Our cars

When Volvo’s S80 took our Executive Saloon of 2007 award, it left the assembled panel of judges a bit surprised at their own decision.

It was one of our most unlikely winners, but earned its accolade purely on merit, beating a couple of well-established players from Mercedes and BMW in the process. One of its most appealing features is its complete lack of cultural prejudice – and perhaps also its problem.

The new S80 may not have set the world alight on its arrival, but having evolved into an extremely desirable executive saloon that maintains the Swedish car maker’s reputation for safe, durable, practical and comfortable motoring, it’s no longer a car to dimiss, especially in a market where Volvos have traditionally been ignored in favour of German marques.

But now it’s also an astonishingly satisfying and, dare we say it, enjoyable car to own.

Of course, we don’t actually own one. However, Volvo is putting that right by being brave enough to be the second major manufacturer to offer it’s product for long-term test scrutiny by a credible Middle East motoring magazine.

This S80 comes directly off Volvo Middle East’s press fleet, and already this month I’ve had all the expected jibes.

From shouts of ‘where’s your pipe and slippers mate’ to ‘how old are you now then?’. But you know what? Every single person has been silenced by the Volvo S80 V8 Prestige.

After beating cars such as the BMW 5-Series, E-Class and the Chevy Caprice at the awards, the Volvo has spent January going after some smaller scalps in the form of most of my friends.

After laughter from those with low levels of car knowledge and raised eyebrows from those in the know, I decided the best form of retort was a drive. After twenty minutes, everyone was converted.
The comments immediately changed over to ‘great seats’ and ‘isn’t it quiet?’. The Volvo has been making quite a few friends on the highways of Dubai. After a ride in the S80 everyone’s perception is changed completely.

This car is a real rival to the 5-series and the E-class. Volvo just simply doesn’t have the history that the two big German brands have built up in the region.

But as I whisk people along in almost complete silence, the super saloon has another card up its sleeve. This particular car came to us fresh from being used as a limo for the stars attending the Dubai Film Festival in December.

It’s easy to impress the guys by telling them Sharon Stone sat in the back and the girls go a bit gooey when you mention George Clooney perched himself on the Volvo’s elegant leather.

With the slippery roads left over from the recent persistent and severe rain in Dubai, I have even managed to explore the all-wheel drive system, which is brilliant. But then again it is built in Sweden, so it would pretty poor if it couldn’t handle a bit of rain.

The Prestige comes with full leather, a sunroof, heated seats (which I have already used!), air conditioned seats, Bluetooth, parking sensors, more airbags than a fleet of Audi’s and an amazing sound system.

So far I am head over heels for the S80. So if I’m being really picky I’d have to say I don’t like the electronic handbrake, which seems to be upside down to me. So I’ve simply stopped using it.

Also, despite having a brand new Nokia phone that was designed alongside the car in Scandinavia, I cannot get it to connect to the Bluetooth hands free kit built into the car.

But that’s it! I can’t really fault it. It drives like a Mercedes, accelerates like a big BMW and handles like a Puma on Velcro. Which leaves me with a major problem; what the hell am I going to write about next month? Unless of course we’re hit with another Shamal.