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For too long Volvo operated under the assumption that safety came before sizzle, and the two couldn’t be offered in the same vehicle.

Who cared what the car looked like or how it performed as long as you could run it into a tree and walk away without mussing your beret?

Thanks to the arrival of such entries as the S80 sedan in the ’99 model year, the Swedish automaker owned by Ford Motor Co. has realized it didn’t have to sacrifice sizzle for safety.

“There’s nothing in our gene pool that requires building ugly, boring cars,” insists Volvo spokesman Dan Johnston.

Have to agree, though for decades the gene pool appeared to be a mud puddle.

For ’04 the S80 lineup adds a turbocharged all-wheel-drive rendition that carries the 2.5T designation to denote it’s powered by the same 2.5-liter, 208-horsepower 5-cylinder engine in the XC90 sport-utility vehicle.

The AWD edition represents a “significant update” in a sedan that boasts 700 changes as it enters its sixth model year. However, other than new front and rear fascia, chrome door handles, remote keyless entry, a new 5-speed automatic and AWD, you’d be hard-pressed to point out the other 695 changes. Volvo won’t say when Gen II will arrive.

While AWD provides added security when the roads are wet or covered with snow, it also provides added road grip when the pavement–straight or twisting–is dry.

In fact, Volvo notes, the AWD S80 is meant to provide “optimum road-holding and stability” more so than off-road accessibility to the nearest creek or sand dune.

AWD in the S80 is an electronically controlled on-demand system. There are no levers or knobs to fiddle with. In normal driving, the S80 operates in front-wheel-drive, but when the system detects front wheels have lost traction and have begun to spin, power is distributed between front and rear wheels to optimize grip.

AWD is offered in every Volvo car except the S40, V40 and C70 convertible. For midyear ’04, it will be offered in the replacement for the S40 and the replacement for the V40 (which becomes the V50).

While the S80 sedan now sports AWD like the XC90, had to ask why it didn’t borrow the Roll Stability Control (RSC) system from the XC90 as well, which employs gyroscopic sensors to ensure the wheel side always stays down?

“Rollovers become a problem when you raise the center of gravity like you do in an SUV. The S80 has a low center of gravity to begin with, is very stable, rollovers aren’t an issue, and RSC would be an added expense without being an added benefit,” Johnston said.

Case closed.

However, you can opt for Dynamic Stability Control with Traction Control (DSC/TC) as a $695 insurance policy, which brings you this close to RSC.

And if you find dealing with all t hose stupid letter abbreviations a pain, welcome to the club. But we digress.

DSC/TC basically is RSC without the gyroscopes that detect body pitch and swing. DSC detects wheelspin and side slip in corners and keeps the vehicle under control by applying anti-lock brakes to the slipping wheel and/or regulating the throttle to reduce engine speed while traction control does the same on straightaways.

Translation: Hand over the $695 and you’ll enjoy a sedan that doesn’t develop an attitude with each change of season. The S80 handles like a sports sedan and sits flat and in control in lateral maneuvers.

To complement the handling, a new power-steering system provides more immediate response to wheel input and makes the sedan feel a lot more nimble whether negotiating a twist in the road or having to slip between two cars in the lot. The addition of optional ($500) 17-inch radials contributed to handling.

Wow! A nimble, agile Volvo with excellent road manners. Who would have thought those genes existed in the pool?

Vic Doolan, president of Volvo Cars of North America, insists the S80 “should be so comfortable and easy to drive that every journey is a relaxing and refreshing experience.”

OK, but with the AWD S80, you can relax and refresh and still have fun motoring–that touch of sizzle.

Ride is smooth without lots of noticeable movement when you pass over blemishes in the road. In all but the AWD S80 you can opt for FOUR-C (Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept, another of those infernal long list of letters Volvo has a penchant to use). FOUR-C automatically adjusts shock settings to take the rough edges off imperfections in the road while minimizing body roll and lean in turns.

The 2.5-liter light-pressure turbo 5-cylinder is teamed with a new 5-speed automatic. The 5-cylinder is smooth and turbo lag is held to a minimum. Quick, no-hesitation starts, though the brakes seem just a tad soft. Four-wheel ABS is standard. Thanks, in part, to the new automatic, the S80 AWD turbo delivers a surprising 20 m.p.g. city/27 m.p.g. highway. Word of warning: the needle seems to take forever to move from full to three quarters, but moves much more rapidly from one quarter to E.

Some argue that if Volvo wants to emphasize performance even more, it would slip a V-8 under the hood. All Volvo will say is “stay tuned.”

The S80 combines pleasant design, above-average handling, smooth ride, comfortable cabin, decent luggage room and excellent fuel economy without forgetting to add safety to that package.

Safety is a given, performance a bonus.

The S80 features dual-stage driver- and front-passenger air bags whose inflation speed is dictated by speed of impact. And tensioners regulate the belts based on impact severity to keep the occupant in the proper position for the air bag to offer optimum protection.

There’s also side-impact air bags for front-seat occupants and side-impact curtains for front- and rear-seat occupants. As noted in a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study, side bags/curtains that offer head protection, as the Volvo system does, reduce the risk of fatality in a side impact collision by 50 percent.

Base price of the S80 2.5T is $37,200. Major standard equipment includes laminated side windows to protect against smash-and-grab incidents, daytime running lights, rear fog lights, power windows and locks, outside temp gauge, pollen filter, tinted windows, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, electric foldable rear headrests, front and rear power outlets, power driver’s seat with memory, split and folding rear seat with trunk passthrough, rear-window defroster, tilt and telescoping steering, premium sound system with cassette and CD player, headlamp washers/wipers, heated front seats and rain-sensing wipers.

To get a power moonroof, leather seats or a power passenger seat, you have to get the $2,495 premium package that includes all three. They are not sold separately. If you want to irritate other motorists, Bi-Xenon headlamps run $500.

TEST DRIVE

2004 Volvo S80 2.5T AWD

Wheelbase: 109.9 inches

Length: 189.8 inches

Engine: 2.5-liter, 208-h.p. 5-cylinder

Transmission: 5-speed automatic

Fuel economy: 20 m.p.g. city/27 m.p.g. highway

Base price: $37,200

Price as tested: $41,840. Includes $2,495 for premium package with leather seats, power moonroof and power passenger seat; $500 for upgrade to 17-inch (16-inch standard) radials with alloy wheels and speed-sensitive steering; $695 for dynamic stability/traction control; $500 for Bi-Xenon headlamps; and $450 for metallic paints. Add $685 for freight.

Pluses: Addition of all-wheel-drive for ’04 for all-season, all-reason performance with added benefit of dynamic stability/traction control. Spirited 5-cylinder, yet mileage rating is very goo for an AWD sedan. A Volvo that looks good, acts great and still offers all the safety features.

Minuses: Options in costly packages.