Archive for Volvo

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

Click here to read the rest of 2009 HEICO Sportiv Volvo XC60 (with video!)

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.

Click here to read the rest of Volvo S80 refreshed in time for Geneva 2009

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.

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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.

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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.

Click here to read the rest of Volvo SC90 Concept: what if Volvo made a 4-door coupe?

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Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the REAL mother trucker! The most powerful truck in the world as of today is the new Volvo FH16, which can proudly display a 700 horsepower badge thanks to its D16G engine, which puts out a massive 700 horsepower and 3,150Nm of torque in its highest state of tune. The 16 liter engine is also Euro 5 compliant, which is important since that regulation will come into force in October this year.

“The Volvo FH16 is intended for the very heaviest and most demanding of transport operations. It is also a highly prestigious truck for the customer who is looking for something truly out of the ordinary. Now, with 700 hp, the Volvo FH16 sets itself apart from everything else in the industry,” says Staffan Jufors, President and CEO of Volvo Trucks, clearly very proud of the new truck.

Despite the power increase, Volvo has rated the new 700 horsepower truck to consume the same amount of fuel as the previous edition which puts out 660hp. The FH16 is also available in 540hp and 600hp versions, which come with 2,650Nm or 2,800Nm of torque respectively.

These kind of trucks are a rare sight in Malaysia. There aren’t that many uses for such a powerful engine, plus it could be that our displacement-tied tax structure forces some people who want to save ob road tax costs to use underpowered trucks for hauling way more than they were designed for. That is why you can see trucks stranded on a slope sometimes, usually thanks to a burned out clutch from the strain they have to pull.

Look after the jump for a video of the truck in action.

Click here to read the rest of Volvo FH16 is the most powerful truck in the world!

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Volvo is the latest car manufacturer with a new high-powered twin turbodiesel engine that has good power, loads of torque and at the same time, low emissions and good fuel economy. The new Volvo D5 inline-5 twin-turbodiesel has 2.4 liters of displacement and uses two differently sized turbochargers installed in a sequential arrangement to produce 205hp and 420Nm of torque, while achieving 45.6mpg and 164g/km of emissions, meeting Euro 5 standards.

The formula is a well-known and used one, a small turbocharger to rapidly spool up and provide lag-free boost from idle that hands over the job to a larger turbocharger at higher revs, up to 1.8 bar of boost. It also allows using exhaust gas recirculation over a wider range than before, helping reduce harmful emissions. Fuel is delivered via piezoelectric fuel injectors, and the engine also uses ceramic glowplugs that improve cold-starts because they can reach 1000 degrees Celcius in just 2 seconds.

Another feature of the engine is the elimination of an oil dipstick for the owner to check his engine lubricant levels. Instead, an information display in the car shows the status of the engine oil and if it needs replenishing, the owner is even informed of exactly how much oil to pour in.

This new all-aluminium D5 twin turbodiesel engine will first be used in the Volvo S80 from mid-2009 onwards in the UK, but specs and price of the new twin turbodiesel S80 have not been revealed yet, only to be announced nearer to the showroom launch date.

Despite it’s BMW X6-like looks, this isn’t a crossover coupe kinda thing, it’s actually a C-segment executive sedan, set to be Volvo’s new weapon against the likes of the BMW 3-Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. We’ll see it on the roads in 2010, but for now let’s have a look at the concept version.

Under the hood is a new 1.6 liter GTDi engine. GTDi stands for Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection and it can produce 180 horsepower from such a small displacement engine. The GTDi engine also has start-stop function, and is mated to a Powershift twin clutch transmission. CO2 emissions are rated at 119g/km and fuel consumption is pegged at 5.0 liters consumed per 100km travelled. Some technical features that help achieve this fuel consumption and also contribute to better aerodynamics are flat underbody panels, the use of lightweight materials, and a grille shutter which closes to reduce air drag whenever there is less need for air cooling.

The exterior is clearly derived from the aggressive styling of the Volvo XC60, but there are little touches here and there which make you feel they really paid attention to detail with the car. For example, the headlamps have Scandinavian influences in it. Apparently they create the image of two miniature Viking longboats sailing side by side, one for the main beam and one for the dipped beam. This will probably be dropped in the production version for a conventional projector and reflector combination.

Volvo says the lines on the car do not end abruptly but instead flows continuously from the front to the end of the car, inspired by fast sweeps of a race track. The X6-like stance is probably due to the large 7-spoke wheels which are 20 inches in size and wrapped with low profile tyres. Hiding behind the wheel spokes are brake calipers which are painted bronze to match the exterior “Warm Liquid Copper” colour.

The interior is much more experimental, and according to Volvo Cars design director Steve Mattin, it indicates Volvo’s future interior design direction. The floating center stack has been revealed previously and is made of solid Orrefors crystal, but we probably won’t see such luxury in the production version. This center stack flows from the instrument panel all the way to the rear seat’s backrest.

Anyway, enough of the design details, as sometimes a designer’s justification of the themes that inspired his design does not make sense. Let’s have a look at the safety features that Volvo has built into the new Volvo S60 Concept. which hopefully will cross over to the production model, or another production Volvo at least if they are too expensive to include with a C-segment car.

Volvo has allowed the car to automatically brake to avoid collisions with the car in front of you if the difference of speed between the two vehicles is less than 25km/h. This is because apparently studies show that half of all drivers who hit another vehicle from behind do not brake prior to the collision.

In an emergency, the driver gets an audible warning with a white flashing light in the windscreen’s HUD. It looks like a flashing brake light coming on in front. This is an enhancement over the current system found in cars such as the S80 where a light on top of the dash flashes, but now its changed to a flashing in the heads-up display. If the driver does not respond to this warning and collision is imminent, the car brakes with full braking power. However the main idea is still to warn the driver of the impending collision and let him take evasive action on his own, with the auto brake to be used only at the very last minute as a last resort.

View a collection of hi-res photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volvo S60 Concept unveiled before Detroit show