The Volvo S60 combines excellent performance and a great shape with outstanding safety features. It feels like a tight European sedan and does a good job of smoothing out rough roads. The S60 fills the middle range in Volvo's lineup: It's larger than the S40, but not quite as large as the premium-luxury S80. Its interior is handsome and the available leather has a high-quality look and feel. Notable improvements for '06 include a revised all-wheel-drive system for better performance, newly designed wheels and simplification of the options and packages.

Powertrains and Performance:

The Volvo S60 R is powered by a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder that pumps out 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed manual transmission to all four wheels. A six-speed automatic with a manual-shift mode is optional. Acceleration is quite brisk, with ample juice to pick off the occasional unsuspecting BMW driver. Volvo claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.4 seconds with the manual gearbox. Volvo's Four-C (Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept) system comes standard; it includes an electronically controlled all-wheel-drive system, as well as an adaptive suspension that Volvo says can adjust the shock valving up to 500 times per second for improved grip and reduced body roll.

Safety:

As the S60 R is intended to pull double duty for driving enthusiasts who also need to haul people around, all the usual Volvo safety features are included -- stability control, side-impact airbags for front occupants, full-length head curtain airbags and whiplash-reducing seats. The S60 R is based on the regular S60, which earned four out of five stars in the NHTSA's frontal-impact crash tests, a perfect five stars for side impacts and a "Good" rating (the highest) in IIHS frontal-offset crash testing.