No longer being sold on the basis that it's a lot of car for the money, Volvo's new approach is to argue that its S80 is similarly priced to competitors while offering a little bit more in most departments. The argument isn't entirely convincing and towards the top of the range the S80 starts to look rather expensive. Volvo is bullish about the car's resale values, but these are not guaranteed. Running costs should be lower than direct rivals, though. A Volvo saloon is never going to be quite a practical as one of its famous estate cars, but if the thought of turning up to meet a client in an estate sends shivers down your spine, you'll discover that the S80 still has room for a couple of sets of golf clubs and a case of wine for effective power lunching. Volvo's reputation for seat comfort is maintained in the S80 thanks to additional legroom in the front and rear and the option of ventilated leather upholstery with fans in the seat cushion and backrest for maximum cooling on hot days. Drivers can customise the way the car drives to a certain extent, including the automatic start of the heated rear window if the temperature drops below a certain level and speed-dependent power steering with a choice of three different assistance levels. But in practice few people will bother making the adjustments - after all, isn't that what the car's engineers were supposed to sort out? Executive models always feature prominently on thieves' hit lists, so it is reassuring that a decent security package is provided. Volvo's Personal Car Communicator is similar to a conventional remote control, but does more than activating locks and the alarm. The PCC can tell if the car has been left locked or unlocked, if the alarm has been activated and uses a sensitive heartbeat sensor to tell if there is anyone in the car. It can access this information when it is within 100 metres of the car, and stores the most recent information so that the driver can check to see if the car was locked when it was parked. This is a Volvo after all, so you can take it as read that safety is first-rate. There are even some important new safety features that will one day be on every new car made. Simplest and most effective is the Blind Spot Information System, which simply flashes an LED by the wing mirror when a car is in your blind spot. It does sometimes go off for no reason and seems to be affected by rain and reflections, but we expect this to be ironed out quickly. Despite numerous improvements, the S80's forte remains its ability to glide smoothly and swiftly. Piloting the S80 is more relaxing than driving the equivalent BMW or Jaguar, but also slightly less involving. In the real world this is likely to be a positive advantage, and when pushed the Volvo can entertain to a degree. Perhaps it's just that driving aggressively in a Volvo seems inherently inappropriate. A luxurious, powerful, expensive but sensible saloon as a first car? We rather doubt it. The Volvo brand may gain some youth appeal with the release of the C30 hatchback, but while it is gaining ground among twenty- and thirtysomethings, it has yet to produce a car with teen appeal. There's no denying that Volvo can turn out a very high quality car when it sets its mind to it. The fact that underneath the skin the S80 shares many components with other Ford Group products such as the Mondeo and S-Max may cause a few to wonder if the price is justified, but not many, as the S80 is distinctive enough to have its own identity. Ownership should mark you out as an individual who doesn't always follow the herd. These days saloons seem rather awkward to get into compared to people carriers and some estate and crossover vehicles. The S80 is better than most in its class with wide-opening doors requiring little effort to open and close. The boot could do with the automatic close function that is common on many Jaguars and Lexuses.

Stereo and ICE

Volvo seems obsessed with telling the world how good its stereo system is. Unless you're a teenager or a yuppie, this can be highly irritating. For the record there is an 80W system with CD and six speakers for S models, rising to 160W with a six disc CD changer and eight speakers for SE models and above. The optional Dynaudio Premium Sound audio system features all the stuff audiophiles will adore.

Colours and Trim

Parking

Parking sensors are included, so there are few problems despite the S80's size. The turning circle is much tighter than the old model's barge-like dynamics. All right hand drive versions of the new S80 have an electronically operated parking brake which can be set to automatically release as the car starts to move.

Spare Wheel

Space saver spare wheel fitted as standard.