What averages 22 miles per gallon, high speed and city driving, over 600 miles, weighs two tons, has four doors, a big trunk, all wheel drive, a slick six speed automatic, the most comfortable seats in the industry, a direct injected twin scroll turbo charged three liter six with 285bhp and 295 lb-ft of torque at 1500rpm?Well, you’ve got it! The Volvo S80 T6 hauls butt and is built like an Abrams tank with the highest safety rating.

I had the pleasure of living with the new 2008 Volvo S80 T6 AWD sedan for four days. I hammered the S80 T6 out of LA on Interstate 5 over the Grape Vine, to Highway 99 through the Central Valley, and finally to Fresno. It rained buckets, but the T6 was glued to the road at 90+mph with gobs of power even at the higher altitudes, thanks to the direct injected twin-scroll turbo six. There is no evidence of turbo lag. Braking on those long high speed downhills was excellent!

The S80 T6 was well composed in the wet, dry, twisties and straights. Our car wasn’t equipped with the adjustable suspension, which gives you normal, sport and performance. But I would not bother ordering it, having driven a Volvo V70 R wagon with the adjustable suspension. For some reason, the adjustable suspension suffers on rebound on rough road surfaces, producing a rather harsh ride.

The usual complaint on front wheel drive and all wheel drive cars is the tendency of the front end to push in the corners, also known as understeer. Manufacturers set cars up for understeer because it’s safer than oversteer (the tendency for the car’s rear to swing out during turning), which is harder for many people to control. The S80 T6 possesses very neutral in the corners as long as the driver is smooth on turn in with smooth power application through the corner. Stay away from heavy late trail braking, which will induce quite a bit of understeer.

I liked the quick shifting six speed auto, which has a sport shift mode used for performance driving and better utilizes the engine’s power band.

I surprised a few wanna-be drag racers at stop lights with its 6.6 second zero to sixty times.

The turning radius for the S80 T6 is 36.7 feet compared to the V8’s 40 feet. 36 feet is the turning radius of a Corolla!

The weak point of the S80 is the interior, which is flat and unexciting. The instrument cluster design falls short of cars costing one half of the S80 T6’s $46,000 price. The wood trim is finished in flat natural which looks like the owner is supposed to finish it. Brushed aluminum trim is the way to go with this ride.

There is a tendency to view the S80 as a large luxury car. In reality, the S80 is not a big car in over all dimensions but fits in the mid sized luxury market next to cars like the Acura RL.

In summary, the S80 T6 delivers good mileage, distinctive styling, excellent performance in the luxury category and good handling. Forget the V8, it is heavier by 90 pounds over the front wheels, less turning radius, poorer mileage and only 26 more horse power.