Archive for Volvo

The new Volvo XC60 is here, available in two variants but both with a 3.0 liter turbocharged six-cylinder T6 engine producing an exciting 285 horsepower and 400Nm of torque from just 1,500rpm, mated to a 6-speed Geartronic auto. The two variants are called the XC60 T6 LE and the XC60 T6 SE, and they retail for RM360k and RM330k respectively, OTR without insurance. It’s a rather handsome and dynamic looking car actually, a far departure from the Volvos of the past. Think of it as a smaller XC90 on steroids, buffed up and more toned.

The more expensive LE version is the one with all the goodies. For an additional 30k, you get a panoramic sunroof, a 12 speaker Dynaudio premium sound system, Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Warning with Auto Brake, Lane Departure Warning, and Drive Alert Control. Collision Warning with Autobrake actually alerts the driver if the distance to the car in front of you suddenly decreases. If the driver does not react in time, the system brakes at up to 50% maximum braking power automatically.

The cheaper SE version gets an 8 speaker sound system. Both sound systems feature a 6-CD changer with AUX, USB, Bluetooth and iPod connectors. The interior leather can be had in either soft beige/espresso brown, or offblack. The trim inlays can be had in either a sporty brushed aluminium trim, or for something more classic, you have classic wood or Nordic light oak.

Here’s the rest of the equipment that comes with both LE and SE versions: dual stage driver and front airbags, dual chamber front SIPS (side impact protection system) airbags, Inflatable Curtain airbags, all-wheel drive, whiplash protection system, a 40:20:40 splitting rear seat, ABS, EBD, brake assist, ready alert brake, fading brake support, dynamic stability and traction control, roll stability control, rollover protection system, hill descent control, blindspot information system, rain sensor wipers, active bending lights, headlamp washers, ISOFIX points for the rear seats, speed sensitive power steering with 3 manual settings, electric seats for the front with memory for the driver, auto-dimming rear view mirror with integrated compass, powered tailgate, B-pillar ventilation vents, and a Personal Car Communicator for keyless entry and drive.

Optional over the prices above are various styling accessories which consist of larger 19 inch wheels, front bumper bars in matte aluminium, running boards, side scuff plates, and a rear bumper skid plate.

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There are no confirmed reports in the Western media yet, but Chinese website auto.sohu.com claims that Ford and Geely have already struck an agreement for the Swedish car company best known for their safety to be sold to the Chinese manufacturer. But it is the only news source that seems to be covering this story, so it either might only be a blown-up rumour or it might be so fresh that only the Chinese side want to talk about it at the moment.

Nevertheless even that news report is skeptical about how such a deal can pull through successfully. Geely’s market value is over 30 billion yuan, which is about 4.3 billion USD, and a Volvo buy would also require several billion USD, claims the site. They are saying Geely might take government loans and other financial assistance. And given Ford’s improving financial health, it will be less desperate to sell Volvo, which might raise the Swedish manufacturer’s price.

Elsewhere in media reports, people are still talking about another Chinese car company recently deciding to join the race to buy Volvo from Ford - Beijing Auto Industry Holdings. Beijing Auto currently has joint ventures in China with Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai. Other names mentioned before in the press said to be interested in Volvo include Renault, Chery, and Changan.

Volvo and Swedish energy company Vattenfall will be cooperating on producing plug-in diesel-electric hybrid Volvos that combine electric motors with high capacity lithium ion batteries and turbodiesel powertrains by 2012. Volvo will manufacture the cars and Vattenfall will develop the charging systems as well as supply the cars with electricity for plug-in charging.

Three Volvo V70 demonstrator cars will be presented in summer this year by the joint venture. These demo cars will be used to gather information about the wishes and demands that drivers may have on the new technology, to determine their driving habits and to establish how they want to charge their cars.

Vattenfall will be using these demo cars to test various concepts for high-speed home charging and also for charging stations in public places, where owners pay to charge up the car with electricity instead of refueling it with fossil fuels.

Determining charging behaviour patterns are very important in order to plan and deploy a charging infrastructure that works. Conducting focus groups and verbally finding out what potential drivers may think they want is one thing but real life requirements may change once someone is actually driving a plug-in car, thus these demo cars are actually quite important.

