For decades, Volvo has made an excellent business of pushing safety above all else. But what happens when things change, when every car has countless airbags, crumple zones and stability control; when seatbelts aren’t just standard equipment, but not wearing them is a ticketable offense; when Mercedes-Benzes are stopping themselves and BMWs can see in the dark? In this world, the one the new 2011 Volvo S60 will enter when it goes on sale in the US in September, a premium midsize sedan simply needs to do more. Luckily, Volvo’s latest and most important sedan learns a number of new tricks without forgetting its roots.

Frankly, the new S60 shouldn’t be full of any surprises. Beneath the swoopy bodywork is the same basic chassis that underpins the XC60, the XC70, the V70, and the S80. Its standard six-speed automatic (for the US, anyway) is a carryover, though shifts happen twice as quick as previous versions, and its turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six is simply an updated, more powerful variant of an existing workhorse. But it is a step forward. Roger Wallgren, the man in charge of all large vehicle dynamics for Volvo, had his team dig deep into the platform, replacing all the important bits and pieces along the way.

For the S60’s “Dynamic” chassis, which will be standard here in North America (a “Touring” version is offered at no cost, as are smaller 17-inch wheels, which will be standard in Canada) the dynamics team replaced the soft bushings, springs, and dampers of other current models with stiffer, performance-oriented components. For those who will pay to have it all, FOUR-C (Continually Controlled Chassis Concept) will be offered for $750.

Cars with this option will use the Dynamic chassis as a starting point, but the system adds a push-button-selectable system that calculates road characteristics and adjusts valves in the dampers for different situations. Three modes — comfort, sport, and advanced — allow the driver to select a softer ride for long cruises or a very agile setup for mountainside passes. The sport mode, a happy medium, is likely the best compromise for most situations. A FOUR-C car wasn’t available for us to drive at the launch event, but it seems like a heck of a deal to get this level of adjustability for less than $1000.

The S60’s standard power-assisted steering, which has a ten percent quicker ratio this time around and is perhaps the best feeling Volvo system in years, is also adjustable to the driver’s taste. Through the settings menu found through the car’s new seven-inch infotainment screen, the driver can alter steering force between three settings — soft, medium or high. The light setting doesn’t seem to match up with the car’s substantial feel, but medium and high are both quite nice with not a whole lot of noticeable different between them. It’s a great way to offer some personalization for different types of drivers, and we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more of this in other vehicles down the line.

Our initial drive impressions as we set out from our hotel north of Lisbon, Portugal, is that the S60 feels like an XC60 that’s been turned into a sedan and given some nice updates. This basically is the case, and gauges and a shift knob shared between the cars helps bring attention to the similar feel. Sharing so much with larger vehicles, the S60 feels like a very substantial vehicle compared to some of the competition, and it shows on the spec sheet — the S60 weighs a hefty 3900 pounds. But we say “substantial” instead of “heavy” because the extra weight doesn’t seem to bring the S60 down, but rather lends it a sense of luxury and sure-footedness. There’s a feeling in solidity here that even the Mercedes-Benz C-class, from a company known for its etched-from-granite driving style, can’t provide. Every seat in the cabin provides the usual Volvo comfort, but the front buckets provide more lateral support than those of an XC60. And in the optional Beechwood Brown color, they look fantastic. Volvo says the color pays homage to an interior choice dating back to the 1800ES, but we think they recall the more recent Atacama option from the last S60R.

Gobs of torque have a tendency to make us forget about heft, and the updated T6 under the S60’s hood makes plenty of twist. In addition to 300 hp, the engine produces 325 lb-ft of torque from 2100 rpm to 4200 rpm. The outgoing version of this engine was great — this one is even better and makes us wonder how great it would be if Volvo gets around to adding direct injection. The car’s six-speed Geartronic has been updated to shift twice as quick, and also has a new sport mode that holds onto gears longer. Shifting manually remains an option, but we’re still waiting for the Swedes to discover paddle shifters. Honestly, the Geartronic is probably the most disappointing part of the car; despite the upgrades it still shifts a bit more slowly and harshly than most of the competition, and is especially confused by quick on-off throttle movements. The aging automatic also feels like it’s sapping more power than a more advanced unit might. Volvo, of course, has a dual-clutch transmission and employs it on some European variants of the S60, but the car’s North American brand manager, Frank Vacca, says that its characteristics didn’t match up well to the T6. Don’t expect a manual transmission to show up later, either, since Volvo estimates it would only account for about four percent of the product mix. In this turbulent time at the company, such niche-filling decisions just aren’t in the cards.

