Category: Executive 
Price Range: £22,245 to £36,745
Good fuel economy, low emissions, punchy performance, comfortable seats.
Fidgety ride, not as good to drive as competition, frustrating electric handbrake.
The best S80 in the range still lags behind the competition.
In recent years, Volvo seems to have been playing catch-up.
In the SUV market, it was late with the XC90 (launched in 2002) while all around manufacturers were launching their second- or even third-generation 4x4s.
So it's perhaps no surprise that two long years after the S80's original launch Volvo has finally got around to engineering a 2.0-litre, entry-level diesel - an engine that historically attracts 60-80% of all buyers within the large saloon segment.
Has it been worth the wait? On paper it's off to a good start: the 134bhp 2.0-litre is straight out of the Ford Mondeo and endows the Volvo with punchy performance, low emissions and fine economy. But cars aren't driven on paper, so we'll see how it does on the road.
