http://www.volvoautos.org en-us Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:42:05 -0800 http://www.volvoautos.org/volvo-c70/ The Volvo C70 is a two-door produced by Volvo Cars in two generations: the first from model years 1997-2002 as coupe (closed car body style also known as hardtopped) and from 1997-2005 as a softop convertible. A convertible is a kind of automobile in which the vehicle's roof can retract and fold away, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle. Roofs can be made out of a wide variety of materials, and as a rule are divided in two types: soft-tops and hard-tops. Soft-tops are made of vinyl, canvas or other textile material, while hard-tops are usually made of the same material as the car's body (commonly steel or aluminium). The second generation C70 has been marketed since 2006 as a retractable hardtop. Hard-tops are marketed under the terms coupe cabriolet, coupe convertible or simply retractable hardtop.

Volvo presented the first generation C70 at the 1996 Paris Motor Show, following a European introduction as a 1997 model, and later as a 1998 model in North America — with both low-pressure and high-pressure, 5-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engines and manual and automatic transmissions. Peter Horbury designed the exterior and Mexican designer Jose Diaz de la Vega led the interior design team. The C70 broke Volvo's decades-long styling tradition of boxy, rectilinear designs. According to Peter Horbury, Volvo's design chief from 1991 to 2002, with the C70, Volvo threw away the box, but "kept the toy inside!" Our vision was to design a convertible that would meet the needs of a family of four looking for comfortable blue-sky motoring in a vehicle also providing stylish looks, performance and faultless driving and road-holding."

In a development program of 30 months and working with a Volvo 850-derived platform, Britain's TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) co-designed the car's basic design and suspension tuning with Volvo. Manufacture of the C70 was a joint venture until the two companies experienced disputes that threatened to interrupt production; TWR did not contribute to the second generation C70.

Volvo's initial modern convertible, the C70 was manufactured in Uddevalla, Sweden on a separate assembly line from the 70-series sedan and station wagon. The four-seater convertible featured an electrically-heated glass rear window, automatic (pop-up) rollover hoops, seat belt pre-tensioners, boron steel reinforced A-pillars, front and side airbags, and a safety cage — a horseshoe like structure around the passenger compartment. The cloth convertible top, initially available in four colors, was fully automatic, operated by a single, dashboard-mounted button. The top stored automatically under an integral rigid tonneau cover in a system pioneered in modern convertibles with the fourth generation Mercedes SL. The C70 convertible exhibited two negative traits endemic to convertibles: poor rear visibility and pronounced skuttle shake, a characteristic whereby the structural design of the bulkhead between engine and passenger compartment of a convertible suffers sufficiently poor rigidity to negatively impact ride and handling — and to allow noticeable vibration, shudder or chassis-flexing into the passenger compartment. An early special editions featured two-tone leather interior, SC-901 (1998) Dolby Pro Logic I stereo with 3-disc integrated changer unit (via a cartridge) 500 watts of power and 12 high end Dynaudio speakers.

The C70 was unveiled to the press in a signature color (saffron orange metallic) and for the debut marketing, the 1997 movie The Saint featured a C70 — recalling the notable connection of the Volvo P1800 and the TV series from the early 1960s, The Saint with Roger Moore as Simon Templar.

The second generation C70 model was released on 13 April 2006, sharing the Volvo P1 platform, designed by John Kinsey and built by Pininfarina Sverige AB. The three-piece retractable hardtop raises or lowers in under 30 seconds and replaces both the convertible and the coupe, the latter which had been absent from Volvo's lineup since 2003. The C70 is offered with a normally-aspirated gasoline engine with variable geometry turbocharger and common-rail direct injection.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States recently conducted its first crash tests of several convertibles and designated the C70 a "Top Safety Pick". Safety systems include a door-mounted side impact protection inflatable which inflates upward when activated. The curtain has an extra stiff construction with double rows of slats that are slightly offset from each other. This allows them to remain upright and offer effective head protection even with the window open. The curtain also deflates slowly to provide protection should the car roll over. This is a unique solution in the automotive world.

What's more, the C70 retractable hardtop highlights a roll over protection structure (ROPS) with two pyrotechnically charged roll hoops hidden behind the rear seats that deploy under roll-over conditions whether the roof is retracted or not. ]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:41:13 -0700 http://www.volvoautos.org/volvo-c70/ http://www.volvoautos.org/volvo-s80/ Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish luxury car manufacturer founded in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden, in 1927. Presently it is owned by American Ford Motor Company. The name Volvo, derived from the Latin for "I roll" (or as for modern-day "I drive"), was thought to be a nice trademark for a ball bearing as well as for an automobile.

The Volvo S80 is a high class executive car constructed and manufactured by the Swedish carmaker Volvo and was introduced in 1998 as a substitute for the rear-wheel drive Volvo 960/S90 sedan. Every single Volvo S80 has been built at the Torslanda Plant (Torslandaverken) in Gothenburg, Sweden. Dissimilar to almost all other Volvo models, it did not have a station wagon version for its first generation. Now, the third generation V70 wagon is marketed as the estate version for the second generation S80 sedan. All of this is a part of a major product overhaul at Volvo, including a most luxurious large estate and sedan. Upon its debut it was notable for being one of the first Volvos to depart from the company's traditionally boxy, conservative styling. The S80's styling, with its pronounced beltlines and tail lights that narrow and go from curves to points as they go up, has been adopted throughout the Volvo line, especially on the S60 and S40 sedans.

