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Buy this Ford vs Ferrari GT40 Movie CarHead-to-Head: Audi A4 vs Volvo S60
The Audi A4 takes on the Volvo S60 in a battle between high-quality luxury sedans that offer a lot of value for the money.
Audi A4 vs Volvo S60
Until you line up the Volvo S60 right next to the Audi A4 it might be hard to recognize that these two sedans are quite similarly sized. In fact, they share a number of qualities from their high-end design to their above-average material quality, to their warranty coverage. With that in mind we’re here to figure out which is worth your hard-earned cash. We’ll compare everything from their specs to their driving performance, interior comfort, trims, and features before telling you which is the one we’d buy.
Specs
The Audi A4 is a familiar friend to those who appreciate athletic sedans. Last year we named it as one of our favorite small luxury cars. Every trim level comes with Quattro AWD as standard. The same engine, a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with a 12-volt hybrid system inside is used for the entire lineup but it’s available in two strengths. The first is the 40, which develops 201 horsepower. It’s expected to return 25 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway.
The upper level, called 45, makes 261 horsepower. Regardless of which A4 trim you pick you’ll get a seven-speed automatic gearbox. Pricing for the A4 starts at $40,995 and its top-level trim begins at $51,995. While we wouldn’t normally include the A4’s more sporty family member this review would be incomplete without at least mentioning the S4 which starts at $53,495. It develops 349-horsepower from a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 and sends power to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic.
Volvo has taken a decidedly different approach to its everyday luxury sedan the S60. It offers eight different trims with starting prices ranging from $40,295 to $65,845. Inside of that gap, you’ll find that the base S60 comes with a 247-hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine and front wheel drive. All-wheel drive is available as is a plug-in hybrid drivetrain option. Interestingly, Volvo has split the year in two with early 2022 PHEV models developing 400 hp and 472 lb-ft of torque while later 2022 models make 455 hp and 523 lb-ft of torque to go along with an additional 41 miles of EV range.
According to the EPA, the normal S60 should get 26 mpg in the city and 35 on the highway. The early plug-in hybrid version is rated at 69 MPGe and the latter one gets 74 MPGe.
Driving and Performance
Audi has distilled the A4 and the S4 to the point that it’s sincerely hard to find issues with the way they drive. Its steering is sharp and grip levels are communicated beautifully through the controls. The pedals offer easy-to-modulate linear action and reassuring feedback. We really like how the body roll is completely controlled without making the ride too stiff and choppy. Audi has built a sedan here that doesn’t make you pay a penalty for great handling and that’s not something we can say of every automaker.
Of the three powertrains on offer, the S4’s turbo V6 is very clearly the favorite here. It’s downright fast and features a 0-60 time of just 4.2 seconds. Still, the other two powertrain options aren’t dogs. The 45 can do 0-60 in 4.8 seconds and while it’s not as sharp or grippy as the S4, it’s still a joy to drive. The 40 is slower but it doesn’t give up much in the way of handling.
It might be easy to think that a Volvo sedan couldn’t possibly rival one of the big German sports sedan builders but that’s wrong. The S60 handles very well. Steering response is crisp and easy to place accurately. We never found ourselves having to correct a line mid-way through it and that can’t be said of all the sports sedans in the world. The only ground it gives up to the Audi is when it comes to the fact that the S60 does come with FWD as standard in its base powertrain. It’s still quicker than the base A4 but the Volvo tends to understeer more often and its handling isn’t quite as sharp.
At the same time, the mid-level options featuring the plug-in hybrid drivetrain are more powerful than even the S4 and they grip the road very well. Keep in mind though that the heavy plug-in powertrain makes the S60 a little more ponderous on the road. It’s not as happy to change direction quickly and so cars like the S4 will feel more sporty when carving canyons or hustling around hairpins.
Comfort and Interior
If there’s one thing that Audi seems to always knock out of the park, it’s interior comfort and ergonomics. The A4 is just one more demonstration of that. It’s designed in such a way that hard angles are smoothed out by gentle curves lending to a high-end artistic feel. It almost feels hand-crafted and at the same time, it’s highly functional too. The switchgear feels fantastic and weighty under one’s fingers. Audi uses both physical and touchscreen buttons for a number of features so occupants aren’t stuck with just one or the other.
