Volvo V60 News

Just weeks after the first spy shots of the Volvo V60 Polestar appeared, the Swedish brand has given the hot wagon a global debut, positioning it as the more practical sibling to the already lauded S60 sedan -- for which Australia has been the trial market. Sadly, at this stage Australia isn't on the list of seven markets Volvo has marked for the V60 Polestar: Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA. However further markets will be named next year when final production run -- likely to be limited -- and pricing details are revealed. For now, we know at least that the wagon is powered by the same T6 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine as the S60 Polestar, upgraded with a new twin-scroll turbo and intercooler and matching the sedan's outputs of 257kW of power at 5700rpm and 500Nm of torque at 2800rpm. Volvo says the hot V60 tips the scales at a hefty 1822kg -- 138kg more than the sedan's 1684kg -- however is still promising a dead heat 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds and top speed (electronically limited) of 250km/h, which suggests that with those astonishing delivery skills the Polestar elves could move a bit further north and give Santa a hand. Drive is sent via a six-speed automatic transmission -- with paddle shifters on the steering wheel -- to all four wheels via a Polestar-developed Haldex system allows both the S60 Polestar and V60 Polestar to accelerate to 100 km/h from rest in just 4.9 seconds. Top speed is limited to 250 km/h. Polestar's boffins have had their hands all over the underpinnings of both the V60 and the updated S60, resulting in some restrained bodykit for better aerodynamics, sportier recalibration of the traction and stability control systems, a more rigid chassis and stiffer springs, the addition of custom Ohlins shock absorbers and 371mm ventilated front discs and six-piston Brembo calipers nestled behind the 20-inch Polestar wheels.  Both get a snarling soundtrack with a 2.5-inch stainless steel exhaust system. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Volvo's S60 Polestar got worldwide applause when it arrived earlier this year, even though it was a limited edition of 50 examples and only available in Australia.And now it looks like Volvo is preparing an encore, with what appears to be a Polestar version of the new V60 wagon caught testing at the Nurburgring recently.Dressed in the unmistakeable Polestar blue livery beneath mild camouflage, the V60 mule uses the body of the freshly-updated 2014 model, and sports a new twinned-spoke wheel design on top of Brembo brakes, an R-Design front fascia with added lip spoilers, roof spoiler and rear diffuser flanked by twin single exhausts similar to the existing Polestar flagship.The existing Polestar model makes do with the brakes from the volume T6 R-Design Polestar model, so the Brembos on this mule suggest that we’re in for more than the current flagship’s 257kW/500Nm and 4.9 second 0-100km/h performance.This power is likely to come from a version of Volvo’s upcoming Drive-E 2.0 litre turbocharged and supercharged direct-injected petrol four, which Volvo has already confirmed as being capable of more than 225kW. There’s also a chance of plug-in hybrid assistance, with the new engine being designed to work in tandem with electric motors.Such a hybrid twin-charged unit could approach 300kW, considering Volvo's Powertrain vice president Derek Crabb’s confirmation that such an engine "will reach power figures in the V8 territory" when speaking to Carsguide earlier this year.Considering AMG manages to screw 265kW from the 2.0 litre engine in the A45 and CLA 45 twins with just one turbocharger, 300kW from the new Volvo engine with an extra supercharger and electric motor is well within the realms of possibility.It’s fair to assume that the current Polestar and T6 models’ Haldex all-wheel drive system would be carried over to a more powerful Polestar model, while the upcoming eight-speed Aisin-Warner automatic transmission with paddle-shifters would likely handle shifting duties. However, speaking with Carsguide today, Volvo Australia managing director Matt Braid was unable to confirm that a Polestar performance flagship version of the 2014 V60 or S60 was in the works. "We would certainly hope so, but I cannot confirm any mode plans or timing at this point."When asked about the Nurburgring mule, Braid admitted that he’d only seen those photos himself today. "Australia was the test case for the Polestar brand. We've had a positive response so far, so that bodes well for future models," he added.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