The first generation Volvo S80 had one of the highest crash test ratings in the world for over 5 years ( The best safety). The second generation Volvo S80 in June of 2007 scored the highest "good" rating in the IIHS crash test performance for frontal, side, and rear impacts, continuing in the success of the first S80 sedan. The second generation S80 has been proven to been better engineered than the out going model contrary to popular belief, and this is in part due to a stiffer more rigid chassis. The first generation S80 is based on the Volvo P2 platform. More than 368,000 first generation S80s were built before the introduction of the new model. This S80 sedan being Volvo's flagship model was heavily equipped with numerous safety systems to ensure all occupants safety, including SIPS and WHIPS.

Besides, the S80 features three firsts for passenger cars. The first was the use of a built-in, fully integrated GSM phone, complete with both a hands free function and a lift-up hand-set. The second was the fitment of the straight six engine in a transverse mounting. Volvo claims to be the first manufacturer to succeed in mass producing this configuration "in modern time", although British Leyland produced passenger cars with the same configuration from 1970 to 1981. No existing manual gearbox would fit in the engine bay with the six cylinder engine, so Volvo had to develop their own, claimed to be the world's smallest manual gearbox, the M65. The previous record holder was also a Volvo gearbox, the M56 developed to fit the wide 5 cylinder transverse engine first used in the 850 series cars. Thirdly, the S80 was the world's first car with an environmental specification, covering aspects such as those directly relating to the car such as allergens from textiles and fuel economy and the life cycle of the car from production to dismantling. For Volvo, the S80 was a major step forward into the age of modern car design, particularly with the use of multiplex wiring.

At first, the S80 Volvo was obtainable with four different engines. Starting the range was a detuned 2.4-litre 140 hp 5-cylinder. This was also available as a CNG and as an LPG version. The fully tuned version produced 170 PS (125 kW). Next up was a 2.9 L 196 PS (144 kw) 6-cylinder, then 272 PS (200 kW) T6 and finally, the 140 PS (102 kW) 2.5 L TDI (diesel). The 2.9 has a Straight-6 engine while the T6 was powered by a destroked twin-turbocharged version. In 2000 there was the addition of the 200 hp (149 kw) 2.5T, available with standard all-wheel drive. The 2.5T model featured a light-pressure turbocharger. Late 2001 introduced the 163 PS (120 kW) 5 cylinder common rail diesel D5, detuned to 130 PS (96 kW) and sold as 2.4D in some markets.

On January 31, 2006, Volvo revealed the first pictures of the second generation S80. By and large all features of the car were upgraded considerably. The new S80 had received a new 3.2 L straight-6 or 4.4 L V8 engine in combination with available four-wheel drive. The second-generation S80 is the first Volvo sedan model to become available with Volvo's compact, transversely fitted V8 with a power output of 316 PS (232 kw) and 440 N•m of torque developed jointly by Volvo Cars engine unit Skövde and Yamaha but built by Yamaha of Japan . With four catalytic converters and advanced electronics, this engine, which was first introduced in the Volvo XC90, is one of the cleanest V8s on the market. The exterior is similar to that of the first generation but is greatly improved with more high strength boron steel in the body for safety. The interior is seen as one of the most comfortable in the automotive industry.

The generation S80 is no exception to Volvo's on improvements and inventions of safety. The second generation S80 has been give the IIHS 2007 Top Safety Pick Award in overall safety protection. Also again in November the IIHS awarded the 2008 Volvo S80 with Top Safety Award. This S80 performed outstanding above its German and Japanese rivals. Scores were perfect for frontal, side, and rear impacts. The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on February 28, and sales began on June 2006. The new S80 is based on the Ford EUCD platform, named P24 by Volvo, also used for vehicles including Ford's S-MAX, Mondeo and Galaxy large MPVs. Some of these other Ford vehicles ride on this platform, and although some parts are shared the vehicles are majority different from each other as they compete in different auto segments. Volvo vehicles on this platform tend to use more high tech parts and more expensive underpinnings.

Moreover, Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC) remote control is also an optional feature with the new S80. This feature is fairly new to the automotive industry. Before a driver gets to their car, they are able to review the security level and know whether they have set the alarm and if the car is locked. Additionally, there is a heartbeat sensor that warns if someone is hiding inside the car.

The hottest S80 is the first Volvo model to feature Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with Collision Warning and Brake Support (CWBS). Adaptive cruise control assists ensure comfort and relaxed driving by letting the driver select the desired speed and the minimum time gap to the vehicle in front of them. When a radar sensor detects a slower vehicle in front of them, Adaptive Cruise Control adapts to that vehicle by applying the brakes as necessary. As the Collision Warning System senses an impending collision, it alerts with a flashing light on the windshield and an audible alarm. Meanwhile Brake Support offers additional assistance by preparing the braking system so that the car can begin stopping faster and avoid a potentially dangerous situation before it happens. As a final point, Volvo S80 is also available with a new safety innovation called Blind Spot Information System, which senses when a person enters the drivers blind spot and Active Bi-Xenon Lights (ABL) to illuminate around curves in the dark. Volvo is known for making historic strides in the production of intuitive new safety systems. BLIS system has been recently introduced at Mercedes-Benz higher specifications cars,nearly two years after Volvo. The second generation Volvo S80 is much more luxurious than the earlier generation, and it flaunts its "Scandinavian Luxury" design language. Remarkably, the second generation S80 has already won awards in best mid size luxury sedan interior. ]]> Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:38:49 -0700 http://www.volvoautos.org/volvo-s80/