Volvo Canada Offering Power Upgrade to T5 Owners

I recently had the opportunity to review the 2011 C30 T5. My conclusion? A very capable, fun to drive hot hatch. The turbocharged 5 cylinder engine is quite good. But now Volvo is giving current T5 owners the opportunity to make it even better.

If you are the current owner of a 2008+ C30, C70 or S40 with the T5 engine, Volvo will upgrade your engine with 23 more horsepower and 29 more pound feet of torque for $1,295. That will give your Volvo a total of 241 horses and 236 pound feet of torque. Considering the price and the fact that it will not void your warranty, that’s a pretty good deal.

“Our performance-minded customers have demonstrated that there is interest in developing warranty-friendly performance upgrades for their vehicles,” said Carol Kitchen, vice president of customer service for Volvo Cars of Canada, “This Polestar tuning program allows driving enthusiasts to unlock the power potential of our engines.”

Volvo received immensely high praise when they teamed up with Polestar to produce the C30 Polestar concept earlier this year.

Sounds like Volvo is very close to perfecting the performance + safety recipe. Exciting!

Would you pay for the performance upgrade?

[Volvo Canada]

Spotted: 5-Door Volvo C30

Well this certainly clears the rumours that the C30 was on its way out along with the V50 and S40, both of which have been confirmed to be discontinued after this year.

Volvo has been pondering the idea of a 5-door version of the C30 ever since its inception and now we have proof that it is indeed in the works. However, what isn’t clear is what the smallest Volvo’s nomenclature will be. Since the ‘C’ in all Volvo alphanumeric names designates coupes only, it’s likely this 5-door C30 will bare the name of V30 as V’s are typically reserved for wagon types. Then again, the C30 isn’t a wagon, it’s a hatchback. All very confusing, isn’t it? Regardless, this won’t be the only iteration of the 5-door C30 as a jacked-up crossover variant (like the XC70) is also reportedly in the works. It stands to reason that it would be called the XC30.

This is likely a smart move on Volvo’s part if they are truely wishing to compete with the big boys such as the Audi A3, Lexus CT200h, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and the BMW 1-series hatchback. Also, with rumours of Saab returning back to its hatchback roots (assuming Saab lives on long enough), Volvo will definitely need a competitor for its ultimate rival.

The 5-door C30 or V30 or XC30 or whatever you want to call it, is expected to debut in late 2012 or early 2013 along with a complete redesign of the C30 coupe.

[Autoblog]

Report: Volvo to Produce C30 Polestar Concept

Volvo must be listening to the people!

First Volvo listened when we all begged to make the S60 R-Design more than just a cosmetic upgrade, then we learned that Polestar had a mighty big hand in making that happen and now a recent report is suggesting that Volvo is ready to build the amazing C30 Polestar Concept.

Dubbed as a “junior Nissan GT-R” the C30 Polestar has wowed auto journalists alike with the only caveat that it was never to be put into production. Well through its recent relationship in making the S60 and XC60 R-Designs, Volvo will now in fact build the C30 Polestar concept. It will reportedly be dubbed the C30 PCP, which apparently stands for Performance Concept Prototype (not the hallucinogenic drug -although the C30 Polestar’s intoxicating performance may very well deliver quite the high).

I suggested that if Volvo wanted to truly take on zee Germans, they needed an dedicated performance division and it’s looking like the PCP nomenclature may very well fill the gap much in the same way BMW has its M division, Mercedes-Benz has it’s AMG division and Audi has its RS division.

The C30 PCP will reportedly have a very limited run (much like the BMW 1-series M) of about 500 examples made and will reportedly cost around $80,000 Canadian. That price, plus 400 horses makes it more of a BMW M3 competitor than a 1-series M competitor.

Regardless, it’s nice to see a car company that actually listens to the public. Thanks for actually building the C30 PCP, Volvo! Can’t wait to write a review for it!

[What Car?]

Junior Nissan GT-R? AutoCar Reviews the Volvo C30 Polestar

BMW’s M, Audi’s RS and Mercedes-Benz’s AMG divisions better watch out because it turns out Volvo and Polestar can make one mean performance car.