If you live in the city, chances are good you don’t use your high beams much for night driving, since you’re rarely in an environment where they can be employed without distracting other drivers. If you live in the country, on the other hand, high beams provide a welcome margin of safety for driving at night, making it easier to spot roadside hazards, unpredictable animals and even approaching traffic signs. Self-dimming high beam systems have been on the market for a few years now, but such systems can be slow to react as you approach traffic, or as oncoming traffic approaches you. Since they merely switch from high beam to low beam in high-traffic-density situations, they fail to provide the same illumination as your brights would. Volvo thinks it has a better idea, and it’s poised to launch what it’s calling a “renewed Active High Beam Control” system. Elegant in its design, Active High Beam Control relies on a windshield-mounted camera (also used for Volvo’s auto-braking system) to detect cars in the potential path of your brights. When a car is detected, only the portion of the high beam that would be distracting is shaded out, providing the driver with optimal illumination under all circumstances. Volvo claims the system is accurate enough to frame the car ahead with just a 1.5-degree margin. Active High Beam Control varies the amount of shading via a headlight-mounted cylinder incorporating metal deflectors. It’s sensitive enough to work with both cars and motorcycles, and it’s designed to function at speeds as low as 15 km/h. The system will be an available option on European S60, V60 and XC60 models beginning this spring, however there is no word yet on when they will pass regulations for Australia and appear here. www.motorauthority.com  

The S60 and V60 now come with a space-saver spare tyre package as a no-cost option, plugging an important gap in the equipment lineup.The package - tyre, cover and tie-down straps - was previously available at a cost of $410.40, not including GST, but Volvo has now recognised the need for more than just a tyre repair kit as part of the driveway package at dealerships.“We've taken on a variety of feedback and made it happen. We think this is a positive result all-round, giving people the option of taking the space-saver package,” says Oliver Peagam, spokesman for Volvo Cars Australia.But there are still downsides. There is no dedicated spare-wheel storage in the S60 and V60, which means the wheel must be strapped into the luggage space, and the no-cost choice will not be backdated for existing owners of the mid-sized Volvos.“It does eat a bit into the boot space," admits Peagam. “But you can leave it in the garage or put it into the car for a long trip. It's there ready for work straight away. “Some people aren't bothered about the spare, but for some it's important. This is a flexible solution for people who want a spare.”Total sales of the S60 and V60 have now topped 1700 cars, with 1281 S60 sedans delivered since sales began in 2010 and 513 V60 wagons since it arrived in 2011. 

The plug-in diesel-electric hybrid claims a sprint time of 6.2 seconds and fuel use of just 1.9 litres/100km. But if the performance and economy numbers are good, the price may put buyers off. Volvo Cars Australia boss Matt Braid says he hopes to have the V60 D6 hybrid wagon on sale for less than $100,000. He'll need to sharpen the pencil, given the petrol-powered version of the same car starts from $68,000. Admittedly, the plug-in diesel hybrid will use bugger-all fuel but even if the car lands for $90,000, the $20,000 difference will buy a lot of petrol. Braid says the V60 D6 will showcase Volvo's technology. "It's a niche model, volumes won't be massive, but it shows where we are on hybrids," he notes. "This car makes more sense for us than the (pure electric) C30 drivE. The lease and buyback arrangement Volvo has in Europe won't work for us in Australia. That makes the V60 the smartest showcase of our next-generation drivetrains." The D6 wagon's front wheels are powered by a 158kW/440Nm 2.4-litre turbodiesel. A 50kW/200Nm electric motor drives the rear axle, meaning the Volvo can run as a front, rear and all-wheel drive car depending on which of the three drive modes, pure, hybrid and power, it is operating in. Hybrid is the default mode when the car is started.  A gauge on the dash shows when power demand dictated by the right foot pressure  looks like kicking in the diesel to boost performance. Drivers can then either ease off to stay in electric mode, or feel a tiny jolt as the diesel fires up to join the party. Electric-only range is claimed to be around 50km at 100km/h but range anxiety won't be an issue given the diesel's fuel use and 45-litre tank should give it a 1000km cruise between tanks. The first batch of 1000 V60 D6 hybrids will be sold in Europe, with Australia joining the queue when full production of 4000-6000 cars, or 10 to 15 per cent of all V60s starts next year.  

