Right up there with the best

I READ recently that the
biggest worry for 63 per cent of people heading off on a motoring holiday is
the inconvenience or distress of getting a puncture.

And only 12 per cent of us
check on our tyres before we go. I will admit that I didn’t check the massive
ZR 17 tyres on the Volvo S60 DRIVe I drove last week, but then I knew that the
tyres would have been checked before I got the car and thankfully I didn’t get
a puncture.

Volvo has a tradition of
making solid, comfortable motors and their S60 with its coupe-like styling, is
right up there with the best. It probably won’t win any prizes for classy
external looks, but it’s a very solid motor. It used to be said that Volvo cars
were built like tanks and in Sweden they have their moose or elk test where a
car is tested at various speeds to see how it reacts if the driver suddenly
swerves to avoid an object. I didn’t come across any moose on the road to
Galway where the only things comparable to Sweden were the hotel rates.

Volvo say that in another
ten years they hope that nobody will be killed or seriously injured in, or by a
Volvo. Their new product

‘Pedestrian Safe’ which is available as an extra in
the new S60, costs around e1,500, but it could save lives, especially those of
pedestrians. When the radar at the front of the car detects a body moving out
in front of it in slow moving traffic it stops. It’s only natural to hit the
brakes if somebody walks out in front of you, but for the system to work you
shouldn’t hit the brakes as the car will stop automatically. Another safety
item is

‘City Safe’ which means that you won’t rear-end another car in slow
moving traffic. Again the brakes are applied automatically. City Safe is now
standard on all Volvos.

So no worries about safety
and inside you do feel extra safe in the leather seats in this chunky-looking
car. And you won’t be polluting the environment either as C02 emission in this
1.6 diesel are only 114. That means road tax of only e104 and the S60 DRIVe
follows the example of other Volvo cars where C02 emissions are in the lowest
category. Plenty of comfort and the front seats can be adjusted to suit any
posterior or troublesome back. Lots of slave controls on the steering wheel and
the side mirrors fold in when the central locking is applied. In the back there
is ample room for three well-built adults. The boot is a decent size but no
spare wheel, just a repair kit.

The last time I had a Volvo
for a test drive an observant neighbour kept calling to tell me I had left the
parking lights on. While the neighbours didn’t call this time my family kept
reminding me to go back to the car to turn the parking lights off. In Northern
Europe motorists are required to have lights on all the time; that legislation is
coming in here soon and maybe it will mean that as neighbours we will talk more
to one another! The S60 is a very comfortable and frugal car to travel in.
Prices start at

?¬30,985, while the D2 SE model I drove with lots of extras will
cost you

?¬38,877.