Look after the jump for some shots of the V70 demo car.

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Heico Sportiv displayed this kitted up Volvo XC60 at the Essen Motor Show last year, and it’s the world’s first complete tuning program for Volvo’s baby XC90.

Other than aesthetic enhancements which include either a twin or quad tailpipe exhaust at the rear and sports springs which lowers the car by 30mm, both the petrol and diesel variants have an engine tuning program. The XC60 2.4D and XC60 D5 have engine outputs of 163 PS and 185 PS respectively but Heico tunes both up to 210 PS. The T6 turbocharged 3.0 liter inline-6 variant gets boosted up from 285 PS to 315 PS.

The XC60 will share some technical underpinings with the latest generation Freelander. It is set to join Volvo Cars Malaysia’s product line-up in either Q2 or Q3 2009. Look after the jump for more photos and a video featuring the diesel HEICO XC60’s exhaust note. You’ll be amazed that it’s a diesel!

Related Posts:
2009 Volvo XC60 to be unveiled at Geneva
VIDEO: Volvo XC60 Driving Shots Footage

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Ford-owned auto maker; Volvo will launch the 2010 Volvo S80 at the upcoming motor show in Geneva which is set to take place next week. The refreshed S80 now gets a new front grille featuring a larger iron mark on the front fascia. There are also new bright work on the air intakes, lower part of the doors and under the tail lamps. The new treatment on the outside help give the S80 a slightly lower, longer and wider stance.

On the inside, the new S80 gets exclusive aluminium dials with decor trim with silk matte metal-effect finish on the four-spoke steering wheel which is also found in the gear selector, around the starter button.

Under the hood, the new S80 receives a brand new engine. Called the D5 power plant, it is a twin-turbo 5 cylinder 2.4-litre turbodiesel that is able to produce 205HP a nd 420Nm of torque. The new engine only consumes 6.2 liters per 100 kilometers while releasing 164 grams of emissions per kilometer. Potential buyers can also opt for the new 5 cylinder single turbo 2.4-litre diesel engine which is good for 175HP and 420Nm of torque. Fuel consumption is slightly lower at 5.8 liters per 100 kilometers while it releases 154 grams per kilometer.

Potential buyers can also choose between two chassis options including a standard chassis that is tuned to offer better comfort and a sports chassis that is well-suited for spirited driving. The standard chassis now features softer springs which is good for customers who would prefer a comfortable car over a sportier variant.

With the more rigid sports chassis, the car has been lowered by 20 millimeters at the front and 15 millimeters at the rear which also gives the car a more aggressive stance. Other improvements made to offer better handling include; shorter and firmer springs, shock absorbers with greater damping abilities, harder bushings on the sub-frame as well as firmer anti-roll bars.

Also offered as standard with the sports chassis is the automatic self-leveling system that raises the car when it is fully loaded. Continue reading to view an image gallery.

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Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman says his government has switched from the Proton Perdana V6 Executive to new “black Volvo 2.5″ cars as the state’s new official cars. Once again as with Perak (Camry) and Terengganu (Mercedes-Benz E200K), the reason given was the high maintenance cars for the Perdanas.

He says the arrangement for the purchase is through a company called Angkatan Hebat Sdn Bhd (a company which the state government holds 70% of through its Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd investment arm), which will then lease the cars to the state.

The Perdana V6 is still in use as official cars for some senior officers including permanent secretaries and heads of departments. The new imported Volvos are for the 12 Sabah Ministers only. A 2.5 liter Volvo sedan would most likely point to the Volvo S80, the 2.5T model in particular, which offers an effortless drive thanks to its torquey 2.5 liter inline-5 turbocharged engine. The Volvo S80 2.5T has also been spotted being used by the PDRM as part of its police car fleet. But if it is not a sedan (New Sabah Times sources only revealed it was a “car”, did not specify any bodyshape), an XC90 would make sense.

The only question right now is, how will the S80s be maintained well when according to the Volvo Cars Malaysia “Find A Dealer” page, there are no authorised dealers or service centers in Sabah? I hope Volvo Cars Malaysia will be able to provide training to Angkatan Hebat technicians or some other kind of arrangement, otherwise it might end up being “high maintenance” all over again. A quick check with Angkatan Hebat’s company profile (page 14) shows it already maintains a fleet of 38 Volvos and 14 service centers around Sabah so hopefully it should be sufficiently equipped.