The Volvo V60 ‘Panther’ commercial shows the black car demonstrating its dynamic abilities – along with its capacity to carry the big-cat pet in your household. It’s a far cry from the staid Volvo image of years ago, and certainly got our attention. But it also got the less applauding attention – and a round of tutt-tutting – from viewers who complained to the Advertising Standards Bureau, saying the ad “unambiguously depicts behaviours which would be both illegal and dangerous on a public road”. After taking a look, the ASB decided the footage depicted “reckless speed” and “unsafe driving”, and directed that it had to be dropped or the footage modified. Volvo agreed to modify the advertisement, and duly took it away to have any of the bits cut out that might be deemed to alarm the complainers. In other words, the exciting bits. “We took down the offending video and put up one that complied with the regulations,” Volvo spokesman Oliver Peagam says. “It was a version of the Panther ad, but we edited and removed the elements that were causing concern. There were cuts of sequences that showed things like the car going sideways.” However the Panther ad, plus the recent Suzuki Swift ad that showed some equally spirited driving, were among those that have sparked a review of car advertising’s current self-regulating code. Over the next six months, the Department of Infrastructure and Transport will examine the code, how it is interpreted and how the ASB handles complaints about car advertising. Peagam says the code currently acknowledges that advertisers can make use of fantasy, humour and exaggeration in commercials, which can be used to produce exciting footage that fits with Volvo’s changing image. “Volvo is unlikely to return to the staid image of previous years,” he says.  “A return to the old days doesn’t fit with the way the brand is developing and changing with new models coming through – and the new audiences and new demographic of buyers that are interested in them.”  

Due to the success of the limited-edition Volvo S60 Polestar launched late last year, Volvo Car Australia is making Polestar tuning software available across a range of its R-Design vehicles. From April, all T6 R-Design variants, the C30 T5 R-Design and the XC60 D5 R-Design will be optimised with Polestar's unique engine management software which gives significant power and torque upgrades. By increasing turbo pressure and recalibrating the engine management system, Volvo's racing and performance partner Polestar has released extra power, boosting the T6 engine to 242kW at 5400-6500rpm (up from 224kW on the standard T6) and the torque to 480Nm (up from 440Nm) at 3000-3600rpm.  

The good news is that the cars of the future are not boring electric "golf carts" but sleek and sexy machines.Take for example the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept, or even the updated Toyota Prius C. Just as smart, but also featuring powertrain technology that is much further down the line, is the Hyundai Blue2 Concept, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, or the Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV with a plug-in hybrid system that extends the use of the vehicle in electric mode.Here is a sample of the green vehicles on the stands at this year’s show:BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept: Making its Australian debut, this is the concept for the coming BMW i8. A conventional 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-diesel mated to a pair of electric motors powers this four-wheel-drive 2+2 sports car. The hybrid combination pumps out 265kW of power and 800Nm of torque, and can run on electric power alone for up to 50km, diesel only for 645km or a combination of both. The lithium-ion battery packs charge in just 2.5 hours from AC mains or 44 minutes on quick charge.Ford: The new Liquefied Phase Injection LPG technology in the Ford Falcon EcoLPi has improved power and torque and decreased fuel consumption (12.5L/100km) and CO2 emissions (203g/km). Ford will also show its long-awaited diesel Territory with a 2.7-litre V6 boasting fuel economy of 8.2L/100km.Holden: The Ecoline Series II Cruze range with a new generation 2.0-litre turbo diesel (5.6L/100km) is Australia’s most fuel-efficient locally-built car. The stand will also feature the Cruze 1.4-litre intelligent turbo induction (1.4 iTi) petrol engine (6.4L/100km manual) and other Ecoline models, including the Commodore E85 flex-fuel and Spark Ignition Direct Injection V6 powered Commodores and Captivas.Honda hybrids: Honda will show the stylish Honda CR-Z coupe petrol-electric hybrid that arrives here later this year, as well as its second-generation Insight hybrid.Hyundai Blue2 Concept: This is the Korean company’s first sedan-style Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) powered by hydrogen. It delivers power of 90kW and fuel economy of 2.8L/100km. Being a concept car, it comes with a host of future electronic aids, such as an automatic opening door system, roof and side cameras to replace mirrors, and a motion sensor-operated infotainment system.Lexus LF-Gh Concept: This concept features the hybrid system already in the Lexus fleet, but is the first time the spindle-shaped grille that will become a feature of future designs will be seen here, and hints at a future grand touring sedan. Lexus Australia chief executive Tony Cramb says the LF-Gh reaffirms that hybrids can be sleek and stylish.Mazda Minagi: This is a crossover concept specifically engineered to be the first with frugal SKYACTIV technology diesel and petrol engines and transmission. The car is an insight into the coming CX-5.Mercedes-Benz C-Class: The range now includes the updated 7G-Tronic Plus seven-speed automatic transmission for improved economy. Diesel models come with the ECO start/stop function as standard, and the C250 diesel coupe boasts economy of 5.1L/100km. At the top end of the Benz range, the S350 diesel BlueTec luxury saloon has economy figures of 7L/100km.Mitsubishi ?i-Miev-based electric vehicle concepts: The i-MiEV is about to hit the showrooms and Mitsubishi already has an SUV variant, which will be on its stand. The Concept PX-MiEV has a plug-in hybrid system with fuel economy better than 2L/100km. It is powered by two permanent magnet synchronous motors and a 1.6-litre MIVEC engine. The PX-MiEV also features Smart Grid technology that allows the battery to power home appliances during a blackout or at peak times when electricity tariffs are high.Nissan Leaf: The all-electric Leaf hits showrooms next year. The World Car of the Year features a satnav system linked to the "Global Data Centre’’ in Japan so you just press a button to find the closest recharging stations.Toyota Prius C concept & Prius V: The latest in the Prius family are a funky coupe concept (C) and a people mover (V). The Prius C concept shows how stylish the Prius can be and the V shows how spacious it can be. The V also features a lightweight-resin panoramic moon roof, weighing about 40 per cent less than a regular glass roof of the same size. It will be the first to feature Toyota’s new Entune multimedia system with mobile internet and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. The system will offer live weather and traffic updates, along with monitoring the best fuel prices in town.Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion: The BlueMotion has the same 1.6-litre engine with the same output at 77kW and 250Nm as the 77TDI, but its fuel use is just 3.8L/100km compared with 5.12L/100km (77TDI) and CO2 of 99g/km (133g/km 77TDI). The gains are made from a lower idle speed, stop/start technology, aerodynamics and low rolling resistance tyres.Volvo V60 diesel plug-in hybrid: The world’s first diesel hybrid plug-in goes into production next year. The driver can choose from three modes: Pure, which is all-electric with a range of up to 50km, Hybrid with an average fuel consumption of 1.9L/100km and CO2 of 49g/km, and Power, which boosts total diesel and electric power to 200kW and 640Nm of torque with acceleration to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds. The turbodiesel drives the front wheels and an electric motor drives the rear axle. It can be recharged via a regular power socket in 4.5 hours on 10A charge.PLUS: There will also be displays by infrastructure companies including Better Place EV, which has announced plans to begin rolling out infrastructure in Canberra this year.