Seating is comfortable and supportive and visibility is good too. We really appreciate how adjustable the front seats are and how spacious the back seats are too. Those rear seats also fold down in a 40/20/40 split. That only adds to the flexibility of the A4 and tacks on additional storage to the 12 cu-ft found in the trunk itself.
Volvo’s interior design is also remarkably different from the other big names in the game. The central infotainment screen is a good example of this as it’s set up in a portrait-style position. Build quality throughout the cabin is at least as good as you’ll find in the A4 too. The seating is very comfortable and adjustable and buyers can even opt for a massaging function in the front buckets. A 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster sits ahead of the driver and can be complemented with a heads-up display as well.
These two cars are nearly identical in terms of overall size so it should be no surprise that when it comes to rear seat headroom and legroom they fall within an inch of one another. The Volvo has about half of a cubic foot less cargo space in the trunk.
Trims and Features
Audi sells the A4 in three trims with two different engine variations. Those trims are Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige. Depending on the engine one selects additional features might be added. Here’s a quick breakdown.
Audi A4 Premium 40 – This base trim comes with a 10.1-inch infotainment system, tri-zone automatic climate control, a sunroof, LED headlights, 17-inch wheels, heated front seats, leather upholstery, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, lane departure warning, and forward collision mitigation.
Audi A4 Premium 45 – Going for the bigger engine adds 18-inch wheels, a sport-tuned suspension, and front sport seats.
Audi S4 Premium – The only upgrade for the S4 other than the engine is that it also gets 18-inch wheels.
Audi A4 Premium Plus – All three engine choices net the same features on this mid-level trim. That includes 18-inch wheels, a surround-view camera system, a digital gauge cluster, power-folding mirrors, a heated steering wheel, driver’s seat memory settings, blind-spot monitoring, parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure mitigation, and rear USB ports.
The Audi S4 Premium Plus also adds rear automatic braking and a passenger safe exit system.
Audi A4 Prestige – This top-level trim also gets the same features regardless of engine choice. That includes sound-reducing front-side windows, heated rear seats, configurable interior ambient lighting, a heads-up display, and an automated parking system.
The Audi S4 Prestige adds a Bang & Olufsen audio system along with traffic sign recognition.
The Volvo S60 comes in three non-hybrid trims and four hybrid trims, some of which share similar names. The non-hybrid trims include Momentum, R-Design, and Inscription. The hybrid S60s include the Recharge R-Design Expression, the Recharge R-Design, the Recharge Inscription, and the Recharge Polestar Engineered.
The base Volvo S60 Momentum gets 18-inch wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, faux leather upholstery, four USB ports, a panoramic sunroof, a 9-inch infotainment system, 10 speakers, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Safety equipment includes rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision mitigation, and lane-keep assist.
The R-Design trim adds front parking sensors, integrated navigation, a wireless smartphone charger, ambient interior lighting, heated front sport seats, quad-zone automatic climate control, ambient interior lighting, a sport steering wheel, and a 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
The Volvo S60 Inscription gets leather upholstery and chrome exterior trim.
The base Volvo S60 Recharge model, the R-Design Expression, gets the same features as the Momentum but adds the hybrid drivetrain and heated seats.
The Recharge R-Design is similarly equipped to the normal R-Design but actually loses the wireless device charger and the quad-zone climate control.
The Recharge Inscription is identical to the normal Inscription model but adds the hybrid powertrain and loses the quad-zone climate control.
The Recharge Polestar Engineered trim gets 19-inch wheels, Brembo front brakes, Ohlins suspension dampers, a 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins premium audio system, gold seat belts, adaptive cruise control, a heads-up display, and a 360-degree camera system.
The Verdict
For the cash, we can’t see a great reason to go with the Audi A4 or S4 over the Volvo S60. The Scandinavian sedan has more options, more power, and more efficiency too. Whether a buyer is looking for the base model or the top end sporty model the Volvo ends up offering more for the money than the Audi does. The only facet where the S60 can’t hang out is when it comes to all-out athletic performance since it’s heavier. If you’re not planning to track your car we think the S60 is the better buy every time. If these cars are still a little outside of your budget we’d like to suggest one of these excellent used luxury vehicles.
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