William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

May 28, 2012

Volvo's marketing campaign for the new S60 is going down a dark route. Instead of talking about how safe it is, Volvo is talking about how sporty and "Naughty" the S60 is. And it appears Volvo is upping the naughty a bit, if a report and some spy shots come to fruition.

Sweden’s Tekniken Svarld reports that Volvo and performance partner, Polestar are working together to build high performance S60. Rumor points to a Yamaha sourced V8 that Volvo uses in the XC90 SUV and S80 flagship. The V8 has been tuned to somewhere in the range of 400 HP.

Tekniken Svarld goes onto say that the S60 could get a sequential transmission, light-weight materials, and a new body kit.

Which leads us to some spy shots that Tekniken Svarld nabbed of an S60 wearing some handsome camouflage. The pictures show this S60 sitting much wider than a normal model and equipped with bigger fenders and wider wheels.

Is this the high-performance S60 undergoing some tests? No one is sure at the moment.

Source: Tekniken Svarld, AutoGuide

William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

April 17, 2012

What is the lowest cylinder engine that you can buy in a Volvo currently? If you said four, you would be wrong. Volvo hasn't sold a four-cylinder model since 2004. But that will be changing next year.

Automotive News has found out that come 2013, Volvo will offer a 2.0L four-cylinder in the front-wheel-drive versions of the S60 and S80 sedans, the XC60 crossover and the XC70 wagon. The engine is part of Volvo's new Environmental Architecture family of four-cylinder engines. The family will replace all of the automaker's five- and six-cylinder engines.

"The whole reason to do this is high fuel efficiency, high performance, good torque and reduced weight. This will give us a leap ahead," said Volvo Cars of North America CEO John Maloney.

The engine will range in horsepower from 150 to 300 thanks to turbocharging. Gas engines will come first with diesel possibly coming along later.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

G. Noble

Editor/Reporter

CheersandGears.com

Thursday, 23rd February, 2012

It isn’t easy for automakers to keep their upcoming models under wraps these days. While manufacturers would rather build our interest up for a new car with a slow trickle of teaser images until the wraps are pulled back, others would rather just release what few complete pieces of information they can get their hands on as soon as possible by whatever means necessary.

So it isn’t much of a surprise Volvo’s new V40 five-door hatch has leaked out ahead of its reveal at the approaching Geneva Auto Show. Although there isn’t any official information or specifications, it’s safe to assume the V40 will compete against the likes of the Audi A3, the BMW 1-Series, and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class in the premium small hatch segment. We can also say that the styling is very interesting, with what appear to be a few small cues that nod to the old and beloved P1800ES two-door wagon.

Since, of course, Volvo hasn’t officially revealed the car yet, there isn’t any word if it’ll be sold Stateside.

Source: The Motoryzacyjny (it’s a Polish auto rag) Facebook page