Volvo Shows S60 Concept Ahead of Detroit Show

S60 Concept Photos

Wow! If the new S60 looks like this concept, we're in for a treat. (Photo: Volvo)

A unique taillight design and raked rear windscreen make for an entirely new look for Volvo. (Photo: Volvo)

Is this a hint at the upcoming S60 interior? (Photo: Volvo)

Pillarless access is cool for a concept, and the slider rear doors would be ultimately handy. (Photo: Volvo)

Promising to be a unique driving experience. (Photo: Volvo)

The problem with creating a truly great design is following up with a replacement in four years’ time. Such a daunting task has eluded many an automaker, but it doesn’t seem to have fazed Volvo in updating its new S60.

The current car’s Peter Horbury-penned design took the already graceful S80 sedan shape he created earlier, added more complex curves, a lower, leaner profile and overall better proportions for a sexier look. It was and still is one of the more attractive premium four door models on the market, and due to this and other attributes has enjoyed tremendous success. And now for the follow up.

We showed two teaser shots recently, one of the car’s rakish silhouette and another being an artistically interpreted view of the dash and floating center stack, but rather than keep us in suspense for another three weeks Volvo has kindly given us a full allotment of beautiful high-resolution photos and a few details about the car ahead of schedule. But wait a minute? Is this the real deal or yet another teaser?

Volvo has dubbed this car the S60 Concept, not the 2010 S60 as we had hoped. Sånt är livet, as they say in Sweden, we’ll just have to wait for an upcoming auto show, probably Geneva, for the actual production car. Just the same, the S60 Concept gives a fairly good idea of what we can expect from the upcoming road car, and that the current model’s shapely suit will soon look more like a fashionably conservative Zegna in comparison to an eye catching Etna.

Following recent trends toward coupe-like rear pillars the S60 Concept is much sportier than its predecessor. Uniquely pointed headlamps are a radical departure from anything currently offered by Volvo and mirror the brake vents just below, while the grille is also a completely new look that should appeal to an even broader segment of the market. Sculpted is the best word to describe the S60 Concept’s hood, the centermost portion raised up as it pulls back from the grille and the outside segments sweeping back into what look to be tiny air collectors at the base of the windshield. The front fascia is a complex X shaped ordeal that will please some and leave others looking for something less aggressive, while a beautiful arc pulls front sheet metal to back and, below, deeply sculpted bodywork forms each side door as it visually sweeps rearward to meet up with one of the more radical rear segments in the auto business. While unorthodox, the S60 Concept’s rear quarters are hardly unattractive, but those used to the triangular brake lamps in the current Volvo sedan lineup will be shaken by the boomerang design of LEDs used on this new car.

It’s difficult to say which aspects of the concept will carry forward in the production S60, but the full glass roof is probably not one of them. It does give a nice view of the concept’s interior, however, one that crafts a stunningly attractive visual statement from materials that look extremely high-grade. It’s a look that would most certainly raise Volvo’s game in the premium segment if allowed to reach production, although we’re probably looking at a little reality mixed in with the design team’s rather expressive creativity.

The seats float much like the center console, now a Volvo trademark, while the car features bright hues and unique crystalline trim. I like the shift lever, which really isn’t a lever at all when in drive as it sits horizontally along the center console, but can be pulled vertically for rowing through the gears when desired. That’s good space efficiency. This just might make it to production, but don’t expect the car to arrive without a B-pillar as it’s just for a better view into the interior when on the show circuit.

What we can expect is the full assortment of safety features common to all Volvos, plus the advancement of the Swedish brand’s Collision Warning system with Full Auto Brake that uses radar, a camera and a control unit to dramatically reduce low-speed pedestrian collisions at speeds under 12 mph and minimize the force of impact during higher speed accidents. Volvo has also enhanced low-speed capability of its Active Cruise Control system with the ability to maintain distance from a vehicle ahead to the point of fully stopping.

The concept uses a new gasoline turbocharged direct-injection four-cylinder engine Volvo dubs GTDi, good for 179-horsepower. Conjoined to Volvo’s Powershift dual-clutch transmission, it should be good for sporting yet efficient driving dynamics. The concept boasts start/stop capability as well, to reduce emissions while idling, a special economy mode and a number of aerodynamic measures to reduce wind resistance that altogether combine for a 47 mpg city/hwy rating and less than 120 g/km of C02 emissions.

Whether or not all of the green technologies will make it to S60 production is unknown outside of Göteborg, but the GTDi engine will appear in 2009, according to reports. No doubt, more information will surface about the S60 when the concept arrives in Detroit.