Volvo V60 Caught Completely Naked

Volvo has recently announced that starting in 2011, the V70 wagon would no longer be sold in the United States. Although they have not confirmed the same fate for the V70 in our market yet, it is also expected to get the axe. Volvo only sold 1800 units in the States last year. The XC70 on the other hand has been doing much better and it will try to fill the V70′s shoes. The V70 will continue on in Europe.

But those who prefer their wagons to be at a normal height, i.e not jacked up like the XC70, don’t need to fret as the V60 is going to take the V70′s place.

For the first time ever, Volvo has let the V60 out and about without any comouflage whatsoever – very unusual for any automaker, but especially unusual for a European automaker. They tend to be quite secretive about new upcoming models.

Anyway, we can see that the V60 is basically going to be a wagon version of the S60 sedan. The lines are quite nice for a wagon. It’s very sleek, it has a high belt line and and classic Volvo tail lights.

The V60 is expected to get the same 300 horsepower and 325 pound foot torque that the  S60 T6 will get, and other engine variants are rumoured.

Check the jump for a rear view shot.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the Car’s Fault, Officer

Full disclosure: I have been pulled over for speeding before. Three times, if I’m honest, but I only managed to get a ticket for one of those times.

Now, a lot of times, I am aware of my lead foot. So when I get caught, I don’t usually put up a fuss.

But there are certain times when you really are not aware of how fast you’re going. Some cars in particular are very difficult to drive slowly. My personal vehicle for instance is one of them (full disclosure again, I drive a 2008 BMW 128i).

A friend of mine just purchased a 2006 Mini Cooper S, and after some time behind the wheel, I have decided that his car is also a difficult car to drive slowly. The BMW 550i GT that I tested is also hard to tame, and now comes word from the folks at European Car Magazine that the 335d is hard to drive slowly as well.

See the pattern? All those cars mentioned are BMW’s (or made by BMW).

European Car was pulled over for going 93 mph in a 70 zone and the reviewer tried to explain the characteristic that is seemingly a trait with all BMW’s.

“It’s not my fault, this car wants to go 120 mph all the time… it’s the car’s fault.”

Needless to say, that didn’t work. The reviewer got a ticket anyway. But it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who seems to have a hard time driving BMW’s slowly. Their engines are so smooth and responsive

It’s also worth mentioning that European Car was able to get 6 l/100 kms out of the 335d despite the inability to drive the speed limit. It’s one of the reasons why we chose it for Canadian Car of the Year for 2010.

In any event, our tip of the day is: if you ever find yourself behind the wheel of a BMW, mostly any BMW,  make sure you keep a close eye on your speedometer.

Henney Without the Coke

AKA only for the hardcore.

This is Hennessey Performance’s latest creation: the Venom GT.

It has the hardcore looks, and is based on the Lotus Elise. But wait until you hear the numbers.

The Venom GT will use the same 6.2 litre V8 found in the Chevy Corvette ZR1, which means there will be 725 horsepower and…..

…..Wait, what’s that?

This just in: Hennessey is also planning on producing a twin turbo V8 as well which will make 1000 horsepwer and 1200 horsepower as well! Combine that with a curb weight of less than 2,400 pounds and you’ve got yourself a car that is guaranteed to make you shit yourself. There’s no other way of saying it.

Only ten will be made, and four are already spoken for, so if you’ve got $600,000 laying around and want to have the thrill of your life, then you should probably pick up the phone.

Volkswagen Golf Best Selling Car in Canada for February

Watch out Honda, zee Germans are coming!

The Civic has been the best selling car in Canada for over a decade – they even have a television commerical boasting about the Civic’s longstanding success.

But that commerical may turn out to be a bit embarrassing now that VW’s Golf took top selling honours for the month of February for the first time ever.

Apparently we have all but forgotten about high gas prices because the Dodge Ram, Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150 were also among the top sellers last month.

Porsche Looking for CAFE Exemption

Even though they have somehow managed to come up with a sports car that gets 3 L/ 100 kms, Porsche still isn’t convinced that they will be able to meet the new, more stringent CAFE standards that will come into effect in 2016.

As a result, Porsche is petitioning the U.S Department of transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to give them a partial exemption from the new rule.

The new fleet averages will be set at 35 mpg, or 6.7L/100 kms in our lingo, but Porsche will have to average 42 mpg (5.9L/100 kms). The reason is the fleet average combines both that of cars and trucks. Since Porsche doesn’t make trucks, it’s being forced to meet more stringent standards.

Porsche says that since it makes exclusively sports cars (which are low volume sellers to begin with) it’s hard to meet the new standards. Sports cars tend to chug gasoline. If they meet the new regulations, Porsche says it will tarnish its image as its customer base expects a certain level of performance.

No word yet from the other side, but rest assured, we will be watching this story very closely.

Oh Hi: 2011 Mercedes-Benz R-Class

It’s funny. On my way to work this morning I was behind an R-Class and I thought to myself, ‘I wonder when Mercedes is going to come out with a mid-cycle refresh of this thing. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth’.

Little did I know that today was the day the R-Class refresh unofficially got revealed.

The new R-Class refresh sees a much cleaner front end design with reworked headlights, a new grille and a new hood. The rear gets the new signature LED turn signal lights and the interior gets a mild refresh as well.

The refreshed R is expected to retain the same V6 engine and diesel that it currently has, and there’s also a rumour of an R63 AMG version.

Here’s hoping that this new R-Class helps to boost sales, which haven’t been so great from the get-go.
More pics after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Put it Back In, It’s Not Done Yet: 2011 Infiniti QX56

Well, we have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is this is Car Driven’s 100th post! Whoo!

The bad news is that it’s about the monstrocity that is the 2011 Infiniti QX56.

We had sort of been hoping that the QX56 would quietly just die off somewhere since the current generation is also ugly and does not sell nearly as much as its competition, which is mostly the Escalade and Navigator.

But Inifiniti figures if it makes it uglier, it will somehow sell? Who knows.

The bulbus forehead theme that seems to be finding its way on most new Infinitis is present up front along with G37 inspired headlights, which don’t work at all on the QX56. There is an apparant desire to make a boxy design swoopy, and more often than not, it doesn’t work out.

Under that huge bump on the head is a 5.6 litre direct injected V8 that the old QX56 had which makes 400 horsepower and 405 pound foot of torque. Everything in terms of interior and packaging  is pretty much expected to stay the same as well.

After the jump is a shot of the rear which carries on the awkward ugly theme

Read the rest of this entry »