most refined and responsive V8 in the business neither. All of these areas have to take a backseat to Audi’s 4.2L FSI, BMW and Mercedes’s 5.5L V8. We found it a bit too rough and unrefined for 74k price tag. Its 6-speed Geartronic, however, is a good unit that provides ratio that is high enough for highway cruising and low enough to get this motor up to speed. Unfortunately, it still has the typical Volvo tendency of rubbish manumatic feel whenever the driver wants to shift him or herself.

Handling: Just like every Volvo has gone before, S80 has the benign driving feel and limits. One always feel safe behind the wheel of Volvo, thanks to its instrusive stability control and safety-over-eveything chassis tuning. S80 is no difference in this respect. The steering feedback is more than acceptable, as its precise enough to track path. However, the largest dynamic issue facing S80s of old still true today. On a tight 2-way street, S80 can’t do a proper lock-to-lock U-turn due to its ransversely- mounted engine layout. Although its not as obvious as the outgoing T6 FWD version, its still quite obvious on the V8 AWD. On the other hand, its Haldex AWD system matched up with the chassis really well. As it provides instant traction of maximium active safety, when mating to Volvo’s 4-C Active Chassis. With the setting to “sport”, we find the ride a bit rough and overdamping. Its better to set it to “comfort” consider S80 remains a comfort-over-sport luxury sedan. Even with “comfort” over washboard pavement, its ride quality still feels choppy.

Brakes: Depsite of my criticisms of S80′s dynamics, braking remains Volvo’s strong suit. Consider our S80′s close to 1800kg, its stopping distance is surprisingly short. With the help of brake assist, brake force distribution and ABS; it has a decent brake feel and modulation. In a nutshell, everything else feel Volvo-safe.

Interior: Along with Volvo’s usual goodies, the aluminum inlays in our S80 have been very well polished. Its a nice breakthrough from the wood-trim norm in this segment. In terms of plastic and leather materials, this has to be Volvo’s best interior ever. Soft plastic abound with leather-wrapped at the right places. The leather sports seats are as comfortable as any Volvo seats have gone before, although it doesn’t hug you as tightly as seats in its peers.

There are plenty of legroom for rear passengers, however, headroom has been compromised thanks to that sloppy C-pillars.

As with recent Volvos, the cargo opening is swallow with weird cut-off due to its new bold rear tailights. Other than beward of hitting the head due to low trunk, one also has to reach far to get anything out.

Conclusion: Even though the original S80 was a runaway success to bring Volvo upmarket, its execution had a-lot-to-be-desired. Volvo has addressed most issues with the latest version of the S80. It has much better interior craftsmanship, it handles better and, with the optional V8, Volvo finally has the bragging right to challenge the German titans. Here is the catch. With the underwhelming performance of this V8 and price difference vs 3.2 V6. Except you really have to tell your neighbor “I brought the first V8 Volvo passenger car!”, go with the straight-6. Because you know this V8 doesn’t worth the price premium, both in driver and consumer’s perspectives.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2007 VOLVO S80
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Performance: 3/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 2/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4.75/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 3/5
Value-for-money: 2/5

Overall rating: 3.5/5