Basically the idea of the C30 Polestar concept is simple: make a hardcore performance car that is street legal. Sounds simple enough, right? Well in order to do that, the C30 Polestar has a tuned 2.5 litre inline five cylinder which churns out 405 horsepower. Obviously that’s a lot of juice to put to the front wheels so Volvo  used their Haldex AWD system. On top of that, it is fitted with massive brakes, a massive intercoolers and other custom internal bits.

All of this combined means that Volvo has just created a “junior Nissan GT-R” according to Autocar. Praise doesn’t get much higher than that.

The kicker is Volvo and Polestar have no plans on actually turning it into a production vehicle. My guess is that it would likely be way too expensive if they were to sell it to the general public. Find a way to deal with that, Volvo. Nissan was able to keep the price down with the GT-R, so it is possible. This is definitely the hottest Volvo ever made and no one being able to experience it would be a travesty!

Judging by the video, it very well could be a junior GT-R. It looks extremely sure footed and planted in the corners and it has a tremendous exhaust note. Check out the Autocar’s test above.

Oh Hi: Volvo C30 Polestar Performance Concept

Meet the C30 Polestar Performance Concept from Volvo. It’s one of the more attractive Volvos that you likely will never see on the streets because it won’t be available for sale. Bummer.

Its existance is purely for just-for-the-hell-of-it reasons because Volvo and Polestar were curious about what they’d end up with if they built a race ready C30 without the regulatory body getting in the way. The end result? Stunning. Even though it’s not the colour I’d choose (though I could easily warm up to it), this is the most interesting Volvo to come along in a long time. And those wheels are just fantastic.

It has the same T5 engine found in the roadgoing C30, but Polestar has tuned it to 405 horsepower thanks to a much bigger turbo, a massive intercooler and custom internals.  Volvo’s AWD system makes sure the Polestar C30 stays planted.

In addition there are brakes supplied by Brembo, an Ohlins suspension set up and a quick ratio steering rack.

Has this got you drooling yet? Me too. Volvo & Polestar aren’t nice at all for teasing us like this. Build it, Volvo!

Volvo to Expand C30 series

Volvo has been fairly successful with its cool little hatch, the C30 as its job is to bust any myths about Volvos being ‘uncool’ and too expensive.

After realizing this success, Volvo has decided to add a few more models to the C30 range.

They are planning on introducing a 5 door C30. While the 3 door is pretty cool, this is desperately needed if Volvo wishes to truly take on the likes of the 5-door GTI, Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

Also, Volvo plans on building on their apparent talent for making SUV’s. They are going to make a small size SUV to compete with BMW’s upcoming X1. Volvo’s version will likely be called the XC30,  making it the fourth installment of the XC range behind the XC90, XC70, and XC60.

With these new plans for expanding their model range, and Volvo’s latest success in the SUV department, it’s a wonder why Ford is still willing to part ways with the brand.

Lexus CT 200h Not Coming to U.S, But Will It Still See Canadian Shores?

It’s expected to make it’s debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto show in a about a month, and our Amurrican neighbours will not get a chance to have one in their driveways.

Even though Barack Obama said “Yes We Can” Toyota is saying “No You Can’t”. A Toyota Spokesperson confirmed to Edmunds.com that it will not be for sale.

This does not necessarily mean the same fate for the better country at hockey, however. In Canada we get many cars that the Amurricans don’t get such as the BMW 323i, and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. Also, we Canadians love our small hatchbacks way more than our neighbours down south. On top of that, we’re very much into fuel efficient vehicles, so it would actually make sense for Lexus to bring out the CT 200h for Canadians only. Right now the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Audi A3 and Volvo C30 are the only premium cheap hatches to choose from, so Lexus would be smart to enter that segment as well.

There are few details released about the CT 200h, other than it will be a compact hybrid hatchback that is expected to take the cheapest Lexus title away from the IS 250. The teaser picture above would seem to suggest LED tail lights as well.

Volvo to be Sold to Geely for $1.8 billion?

Just as soon as reports came in of the sale of Saab,  reports came in just as quickly for a sale of Saab’s rival, Volvo.

Chinese brand Geely has been rumoured to be the preferred bidder of Volvo for quite some time now and it looks as though they are closer to acquiring the premium brand from Ford. And all it will cost them is $1.8 billion -a bargain!

You see, Ford purchased Volvo just over a decade ago to the tune of $6.25 billion. That’s over $4 billion lost in just eleven years. In all that time, it has been said that Volvo failed to be profitable to Ford, hence the reason of the sale.

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