Sexy AND Safe: 2012 Volvo S60 Gets Top Safety Marks

Volvo may be pumping up performance in the S60 with the R-Design but that doesn’t mean that they’ve lost sight of their roots: safety. Case in point, the 2012 S60 has just earned perfect ratings in all categories including frontal, side and pole crash tests run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. The S60 aced the pole crash test in particular as no other vehicle’s occupants (read test dummies) has ever faired as well in that test.

The S60 is just the second vehicle to ever ace all of the NHTSA tests. It joins only the Chevrolet Camaro for perfect marks.

So, we have a stylish, fun to drive Swedish sports sedan that will likely keep you together in one piece if you wrap accidentally wrap it around a tree. What’s not to like? The S60 is starting to look more and more like this year’s most underrated car. Now all Volvo needs to go is offer it with a proper six-speed manual and then they’ll have a clear winner for sure.

Click the video above to see the side crash test of the S60.

[Examiner.com]

Volvo S60 R-Design Was Done Through Polestar?

Volvo’s R-Design for the better part of the past five years has been nothing but sporty cosmetic upgrades to models such as the S60. If you were looking for any added sort of performance like the previous S60 R had, you were plain out of luck. Then one day Volvo listened. They made the S60 R-Design more than just a looker, it now has the goods to walk the talk. If you check off the R-Design package for the 2011 S60, you’ll get 325 horsepower and 354 pound feet of torque over the S60 T6′s standard 300 horsepower and 320 pound foot torque.

Well apparently we can all thank tuning company Polestar for the added performance boost. If you don’t remember, Polestar were the ones that took a stock C30 T5 and turned it into a “junior Nissan GT-R”. High praise indeed. In fact, Jeremy Clarkson is also quite fond of Polestar’s creation. So, it seems Polestar definitely caught Volvo’s attention when they were getting such rave reviews and so Volvo enlisted them for the S60 R-Design.

So what does that mean? Will Polestar be to Volvo what AMG is to Mercedes-Benz or M is to BMW? It’s tough to say. Volvo has yet to comment on that, but I think it would be a very smart move if Volvo truly wishes to be mentioned in the same breath as those German heavyweights. I would snatch a C30 Polestar up in a second were it available for sale to the public.

Something to seriously think about, Volvo.

[Swedespeed.com]

Volvo S60 R-Design is Now All Show & All Go

When Volvo redesigned the S60, many purists were hoping that the ‘R’ versions would carry over as well. The previous generation S60 R generated a decent 300 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque which made for quite the sleeper and very shocked and confused faces of most people when they realized they were beat from the lights by a Volvo.

However, Volvo didn’t carry over the S60 R for the new generation. Volvo said the new S60 T6 already made 300 horses and 320 horsepower so an R version wasn’t needed. With most of us scratching our heads wondering why 300 horsepower is apparently the cut off for Volvo, they tried to appease us by offering the “R-Design” which essentially gave the S60 the cosmetic appearance of the old S60 R, and tightened everything up to increase handling abilities. But still, there was no bump in power. Until now.

It seems Volvo is finally listening and is giving the S60 more go with its show. The S60 R-Design will now make 325 horsepower and a sizable 354 pound feet of torque. This now positions the S60 R as a credible contender against the 333 horsepower Audi S4 and the 320 horsepower BMW 335is.

Now, the only missing piece of the puzzle is to give this car a proper manual transmission. Get to it, Volvo!

[Volvo]

Car Driven’s 2011 Car of the Year Nominees Are…

For the first time ever, Car Driven will be announcing its Car of the Year (COTY). Mostly because this is the first year for this blog, but also because unfortunately I don’t have the means to test every new vehicle myself this year. But that never stopped me from making my own pics for AJAC’s COTY awards last year, so why not?

So with much thought and deliberation I’ve narrowed down the nominees to five cars overall. Every new 2011 vehicle, no matter what the segment, is considered. However to keep things simple, I’ve opted to not separate them by categories this year. That means the new Honda Odyssey was technically considered alongside the Ferrari 458 Italia. Since both are obviously very different vehicles made for very different purposes, I decided to choose all nominees based on how well each vehicle is suited for Canadians. That means everything from performance, price, quality, safety, fit & finish were considered. However to keep it fair, each of those criterion are relative to the vehicle segment. So for example the Ferrari 458 Italia is compared against other supercars. And the Honda Odyssey against other minivans. The vehicle that presents a clear, absolute best case for itself wins.

I’ll probably do categories next year, but for now we’ll go with this. And I’m working a lot harder to try to test all the new vehicles for next year to make a more informed decision, press vehicles are pretty hard to get your hands on (in the meantime, check out all the vehicles I’ve tested so far). And to keep it simple, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 vehicles.

Find out what they are after the jump.

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Volvo Releases S60 R-Design Image

Remember the old S60 R? It was quite the sleeper. Douchebags in their Cobalt SS’s didn’t know what hit them when they got schooled by an S60 R. It came with 300 horsepower, 300 pound foot torque, AWD, an advanced suspension altering system and a six speed manual. Oh and it looked damn good too. Yet, despite that delicious combination, Volvo didn’t sell too many S60 R’s. Why? I think it’s because Volvo marketed it to be an ‘M3 killer’. Which it really wasn’t. The S60 R was good, yes, but not nearly as capable as the E46 M3 which it was pitted against.

Volvo then dropped the S60 R from its lineup, which was quite unfortunate. Since then, Volvo has offered ‘R-design’ packages on the C30, XC90 and XC60. While they made the appearance of those models look spectacular, unfortunately that’s all the R-design package was – purely cosmetic.

