Yahoo Autos 2019 Volvo V60: Get Ready, it's Wagontime!
During a nineteen year production run starting in 1974, Volvo built 2,862,053 of its 200 Series. Many left Sweden sporting a five-door station wagon body, exclusively with fuel-injected engines for the United States. It's no wonder the last Volvo 200 produced in 1993 was a blue wagon. No other model could represent the European lifestyle abroad as well as a mid-sized family car, enhanced by a touch of luxury from Scandinavia.
In fact, driving a reasonably-sized premium wagon feels more Continental than a morning Prosecco. And while the previous V60 has been getting quite long in the teeth in recent years, finally, the wait is over, as Volvo has just launched a brand new one.
The 2019 V60 is built on the scalable SPA platform, just like the 90 cars and the mid-sized XC60 SUV. That means it features the same active and passive safety technologies, as well as the semi-autonomous Pilot Assist system and the touchscreen-focused Sensus infotainment introduced with the XC90.
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As far as the exterior design goes compared to the also SPA-based V90 and V90 Cross Country, this time around, Volvo could play around a bit more with the light, both in order to break up the mass visually, and to give the 60 models a more dominant stance. This tightened look is a requirement in this segment, not to mention that the V60 is also destined to spawn a Polestar variant sometime in the future. Still, if you ever saw a V90 with the R-Design package in the wild, the V60 won't cause a heart attack.
While other markets get two diesel options until the world gives up on them for good, Volvo's American offering starts with the front-wheel drive T5 (specs to be confirmed) and the all-wheel drive T6. This car packs 310 horsepower and 295 ft.-lbs. of torque, giving it a zero-to-sixty time of 5.8 seconds. Both plug-in hybrids are a full second quicker off the line, with the T6 Twin Engine having a peak output of 340 (253 gas+87 electric) horses and 435 ft.-lbs. of torque. Figures of the the top-of-the-line T8 variant should be familiar too, as this hybrid pushes you forward with 390 horsepower (303+87) and 472 foot-pounds. The latter gives the T8 a tow rating of 4409 lbs. as well, because you might have a cabin by the lake, and therefore, a boat.
Volvo's most handsome wagon to date can also weigh anything between 3725 lbs. (2WD) and 4561 lbs. (with those 10.4 kWh lithium-ion battery packs), but the V60 maintains a good relationship with the air, having a drag coefficient of 0.29. While not remarkable, that's still a pretty slippery figure from something that's 15.62 feet long and five inches off the ground.
And since wagons are all about versatility without suffering from the bulkiness of an SUV, you will be happy to know that the V60's boot and under floor storage compartment swallows 18.7 cubic feet of your stuff, but can be extended to 29.6/48.1 ft³ by kindly asking your occupants to take the bus.
More details about both Swedish premium family estates and the Care by Volvo subscription model will come once the 2019 V60 gets revealed this afternoon in Stockholm, where the current temperature is 26°F under a clear blue sky.
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