- Where are we?
Are we back?
Is this real life?
I'm sorry, the suede couch may never ever be seen again.
You can throw an F in the chat
but while we're missing the couch,
it's really not that special.
I know it holds a special place in your heart
but it really doesn't hold a special place in my heart.
(sad music)
Like six of you might actually care
but there's a car that's like that out there too,
a car that really is only truly
special for a handful of people,
while the rest of the world wonder
why you would ever own this thing.
Because, well, I hate to say it but its just a Volvo.
I'm Alex, Alex.FI on Instagram
and today, ladies and gentlemen,
we're gonna be talking about a car
that not many people know about until they drive one
and then they just never ever go back,
a car that by true definition is unsuspecting,
a car that is without a doubt
one of the most interesting cars in the world,
a car that has tried its damnedest
to go toe to toe with the likes of the then M3 and S4.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna be talking about
you wanting to own a Volvo S60R.
(lively music) (car engine revving)
(car engine revving)
And if you're just jumping into this,
hello, ha, that was a sneak attack hi.
Welcome, and if you're just looking for
aftermarket wheels, tires or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com
where we literally have everything,
including wheels for your funky little Volvo
because it has a weird bolt pattern.
Type it up.
I'm just letting you know it's a little bit funky.
That's okay.
And of course, don't forget to subscribe
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and I promise we'll always love you.
I got my old coffee cup back.
Max is staring at me, it's really weird.
Anyway Volvo has always been
an interesting car manufacturer.
Bred as a safe family vehicle to do just about anything,
Volvo was that brand!
They've always been that brand!
It was the safety brand, the brand that people
bought when they were scared that cars would kill 'em.
I mean it was like, you didn't buy a Subaru at that time,
you bought a Volvo, Volvos were the safe pick.
And even though Volvo has been around
since 1927, which is a damn long time,
the S60 came into this little world
just a few months after Y2K
with four doors and came to replace the S70,
which if you want something that's gonna
make your brain go a little bit hot,
you're gonna wanna figure out how
all the nomenclature for Volvos work.
Anyway, the first generation would stay in production
from 2000 to 2009, featuring multiple facelifts
which is why there's that little awkward
turtle thing going on when people see so many
slightly different versions of the S60
but they're all a little different,
like college individuals with jean jackets and UGGs,
like they are the same but they're not really.
But Volvo really never had their
true R range or performance line.
Volvo, previous slide to the hip of Renault,
never really allowed Volvo to create
a pure Swedish performance machine.
And even though some believe that the R line
became possible due to Ford's purchase of Volvo in 1999,
the R line was conceived before that,
especially with the 850 P5R which was,
by all definitions, the picture you'd see
if you Googled up the word "sleeper."
It is a toaster and it is built like a train
and it was a die and it's fast as (beep)
and it just does good work, okay?
So in enters the S60R a few years later,
the Tobey Maguire of "Spider-Man 3"
after the Venom takeover, bumping into people,
wearing black, acting all sassy,
shaking the good boy syndrome and
never apologizing for not opening the door.
That was Volvo creating the S60R.
The S60R in 2004 was a pure Swedish Volvo machine
that featured a Haldex all wheel-drive system
and 300 beautiful,
beautiful ponies out of an inline five-cylinder,
which if anybody knows, inline five-cylinders
with a little bit of exhaust work sound marvelous.
(engine revving)
You get in a six-speed manual transmission,
massive front bumpos and electronically-adjustable
suspension, which was interesting for 2004,
and some neat little gauges that would make
"Need for Speed: Underground 2" jealous.
This car was awesome.
It was trying to shake the old nice safety
little thing and show that it was serious.
The all-wheel-drive was a huge step forward for this car
because of the viscous coupling of the old Volvos
felt a little bit like a drag of the system.
Viscous all-wheel-drive systems are little bit laggy.
And the S60R could do it all pretty well in most conditions.
It was still a Volvo so it was safe.
It was conservative but they tried enough to
make it feel like a wolf's in sheep's clothing.
But it really wasn't.
It was more just like a golden retriever
in sheep's clothing because it was still a Volvo.
Like it was still, like it's just
like what your nan would drive.
The S60R would get a name change in future generations
as Volvo would change their R title to R-Design
and inevitably change over to the Polestar trim
which is Volvo's racing division.
It's in "Need for Speed," okay?
It starts to get a little bit weird with
Polestar and R trims and all that
but the generation of the S60 continued
and you'll now see the S60 Polestars
floating around few and far between,
mostly because they are a little bit expensive
and they're really not all that marketed.
Production on the second generation ended in 2018
and the S60 name lives on in a third generation
that looks incredibly, incredibly good.