Now, though, Volvo is offering the R-design package on the redesigned S60 and it’s a bit more than just side skirts and nice alloys. The R-Design will now also get you an upgraded suspension including firmer bushings all the way around, a strut-tower brace, and stiffer coils on all four corners.

You’ll also get torque vectoring. What’s torque vectoring? Well it basically allows for enhanced cornering abilities by sending and appropriate amount of torque to each individual wheel depending on the speed and aggressiveness the driver has in taking the corner.

Sadly, there will be no boost in power from the engine. With the standard S60 T6 making 300 horsepower and 325 pound foot torque however, Volvo probably figured that would be adequate. Um, not if you wanna take on the M3 again Volvo. However, those numbers do put it right in line with the 335i and the Volvo is also significantly cheaper.

Good to see the re-incarnation of the S60 R.

[Volvo]

Safe Sex

HEICO SPORTIV – The all new Volvo S60. from heicofilm on Vimeo.

Video has just been released of the Volvo S60 Heico Sportiv. Wow. It looks terrifically sexy! And being a Volvo, it’s super safe.

The Heico Sportiv S60 boosts power to 330 horsepower and 339 pound foot torque. That’s good enough for a 0-100 time in 5.8 seconds. If I’m honest, that number seems a bit disappointing. All that power with only a 5.8 0-100 time? I guess the AWD system must be really heavy. It’s not like 5.8 seconds is anything to sneeze at.

Plus, when your car looks this good, you’ll want to give people enough time to look in awe anyway.

[Heico Film]

Oh Hi: 2011 Heico Sportiv Volvo S60

Even though the 2011 Volvo S60 is not officially available for sale yet, that hasn’t stopped tuning company Heico Sportiv from having a go at Volvo’s latest stylish offering.

They took the standard T6 engine and boosted output by 30 horsepower. As a result the Heico Sportiv S60 develops 330 horses and 300 pound feet of torque. In addition, Heico Sportive revised the front facia, gave it some big gunmetal coloured wheels, and a rear diffuser with a quad tailpipe set up. Nice.

They also plan on reconfiguring the exhaust and suspension to more sporting tastes. If they give it a six speed manual transmission too, I’d say they have a winner. I’ll take mine in the matte black pictured above too!

[Autoblog]

Volvo C60 Revealed!

Well this is a bit of a surprise.

To my knowledge (which is vast in terms of the auto industry – just a fact, not bragging) Volvo had no plans of replacing the C70 any time soon or making any coupe/convertible variants of the new 2011 S60. Apparently Volvo was quite secretive about this one though.

The image above was snapped at a private presentation of Volvo’s future models. Cell phones and cameras were banned for obvious reasons, but that didn’t stop a brave soul from sneaking one in and taking this pic.

We can see that Volvo will be retaining the hardtop that the C70 is famously known for (it folds in three pieces!). On top of that, it keeps a very simialr S60 front end, but it is expected to have revised tail lights.

For power, I’m happy to report that the new T6 that the C60′s four door brother has under the hood will make it over. One of the main gripes with the C70 was its lack of power. That should fix that issue just fine.

The C60 joins the 60-series lineup of the S60 sedan, XC60 crossover and V60 wagon.

[World Car Fans via Top Speed]

2011 Volvo S60 Priced, More Details Revealed

Volvo Canada has released pricing on the very stylish 2011 S60 and it will start at $45,450. That’s a lot of dough, but remember this is the top of the line T6. When compared the BMW’s 335i, the S60 T6 is a full 5 grand cheaper. Less powerful trim levels are likely to follow down the line as well. Volvo has a habit of introducing the top of the line trim levels first.

The T6 will get a turbocharged inline six cylinder engine capable of producing 300 horsepower and 325 pound feet of torque. Since the S60 has always been front wheel drive, that is an excellent recipe for torque steer, so to combat that, Volvo is making all-wheel drive standard on the T6. Sounds pretty sweet, right?

Well, here’s the bad news. Volvo has no plans of offering a maual transmission with this set up, at least not initially. That means it’s up to the consumer to make a  fuss about it and demand that a manual option will be available down the line. That’s what happened with the previous generation M5, remember? It was initially offered with automatic only, but then everyone complained and BMW then fitted it with a manual.

On top of all that, you’re going to get all the safety stuff that Volvo is known for including Volvo’s City Safety which is capable of stopping the vehicle by itself if it detects and immanent crash. This technology was first introduced on the XC60.

[Volvo Canada]

This is What the New Volvo S60 Should Have Been

Well, not exactly like this, we mean mechanically it should have been like this.

To eleborate, the pic you see above is Volvo’s entry into the Belgian Touring Car Championship starting on April 11th. It shares very little with the production 2011 S60 sedan. The S60 racer is going to get a V6  which will produce 410 horsepower,  6 speed manual transmission and it will be rear wheel drive. Yup, the civilianized version should defintely have this set up.

Still, the new S60 can supposedly hold its own, but we’ll reserve judgement on that until we try one out for ourselves.

The S60 Racer will be Volvo’s first crack at the Belgian Touring Car Championship which includes two 90 minute heats and a 12 hour endurance race.

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.

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Video: 2011 Volvo S60

Do you like a man in sunglasses that wears a blutooth earpiece? Do you like it when he gets into a sleek new car that no one owns yet and starts driving it aggressively? Do you like it when he drives it down an unusually well lit tunnel then bursts out the other end into road that seemingly has no traffic at all to impede his aggressive driving behaviour? Do you like it when the road suddenly turns into a desert so the man can start power sliding said new car all over the place? Do you like it when all of this happens to the sound of dramatic choir voices and string instruments in the background?

Then you’re going to love Volvo’s new promo video for the brand new 2011 S60 sedan! Check it out above

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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