Compare the2024 Volvo S60VS 2024 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo S60 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The S60’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Arteon doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the S60 and Arteon have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The S60 Plus/Ultimate has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Arteon’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The S60 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Arteon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The S60’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the S60 and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The S60’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the S60 for 2 years and 20,000 miles longer than Volkswagen pays for maintenance for the Arteon (4/40,000 vs. 2/20,000).

The battery on the S60 is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the S60’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Arteon’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Volvo 2 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The S60 T8’s standard 2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cylinder hybrid produces 155 more horsepower (455 vs. 300) and 228 lbs.-ft. more torque (523 vs. 295) than the Arteon’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the S60 T8 running on electricity gets better mileage than the Arteon (74 city/73 hwy MPGe vs. 22 city/30 hwy).

On the EPA test cycle the S60 running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the Arteon:

The S60 T8 can travel with zero emissions for 41 miles. The Arteon can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

Regenerative brakes improve the S60’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Arteon doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The S60 has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Arteon doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Volvo S60, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the Arteon.

For better stopping power the S60’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Arteon:

The S60 stops shorter than the Arteon:

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the S60’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Arteon (113.1 inches vs. 111.9 inches).

The S60 Plus AWD handles at .91 G’s, while the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The S60 AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.5 seconds quicker than the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line (25.4 seconds @ .75 average G’s vs. 26.9 seconds @ .65 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the S60’s turning circle is 1.9 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (37.1 feet vs. 39 feet).

The S60 is 4.1 inches shorter than the Arteon, making the S60 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Volvo S60 amounts to more than styling. The S60 has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .27 Cd. That is lower than the Arteon (.3) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the S60 get better fuel mileage.

The S60 has 1.1 inches more front legroom, 1 inch more front hip room, .1 inches more rear headroom and 6.9 inches more rear hip room than the Arteon.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the S60’s optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Arteon doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the S60 offers cargo security. The Arteon’s hatchback body style and non-lockable folding seat defeat cargo security.

Optional Trailer Stability Assist on the S60 uses the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Arteon doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the Arteon, the S60 Ultimate/Polestar has a passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The S60 Ultimate has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Arteon doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The S60 offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Arteon doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The S60 is available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations. The Arteon doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Volvo S60 and the Volkswagen Arteon, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Volvo 60 Series outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by over five to one during 2023.