2011 Volvo S60 makeover -- fast, smooth, gadgets galore

Volvo thoroughly overhauled its important S60 compact sedan for 2011, on sale in the U.S. since late September, boosting size, power and gadget count -- including one that stops for pedestrians if you don't.
You can get the lowdown in this week's Test Drive column. But there's enough unusual stuff to single out some items for more discussion.

Volvo redesigned the S60 T6 compact sedan for 2011, making it bigger, more powerful and more gadget-laden.

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By Bruce Benedict

The feature you'll hear about most is the pedestrian protector -- "pedestrian detection with full auto brake," in Volvo-speak. It comes only as part of a $2,100 "technology package," and it'll stop the car for a pedestrian if you don't or can't There are disclaimers, of course.
It only works if you're going 22 mph or slower. And if it's light out

Sensors packed into a windshield pod in the 2011 Volvo S60 T6 are llinked to safety features. Trio on left are for City Safety system that will automatically stop the car in slow traffic to prevent rear-end crash. Camera in center identifies pedestrians and stops car automatically. Small sensor upper right adjusts wipers to match rainfall.

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By Bruce Benedict

-- if you can't see, it can't either, Volvo says. And if you brake or steer at the last minute, that overrides the system and good luck stopping in time on your own.A radar in the grille spots the errant walker. A camera housed in a big sensor pod on the windshield, pictured here, matches the image against 10,000 others stored to verify it's a pedestrian. That happens in less than half a second. If by then you don't do something, it does -- slams on the brakes 100%.
It works, as long as you don't twitch the wheel or touch the brakes, we discovered in several demonstration runs at USA TODAY headquarters. It's mainly for times the driver is incapacitated. A driver who sees the pedestrian probaly would have time to stop and steer and avoid hitting the walker. But a driver who had a heart attack, say, couldn't respond, and the auto-stop system would be pricesless. At least to the pedestrian.
Volvo also offers a self-stop feature called City Safety that'll nail the brakes if you get too close to the car in front at 9 mph or less. Sensor for that's also in the windshield pod pictured above.
Less sexy but perhaps more relevant:
In everyday use are the new multi-function knobs. They look like ordinary rotary controls. But

Multi-function knobs on are new Volvo feature, introduced on 2011 S60 T6.

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By Bruce Benedict

each does multiple things depending on whether you turn it or push the top or push the bottom.It keeps dashboard clutter down, but makes each knob a potential confusion bonanza.
The volume control, for example, rotates to turn the stereo volume up or down. Push the top portion to turn the stereo on or off. Push the bottom portion to access a menu of choices about sound settings.
Once at that menu, you rotate the knob to choose the setting you want to change. Then you reach over to the knob on the other side and push the top, which is "ok" ( the equivalent of hitting "enter" on your computer device).
Then rotate the original knob to adjust the chosen item. Reach back to hit the bottom of that knob ("exit) to return to whatever you were doing before you decided to go mess with things.
Easier to do than to tell, but not as simple as you might wish.