So yes, the transmission is a bit slow to commit, but once it does the new S60 is amazingly sure-footed and quite fluid in its movements. The car’s stability and traction control system has been updated with a torque-vectoring feature, meaning ABS is used to brake one wheel, sending maximum torque to the other end of either axle to keep understeer at a minimum. This approach isn’t as advanced as some of the mechanical systems used by other companies, but it does work and it costs less, meaning it can be standard equipment. Pushed hard, the S60 will still understeer, but it takes a type of forceful driving that really isn’t conducive to driving quickly, anyway. The car uses the latest-generation Haldex all-wheel drive system, and while in most situations that means a large percentage of torque heads to the front wheels, the split is infinitely adjustable to either end of the car. It’s a phenomenal, quick-acting system and even in the wet, we couldn’t generate any noticeable wheelspin.

We didn’t have an opportunity to try the S60’s Touring chassis, but it doesn’t really matter — the Dynamic version that is expected to dominate US sales is just right in regards to a ride and handling compromise. Unlike the larger S80 that feels too soft and the much smaller C30 that is too stiff, the S60 finds a sweet spot in the middle. There’s very little body roll in corners and rough roads don’t reveal a chassis that feels loose and disconnected, yet at the same time impacts are never jarring. It isn’t quite BMW nimble, but it is very far from Buick soft. We’d compare most directly with a Mercedes-Benz, and we’ll fall back again on the word “substantial.” It doesn’t feel heavy when pushed hard, just very solid.

The S60’s dynamics team — aided by Hans Nilsson, the “father of the R car” as he’s known inside the company — did an excellent job, but the people behind Volvo’s latest technology updates deserve equal praise. Audio and climate displays are no longer split out on a separate screen from navigation as they are in other Volvos, and gone is the oft-criticized joystick controller on the back of the XC60’s steering wheel. Gone as well are the poor, low-resolution maps of the old Volvo nav system. Everything is displayed on a seven-inch full-color screen that is standard regardless of whether the $2700 navigation package is ordered. It’s a shame that group of features costs so much, not because we need navigation, but because it’s the only way to get the premium sound system with 12 speakers, 650 watts, surround sound, and Audessey’s MultiEQ techonology. It sounds great, and really should be a standalone option.

Browsing the menus and controls displayed on the screen is easy and intuitive, and we enjoyed the new fonts and color combinations. Unfortunately, we didn’t have an iPod cable and couldn’t experience that interface. Controlling the screen can be done through either the buttons on the center console or a roller ball on the steering wheel, which allows browsing with two hands on the wheel, much like the XC60’s joystick but with far better usability. Our only complaint is that we could never remember which way to roll to zoom the map in and which zoomed out, but that’s surely something owners will figure out quickly.

We couldn’t possibly make it through an entire Volvo review without touching on new safety features, so here goes. Like the XC60, City Safety, which stops the car in advance of an impending low-speed collision, is standard. A $2100 option package adds five more advanced systems, including lane departure warning, distance alert (flashes and chimes let you know when you’re following too closely,) collision warning with full auto brake, adaptive cruise control that can fully stop the car, and the new pedestrian detection system. That last one has been the S60’s main talking point in recent months, and we wrote a full technical breakdown about it several months ago. Volvo set up a test involving a small child test dummy out of fear that we might try it on unsuspecting Portuguese pedestrians, and the system did seem to work quite well. We drove toward the dummy at about 25 km/h and stayed steady on the throttle. After a quick chime, the car slammed the brakes and stopped with a good amount of space left, then crept forward just a bit more. Engineer Roger Wallgren told us this added preventative measure lowers the odds of other cars rear-ending the stopped S60. However, it doesn’t work at night or in other low-light situations, so there is some room for further development.

The company says the new S60 is the “sportiest Volvo ever,” a claim that should upset more than one owner of the last-generation S60R. Confirming that claim depends on one’s definition of sport. We don’t doubt that the new S60 T6 is faster and sharper than its R-badged predecessor, but because of its mainstream sales intentions, the new car lacks some of the S60R’s rawness and emotion. It’s an excellent daily driver that doesn’t quite have the passion to make it a true driver’s car. We hope a future R-design version moves in that direction even though the company still denies that a true “R” model will resurface.

In the meantime, Volvo has been without what should be its highest-volume model since August of 2009. The company needs this new car, and it needs it to be strong in this highly competitive segment. Luckily, it is just that. Looking beyond the great engine and best-ever Volvo chassis, what makes the new S60 so likeable is that it doesn’t go hunting in its search to move beyond safety and into sportiness. It doesn’t try to be a BMW 3-series. It doesn’t try to be an Audi A4. It’s a Volvo through and through, and it just happens to be a very good car along the way. It’s exactly the car the brand needs right now.

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