It's the first full electric car to get the maximum safety score, although a range of petrol-electric hybrids, including the Toyota Camry, which has just moved up in local testing, have managed a five

The latest mishap follows a crash earlier in the year when a Volvo crashed into a truck instead of braking automatically to avoid it.  This time the Pedestrian Detection system failed to trigger as the latest V60 approached a humanoid dummy during a demonstration at Verona in Italy.The incident also reveals that Volvo engineers discreetly modify the inflatable dummies to ‘trick’ the car’s radar system into detecting a pedestrian.  More than 650 demonstrations passed without incident during the V60 press preview in Italy but things went wrong for the Aussies.“I am very sad this has happened. We know the technology works, but I am not happy with the demonstration methods we are using," says Jonas Tisell, Volvo’s head of active safety.Volvo believes the failures, which saw the dummy struck a number of times, occurred because a small plastic panel covered in aluminium foil that sits in a sandbag at the dummy was not installed correctly.  Volvo also suspects a tractor and trailer directly behind the dummy – but some distance away – has confused the pedestrian warning system.“The radar goes straight through the air-filled plastic dummy so we put some aluminium inside in the sandbag at the dummy’s feet so the radar could detect it,” says Tisell.“The reflector was not facing exactly the right way and instead the system detected the tractor directly in line of sight in the background.  The camera told the system that there might be a pedestrian there because it detected the shape of a human, but when the radar went to search for it, it only picked up a faint signal for the dummy and got a more solid signal for the tractor.”Tisell also defends the way the demonstration is run.  “The problem with an inflatable dummy is that it’s plastic and has air inside. The radar needs an echo, it looks for the body mass, and the radar doesn’t bounce off an inflatable dummy."It cannot see it. It sees through it. So we added a radar reflector – a 10cm piece of plastic covered in aluminium foil – in the sand bag at the feet of the dummy.  The system works on humans. With humans you have a mass the radar can detect.”Tisell says he has took the place of the test dummy during development of the system, although Volvo does not let journalists repeat the experiment.  “You never know what can happen. Driving towards a human being, if something goes wrong, it will be a very difficult situation to handle,” he says.Tisell insists there is no need to make any changes to the calibration of the pedestrian warning technology, but Volvo will review its public demonstration procedures for its crash avoidance systems.The 5000 dummies identical to the one at the centre of the latest bungle – distributed to Volvo dealers worldwide – could be updated with an aluminium belt that will help the system detect the dummy.