Nik J Miles

Posts Tagged ‘Volvo’

Yountville, Calif. — Since we started reviewing cars more than 20 years ago, we’ve watched Volvo go through an interesting metamorphosis.  During that time, Volvo has continued to be the undisputed safety leader with a steady flow of innovations.   Fortunately, for consumers, other manufacturers have embraced much of the new technology with their own applications in something of a ‘follow-the-leader’ response. 

Unfortunately, for Volvo, being the safest car on the lot doesn’t always trump sexy styling, performance and gadgetry for most people.  Volvo understands that, so during that same period we’ve seen an increased emphasis on styling, performance and innovation, in addition to still leading the safety parade. Read the rest of this entry »

“Volvo’s S60 – all new last year, offers three performance levels for 2012”

Yountville, CA –  Volvo just introduced the S60 T6 R-Design for 2012 – the latest of three performance levels for the venerable S60, which begs to be “rode hard and put away wet”. The T6 R-Design AWD delivers more horsepower along with an increase in torque. It sits lower and sports a firmed up suspension for enhanced driving dynamics.

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Bill, the Volvo XC70 and Team Gunnar

            Of the hundreds of cars I get to drive, I probably have more personal attachment to the Volvo XC70 than any other car.  A big part of this is because the XC70 and I have had some great adventures together, for example driving from Anchorage, Alaska to Prudhoe Bay in the middle of the winter and bouncing up the Mexican Baja peninsula on the trails and sections of the Baja 500 race course in the middle of the summer.  Ahhh, those were incredible trips, especially for a car that is more associated with soccer moms than challenging cross country drives.

When the email invitation to the Volvo XC Adventure, came, I was packing my bag and loading my radar detector even before I pushed “send” on the email reply accepting the invitation. Read the rest of this entry »

Barbara, the Volvo XC60 and Team Hord

            I don’t tweet or post on Facebook, but I do occasionally Google, but not from my flip phone.  To be honest, I even have trouble finding messages on my phone sometimes.  I have to confess, however, I now have a Facebook account since my grandson came to visit and signed me up.

My driving partner, Mary, is newbie to the smart phone world and her social media skills were more limited to texting a friend, about what we were doing, rather than blogging or posting.  So, we probably didn’t score too well on that section of the challenge that awarded points for social networking. Read the rest of this entry »

In many parts of the country, deer and other large wild animals pose a great danger to themselves and to vehicle occupants traveling through their habitat.

As part of Volvo’s quest to keep anyone from suffering a serious injury while riding in a new Volvo, engineers have developed a new way to help prevent animal/vehicle collisions by adapting technologies created for the Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake system, introduced in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

“Volvo XC stands for Adventure”

Journalist Group treks from Los Angeles to Gateway, CO.

Volvo Cars of North America recently put together a challenging XC “Cross Country” race (really more of a rally of sorts, with the emphasis on fun) that was designed to test the mettle of both man and machine, featuring their XC Series vehicles: the XC60; XC70 and XC90 – 16 vehicles in all, with journalists from across the country paired up in a lighthearted, yet intense competition. Team members converged on Los Angeles, CA on a Sunday to prepare for the adventurous trek that would begin on Monday to Las Vegas, NV, and on across the state of Utah and into Gateway, CO.

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This fall Volvo will start real-world tests of a new flywheel technology that makes a four-cylinder engine feel like a six-cylinder, while simultaneously cutting fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.

The Volvo Kinetic Energy Recovery System is fitted to the rear axle and starts to spin up to 60,000 rpms during braking.  At the same time, the combustion engine that drives the front wheels is switched off.  When the car starts moving again, the flywheel’s rotation is transferred to the rear wheels via a specially designed transmission. Read the rest of this entry »

To show off their Overseas Delivery program and to promote tourism in Sweden, Volvo and VisitSweden, Tourism in Skåne and the West Swedish Tourist Board are bringing back their http://www.carplusvacation.com/ sweepstakes with a chance to win a dream vacation in West Sweden and Skåne.

The Volvo Cars of North America’s Overseas Delivery Program has become the number one European overseas delivery service by offering car buyers an opportunity to save money and spending time in Europe after picking up a new Volvo at the factory. Read the rest of this entry »

Volvo is expected to add another XC to its crossover/SUV lineup by the end of 2013.  According to Auto Week magazine, new Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby wants the smaller car to compete with the upcoming BMW X1, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and Audi Q3.  In addition, Mercedes-Benz is expected to add a vehicle to the mix, likely called the GLC.  The Volvo would probably be called the XC30 and be derived from the all-wheel-drive platform of the current C30 coupe.   The magazine speculates there may be two versions, too, a longer wheelbase version for the U.S. and China markets and a shorter one for Europe.