Source

Ford may finally have a buyer for its Volvo brand after all, in the form of an old French suitor named Renault. Renault almost merged with Volvo in the early 1990s and they have even co-developed some engines together. Everything is still at the discussion stage though, which began sometime last year. Renault and Volvo is seen to be a good fit as Renault makes mostly compact cars except for the Laguna (which isn’t all that big in the first place) while Volvo makes larger cars, so vehicle platforms would be complementary to each other. I’m pretty sure much of the Western world would much rather a French company than a Chinese company like Changan or SAIC.

The Volvo XC90, Jeremy Clarkson’s choice of people mover for his family (he bought 3 in a row, the latest this month after he sold his 2nd one in October last year), now comes in diesel. Under the hood of the new diesel facelifted XC90 is an inline-5 2.4 liter turbodiesel engine producing 185 horsepower at 4,000rpm and 400Nm of torque between 2,000 to 2,750rpm, which should be adequate for moving the 7-seater around through the Geartronic transmission’s 6-speeds and all-wheel drive.

Naturally being a Volvo, there are adequate safety equipment. Three-point inertia-reel seatbelts with belt pre-tensioners and head restraints are available on all 7 seats. A feature called Roll Stability Control activates if the car risks rolling over. RSC reduces engine power, increases anti-roll bar stiffness, and automatically applies the brakes to help stablize the car. The all-wheel drive system is supplemented with Dynamic Stability and Traction Control. There are plenty of airbags all-around, with an Inflatable Curtain airbag on both sides of the car that inflates all the way from the front row until the third row.

The XC90 D5’s selling price is exactly the same as the 2.5T petrol version - RM 355,000 OTR without insurance. The vehicle’s road tax is actually cheaper than the petrol version at RM760 a year compared to the 2.5T’s RM873.60. The petrol version makes more power at 210hp, but less torque at only 320Nm. Its slower to accelerate though, taking 11.5 seconds to get to 100km/h compared to the 2.5T’s 9.9 seconds. However it makes up for that in fuel economy, rated to consume only 8.5 liters per 100km on the comnbined cycle compared to the petrol version’s 11.8 liters per 100km.

All other equipment are exactly the same except the D5 doesn’t have Dual Xenon Lights, but the 2.5T only has a 5-speed auto compared to the D5’s 6-speed unit.

Click for enlarged image

If you think the Evo X is the only expensive turbocharged police car added to the PDRM fleet recently, you’re wrong. Reader Kevin Lee spotted this Volvo S80 2.5T around the Sunway area. I’m not sure how high you have to go in the police force to be able to drive one of these police Volvo S80 luxo-cruisers, but 200 horsepower at 4,800rpm and 300Nm between 1,500 to 4,500rpm matched with a 6-speed Geartronic sure sounds nice. The interior is a nice place to be in as well. It’s really wide and feels the most luxurious of anything under RM300k, or even RM400k I dare say.

The turbocharged inline-5 engine takes the car up to 100km/h in 8 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 210km/h. These Volvo S80 2.5T luxury cars cost about RM 285,000 OTR without insurance for us peasants, but a police vehicle would likely be tax-free. And that retail price is even cheaper than the Evo X! Are we heading back to the days of PDRM Volvo 850 T5 wagons keeping the highways in check?

The Volvo SC90 concept was panned by Nouphone J. Bansasine during his internship at Volvo in Summer 2007, and it was essentially a Volvo entry into the fray of “4-door coupes” being launched one after another by nearly all car manufacturers who ever use the word luxury in any of their marketing material.

In the designer’s imaginary world, the SC90 concept would go into production by the year 2015 against the Aston Martin Rapide and the Porsche Panamera, and according to current Volvo nomenclature it would most likely be called the Volvo C90. Perhaps it’s because it would probably take that long for anyone to find a Volvo entry in THAT segment sexy enough to purchase - 4-door coupes aren’t as practical as sedans and are usually a purely emotional choice.

Have a look at a photo gallery of the concept after the jump.

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