One evening recently, while sipping some excellent Cabernet, and enjoying the view of the Rose City from the 30th floor Portland City Grill, I had a conversation with Volvo’s west coast brand manager Soren Johansson. He casually mentioned that he was about to introduce an “R” version of Volvo’s popular S60 sedan. I told him I wanted to be among the first to drive it, and true to his word, Soren got me into one of the first test models available here in the Northwest.

The “R” designation is used on many European sedans to distinguish them as the high performance version of a particular vehicle. And the Swedish manufacturer’s very hot new S60 R shows that it deserves that designation by combining high-tech, horsepower and safety into a complete performance sedan without compromising the legendary safety and comfort for which Volvo is renowned.

The S60 R evolved from Volvo’s Performance Concept Car (PCC). It’s an intelligent, high-performance car featuring a 300-horsepower engine, an adaptive active chassis, Servotronic Steering, powerful Brembo brakes, and Haldex electronically controlled all-wheel-drive. This car is not only fun to drive, you feel safe while exploring its limits.

There are three active electronic chassis settings, which are controlled by a single dash-mounted button — Comfort, Sport and Advanced Sport.

Comfort provides a pretty luxurious, highway-type ride without sacrificing the S60 R’s outstanding control over the road surface. The default Sport suspension setting makes the ride a bit stiffer, but delivers optimum performance during normal but spirited driving. However, the Advanced Sport transforms the Volvo S60 R into a hard riding, but uncompromising sports sedan that will assure maximum driving pleasure for those skilled enough to not only handle it, but enjoy it as well.

The Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept, aptly called Four-C, employs seven electronic sensors that collect data on the movement of the car five hundred times per second — that’s every other millisecond, adjusting shock valve damping almost instantaneously, based on driving style and road conditions.

Under the hood is a turbocharged 2.5 liter, 5-cylinder engine, which delivers 300 ponies to the pavement and 295 ft/lbs of torque at 2,100 rpm. Sadly, the S60 R is electronically limited to 155 mph. Two transmissions are offered — an all-new compact 6-speed manual gearbox, which was how our Passion Red test model was equipped, and a 5-speed Geartonic semiautomatic, which allows full automatic or manual gear selection utilizing a J-gate setup.

Bringing all of this fun to a halt are the four-piston Brembo brakes with aluminum calipers that help reduce heat buildup. Anti-lock brakes, traction control, and Volvo’s Dynamic Stability Control System (DSTC) are all standard on the S60 R.

Much of the quiet, roomy no-nonsense interior was originally borrowed from the V70 sport wagon. Interior colors have a nice contrast, with stitched leather on the doors and steering wheel. Compared to its market competition, the interior is also at least a level above the S60 R’s price point.

Behind the wheel, is the standard S60 analog gauge setup, but the instrumentation has a cool blue face that is really hot looking at night and is easy to read day or night. However the LED digital readouts are hard to read in bright sun or with polarized sunglasses.

All the climate and audio controls work smoothly and are large and easy to decipher. The premium sound system is pretty awesome as well.

Although the front seats are very supportive and comfortable and the rear has two nicely formed passenger areas, typical of cars in this segment, rear legroom is a little tight with the front seats shoved all the way back. Rear-seat headroom under the sloping roof isn’t bad either.

The trunk is long and deep and features a low opening with the deck lid hinged on struts for easy loading of large objects. The rear seatbacks can also be folded forward which makes the already impressive cargo area even larger.

It wouldn’t be a Volvo without an impressive array of safety features such as side airbags and side curtain airbags, and whiplash-protection front seats. Anti-lock brakes are also standard on all S60 models.

Whines: The center console cover over cup holders is a bit flimsy and can get in the way. The turning radius is larger than you might expect and takes some getting used to. I found the front power windows annoyingly impossible to stop until completely lowered or raised after the switch is activated.

Bottom Line: The S60 R is a great car that is almost too much fun to drive, plus it gives you a lot of bang for the buck in this market segment. With 300 horses, all wheel drive, and the 4C active suspension system, you get three different cars for the price of one depending on your mood, driving conditions, or both. I would recommend the S60 R to anyone that wants a great handling, high performance sports sedan with comfort and excellent safety features. I’ve driven cars with more power but nothing that came in such a complete package of performance, comfort, handling, and safety.