The 2019 Volvo S60 has arrived, and not a moment too soon. Volvo’s small premium sedan finally broke cover after weeks of build-up, ushering in a new era for the Swedish automaker in its attempt to compete against established titans like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The new S60 represents a lot of new things for Volvo. It’s bringing the company’s new design language to the masses, which, in a lot of ways, is one of its biggest selling points. Say what you will about the new S60, but one thing that’s indisputable is that it’s a major step-up from its predecessor.

Exterior

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There really isn’t any comparison here. The third-generation Volvo S60 is in a completely different aesthetic league compared to the second-generation model. Granted, the previous S60 succeeded in brushing away the long-held belief that Volvo wasn’t good at anything except building boxy cars. It had that kind of reputation until the second-gen S60 showed up to prove a lot of people wrong.

In a lot of ways, the last S60 served as an important precursor to the current S60. It came with a sleeker shape that we can still see today in the next-gen model. Volvo began to smartly use body lines to shape the sedan’s body, something that we can also see in the new S60. I’m not going to dismiss the second-gen version because it served its purpose in letting everyone know that Volvo could pull off evocative-looking sedans. But it’s nowhere near as classy and as sophisticated as the current-gen model.

The 2019 Volvo S60 is a head-turner, something that’s become a consistent theme among Volvo’s current crop of models. The Thor’s hammer headlamp unit is arguably the best one in the business right now. Volvo also does a good job of emphasizing the S60’s sporty character by adding a more prominent three-piece outlet configuration, including a pair of bigger air intakes, compared to the one found on the second-gen unit. The front grille also has vertical bars now, replacing the horizontal ones on the previous model.

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The body lines of the two models are also dramatically different. Whereas Volvo opted for more conservative straight lines on the old S60, the new model comes with curved lines that help add more visual angles on the sedan. Even the rear section is different as Volvo found a way to make better use of the space in that area. The rectangular taillamps are gone, replaced by C-shaped lights that look sharper than the last ones.

Interior

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As big of a gap as there is in the exterior designs of the new S60 compared to the previous version, the difference is even more startling in the interior. The old S60 suffered from an identity crisis. It had quality materials, sure, but the overall layout of the cabin, particularly the dashboard and the center stack, left a lot to be desired. Volvo did well-arranging everything so that all the buttons and knobs didn’t look cluttered, but there was still way too many buttons in there that made navigating around all of them an exercise in confusion. It also didn’t help that the display unit was abysmally small and that it was driven into the dashboard. Granted, that kind of design was prevalent in the last decade, but with a display that small? No, thank you.

The new S60, on the other hand, has an interior that’s so clean you’re afraid to touch the whole surface area of the interior. The complicated array of buttons, switches, and knobs are all gone. In their place is a much bigger display unit with a myriad of new functions and a thin strip below it that make up pretty much all the buttons in the center stack.

High-quality materials abound in both versions, but the premium feel is elevated on the new S60. There’s something about a clean and classy interior that does that.

Drivetrain and Performance

The new Volvo S60 comes with a good number of engine options. It’s the same story with its predecessor, though, by nature of the 2019 model being a next-generation version, there’s more power available for customers.

The new S60 will share underpinnings with the V60 and the S90, so it’s not a surprise that all three are getting similar engines. The base T5 engine will still be around, but it’s going to have 254 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque to play with now. It’s a marginal improvement from the 240-horsepower and 258 pound-feet output of the previous T5 Inscription Drive-E FWD, as well as the 250 horsepower and 266 pound-feet figures of the T5 Inscription AWD.

The T6 engine will also be available, and like the T5, it’s getting improvements in power figures from 302 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque on the previous generation model to a stout 360 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque on the new S60.

What makes the current S60 better is that it doesn’t stop with just traditional gas engines. Volvo’s also offering a lineup of diesel-powered S60s, beginning with the D3 and D4 that makes use of the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine. These variants produce 150 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque and 190 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque, respectively. A D5 version is also available with 235 horses and 350 pound-feet of torque at its disposal.

Then there’s the hybrid offering, something that’s coming to the S60 for the first time. Unlike the bigger T8 versions that come with the S90 and V90, the smaller S60 will get a detuned T6 engine and an electric motor that combines to produce 340 ponies.

Technology

If there’s anything that’s Volvo is known for, it’s that it always puts great importance on safety and technology. That was evident on the previous-generation S60, which came with a suite of driver aids. It had Lane Keeping Aid, which gives the wheel light buzz if the car ends up drifting out of its lane without proper signals. The old S60 also came with a Blind-Spot monitoring system and a low-speed parking aid, which proved useful in urban settings. The unfortunate thing with the old S60 is that falls short on the tech and safety menu compared to the new S60 because of its age.

The next-generation S60 comes with a lot of the same safety and tech features as its predecessor. It even has Driver Alert Control, Road Sign Information, Run-off-Road Mitigation, Run-off-Road Protection, and the City Safety package. Even optional features like Blind Spot Information, Rear Collision Warning, Cross Traffic Alert, Adaptive Cruise Control, Pilot Assist, Distance Alert, Park Assist Pilot, and a 360-degree camera are all available on the new S60. That’s the benefit of being a next-generation model. It gets all of the current techs and some new ones that Volvo’s been cooking up in the last few years.

Then there’s autonomous tech, something that the old S60 was deprived off for the simple reason that there wasn’t any technology of that sort back then. The new S60, on the other hand, gets Volvo’s new Pilot Assist feature. It’s not exactly a system that allows full autonomy, but when it’s activated, it controls acceleration, braking, and steering, helping drivers follow the flow of traffic within the current lane.

Final Thoughts

The new Volvo S60 is everything we thought it’d be. It features Volvo’s new — and incredible — design. The interior is a good example of clean design done right. It has enough powertrain options to make you feel like a kid walking into a candy store. Best of all, the new S60 is a perfect example of what happens when Volvo is at its best, free from the shackles of financial uncertainty. The old S60 was good, no doubt, but there are parts about it that made you feel that it could’ve been better.

In some ways, that’s what the new S60 is all about. This is the car that Volvo could’ve made a lot sooner if it was in a better position in the past. Fortunately, that’s exactly where it is now, thanks to parent company Geely. With its troubles now a thing of the past, Volvo can start building cars that can uphold its legacy. We’ve seen what it’s capable of with the XC90 SUV.

Now we’re seeing it again with the new S60. This is Volvo done right, and it’s about damn time.

Read our full review on the 2019 Volvo S60.

Read our full review on the 2017 Volvo S60.

Read more Volvo news.