Hi, and welcome to Swedespeed! I drive a 2002 S60 2.4. You're right, you don't see all that many write-ups on the non-turbos. (I know -- I was in the market 5 months ago, myself!) Overall, I'm thoroughly happy with it, and no, it is not at all a dog! We, too, have one toddler, and so far it has had ample room our day-to-day uses, as well as long driving trips.
If you go to the upper right-hand side of the S60 forum and select "Show topics from past 75 days", you'll find a thread back on 6/26/02 where a few folks made some comments on the base 2.4, me included! (If I knew how to point you there with a link, I would. But I don't. Sooo, I'll just cut-and-paste my comments below.) Here they are...and happy hunting for your new car!
I suppose that since you're looking at manuals, the automatic transmission comments won't help you out, but the horsepower and steering comments certainly still apply!
Here's what I had to say about my base 2.4.:
My 2.4 auto (non-geartronic auto) is fantastic. It's peppy enough for me, and I like the steering -- feels crisp and responsive. It "tracks" well in a straight line and has nice behavior in curves, unlike my last few vehicles where I was constantly having to provide more or less input (constantly 'correcting') over the course of a long, sweeping curve at highway speeds. Low speed maneuvering is superb, as well.
I fiddled around with my tire pressures for a week or two, honed in on one I liked, and I'm thoroughly happy with my ride! On a related note, one attribute that pops out at me over and over again is it's "solid" feel. It feels like it was carved out of a solid hunk of metal. (Corny and cliche'd, but true.) There are no door squeaks or flexing feelings in the body, no rattle-y door seals/hinges, and so forth. Just feels solid.
My daily commute takes me over frost heaves, potholes, and generally nasty Michigan roads, and I'm continually impressed with it's ability to envelop and absorb the "nasties" and isolate me from them...without ever making me feel disconnected and floaty like some plush luxo-boat might (think Town Car, etc., with marshmallow-like ride).
Engine-wise, oh, sure, if I had scads of extra money lying around, I suppose I would have opted for a turbo or a T5, but I don't, so I didn't. BTW, The base engine S60 I drove for a test drive was anemic each time I'd launch after being stopped at a stop light, and it also had a very rough idle, too. I chalked it up to the fact that it *was*, after all, the base engine, and the roughness to the fact that it was an I5. Wrong-o.
Mine's not like that at all...so I guess the test drive S60 just didn't have the latest software or something. Mine's great. Love it. Sure, some day I might want to opt for a few more horsies under the hood, and might want to have a spaceball to "play" with, but those would totally fall under the category of "wants" in my book, rather than "needs".
For the time being, I'm completely happy with my 168bhp 2.4. P.S. The kick-down has provided me with the extra ooomph I needed on the 3 occasions I called on the engine to "puh-leeeze give me a little more...NOW!" I know it's there if I ever need it, and for this reason and all the others above, I'm totally satisfied with my normally aspirated 2.4!
(end of quote from back in June)
Happy motoring, and good luck!
If you go to the upper right-hand side of the S60 forum and select "Show topics from past 75 days", you'll find a thread back on 6/26/02 where a few folks made some comments on the base 2.4, me included! (If I knew how to point you there with a link, I would. But I don't. Sooo, I'll just cut-and-paste my comments below.) Here they are...and happy hunting for your new car!
I suppose that since you're looking at manuals, the automatic transmission comments won't help you out, but the horsepower and steering comments certainly still apply!
Here's what I had to say about my base 2.4.:
My 2.4 auto (non-geartronic auto) is fantastic. It's peppy enough for me, and I like the steering -- feels crisp and responsive. It "tracks" well in a straight line and has nice behavior in curves, unlike my last few vehicles where I was constantly having to provide more or less input (constantly 'correcting') over the course of a long, sweeping curve at highway speeds. Low speed maneuvering is superb, as well.
I fiddled around with my tire pressures for a week or two, honed in on one I liked, and I'm thoroughly happy with my ride! On a related note, one attribute that pops out at me over and over again is it's "solid" feel. It feels like it was carved out of a solid hunk of metal. (Corny and cliche'd, but true.) There are no door squeaks or flexing feelings in the body, no rattle-y door seals/hinges, and so forth. Just feels solid.
My daily commute takes me over frost heaves, potholes, and generally nasty Michigan roads, and I'm continually impressed with it's ability to envelop and absorb the "nasties" and isolate me from them...without ever making me feel disconnected and floaty like some plush luxo-boat might (think Town Car, etc., with marshmallow-like ride).
Engine-wise, oh, sure, if I had scads of extra money lying around, I suppose I would have opted for a turbo or a T5, but I don't, so I didn't. BTW, The base engine S60 I drove for a test drive was anemic each time I'd launch after being stopped at a stop light, and it also had a very rough idle, too. I chalked it up to the fact that it *was*, after all, the base engine, and the roughness to the fact that it was an I5. Wrong-o.
Mine's not like that at all...so I guess the test drive S60 just didn't have the latest software or something. Mine's great. Love it. Sure, some day I might want to opt for a few more horsies under the hood, and might want to have a spaceball to "play" with, but those would totally fall under the category of "wants" in my book, rather than "needs".
For the time being, I'm completely happy with my 168bhp 2.4. P.S. The kick-down has provided me with the extra ooomph I needed on the 3 occasions I called on the engine to "puh-leeeze give me a little more...NOW!" I know it's there if I ever need it, and for this reason and all the others above, I'm totally satisfied with my normally aspirated 2.4!
(end of quote from back in June)
Happy motoring, and good luck!