I might say
S60 looks sharp.
It's made in Ridgeville, South Carolina, America.
If you wanna buy domestic, buy a Volvo.
I'm not entirely sure how that makes sense,
with a Swedish car manufacturer in the United States,
but that's just how it is sometimes.
It is what it is!
But most people know the S60R with
the polygon-style tail lights,
the aggressive fascia that never really seems to date
and an interesting logo that looks a little bit
like another manufacturer that is way less reliable
and has a tendency to start on fire.
Right!
But, but wait, wait, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, pamparakaa!
We're not, okay, Linda, listen!
We're not here to talk about the history of the S60R, okay?
We're wanting to talk about you wanting to own
one of these little odd ducks that just
couldn't get in the front of the M3 in time to make a dent.
So you want a Volvo S60R?
Well set down your beard cream, Shawn,
and grab your favorite $50 Ray-Ban sunglasses
from a tagged post on Facebook
because we're about to talk over
what it's like to actually own one of
these beautiful, beautiful four-door machines.
I like S60Rs by the way, in case you couldn't tell.
They are a little weird, they are a little
like in its own place, but they are pretty cool.
If you're looking to jump into an S60R,
you need to know that these things
are jam-packed full of technology,
which is what Volvo really wanted to do in the mid 2000s.
Like a lot of technology!
Also because it's from the mid 2000s,
there's gonna be some cool technologies
that can turn into massive just piles of junk.
I mean problems, it's just kinda what happened.
So just be careful that if you are buying a Volvo,
that it was well-maintained, especially when it
comes down to the technology bits with the suspension.
The torque in the first and second gears were
limited to pretty much 250 foot pounds in the automatic,
so you need to be careful with modifications for that
if you do have an automatic car.
Sleeve cylinders are prone to failure
and that happens usually around 60,000 miles.
Leaks and struts can become an expensive repair
especially with Volvo's Four-C technology
which was a really fancy suspension tech
that they had in the Volvo S60Rs at the time.
People can get quotes upwards towards
$1,800 just to replace the leaky old struts.
The maintenance items are all pretty standard
but those records are especially important
on these cars due to their age and of course
because they're touted as a performance sedan.
Obviously having Brembo big brakes is
gonna make the brake cost just a little bit more,
so you always just wanna keep an eye on that sort of stuff
if you are looking to pick up an S60R.
Now S60Rs claim to have weak cylinder walls
so be conscious of that when you're
throwing tons of power at it.
However, most people will modify 'em anyway
with just rebuilding them as the issues arrive.
Volvos aren't inherently super terrible to work on.
They just require a little bit of extra knowledge.
They're a little bit tougher than your typical 350.
Because they have a bunky bolt pattern,
wheel options are limited but most people
end up going with just a wider five-spoke wheel.
Even though the OAMs were nearly the same,
Volvo S60R five-spoke wheels are the coolest,
the simplest and just some of the most
bad (bleep) wheels I could ever imagine in my entire life.
They're so conservative and they're so Volvo, okay?
You can get some BC Racing Coilover,
a roof rack and some all-season
and you're pretty much ready to roll with a Volvo S60R.
Just be careful!
Suspension will get ya.
Volvos are a unique space owned by unique individuals
and I joke but Volvos really are in a weird spot.
They're neat, they are quick and they're fun sedans.
They take power but not really too much.
They're fun as heck but they can be a little quirky
with issues that you have to be smart about.
They're dated but they never really age.
They're like an odd-looking George Clooney
because they just, they look at 'em
and it looks like they never changed.
It never really took off because
the M3 still took its spot during the time
but that doesn't really matter.
They're sporty but not uncomfortable.
They just can't really pick a mood.
(gasping)
People that then do enjoy modifying them
get them as close to possible as blowing up
and that's something that you
just have to be kindness enough.
And if that's not enough, the S60 is constantly compared
to its predecessor which many people feel is
a stronger car that can take more abuse,
even though the S60R in my eyes
I think looks a little bit better.
And I like them, I like 'em a lot!
Volvo S60R, banger of a car, and it's one of those things
where if you do take to a car show
or if you do take to an autocross event,
you're gonna get people that come up to you
and ask you what you're doing driving a Volvo around
and you're gonna have to point at the
brakes that nobody else knows about,
'cause it's just, it's what it is.
So what do you think about the Volvo S60R?
Let us know in the comment section below
and of course, if you're looking for
aftermarket wheels, tires or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com,
and if you have an aftermarket Volvo with your
bunky wheel pattern or bolt pattern
or you've got something different than five-spoke wheels,
add it over to our gallery over at fitmentindustries.com/ad.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
We hope you enjoyed, we will see you later.
Peace!