We were mightily impressed with Volvo’s all-new S80 when we tested the V-8 powered AWD version a few months back. At the time, the only other engine offered was a 235-hp six-cylinder, with front-wheel drive. Now, Volvo is adding a turbocharged version of that six-cylinder, which produces an impressive 295 hp and 285 pounds-feet of torque paired to an AWD system. The V-8, for comparison, produces 311 hp and 325 pounds-feet of torque. Continue reading Volvo Adds Turbo to S80 Lineup
Categories:Volvo
If one were to create of list of things needed to successfully elude the police in a chase, you’d think a full assortment of limbs would be pretty high on the list. Michael Francis Wiley, 40, from Florida would likely beg to differ. Wiley is a three-time amputee who lost both his arms and one leg in an accident when he was 13. Despite that, he taught himself how to drive with stumps and acquaintances report he can even drive stick. 
Bosch has been a pioneer in many of the technologies that make modern cars as capable as they are today, and the company has just recently produced its 150 millionth electronic brake control system. In 1978, the very first electronically controlled anti-lock brake system developed by Bosch appeared on a Mercedes-Benz using wheel speed sensors and the brake switch as the inputs to the system. The speed sensors detected when wheels were decelerating faster than the vehicle and reduced the braking pressure to the individual wheels until they recovered. After that, the system continued to control each wheel’s brake pressure to get optimum deceleration for the road surface. 
When it comes to turnarounds, Fiat serves as a case study. The Italian institution that rules over Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati, trucks, agricultural equipment, construction equipment, and automobile components, lost $1 billion in 2000. Contrast that with 2006, when it posted a 35% jump in revenues year-on-year, and its operating profit was $384 million — a far cry from the $332 million loss of 2005. Fiat’s current market cap is more than that of GM and Ford combined in Europe, at $32.5 billion. 
Following on the heels of General Motors selling its Mesa, Arizona Desert Proving Ground, Ford has decided to look at doing the same with its own Arizona facility. The Arizona Proving Ground located near Lake Havasu is a 3,700 acre facility that employs 200 permanent staff in addition to Ford engineeers who come in to test vehicles. The track would be disposed of as part of the current cost cutting effort at Ford. Way Forward, ho! Most of Ford’s vehicle development testing is being consolidated at its Dearborn Proving Ground adjacent to the automaker’s engineering facilities. Nothing is finalized at this point, but it seems likely that a deal will happen sooner rather than later. 
Just last year marketing agencies were bemoaning the advent of the TiVo and similar digital video recorders (DVRs) that allow viewers to fast forward through commercials. A few of the smarter marketing folks, however, are embracing it. San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners was hired by Audi at the end of 2006 and the first campaign produced by the ad house has already hit the airwaves. Two of the ads, named 0.2 Seconds and Moment, feature 0.2 seconds worth of images flashed on the screen in a rapid fashion. 
Autocar says BMW seriously considered taking Volvo off of Ford’s hands earlier this year, going so far as to request financial data about the company, which is surprising on several levels. First, does this mean Volvo is for sale? Bill Ford has said nothing in Ford’s Premium Auto Group is sacred, but Volvo seems to be one of the company’s shiniest jewels. 
Since the advent of digital video recorder technology (i.e., Tivo), advertisers have sought to keep viewer’s attention by involving their products within programming instead of just airing their messages during commercial breaks. Volvo has found a willing partner in Microsoft, who seeks to go head-to-head with Google’s YouTube in the online video wars. 
Domino’s Pizza (The Official Pizza of NASCAR, btw) delivers piles of pizzas every day and probably burns several gallons of fuel, or at least pays their drivers to burn it. So going electric probably sounds pretty good to both the bean counters and the environmentalists. The Electric Vehicle Company also saw a publicity opportunity in Domino’s and provided the pizza-maker with one of its Xebra all-electric, plug-in models to try out in Las Vegas. 
We all knew this was coming. As many expected, the person who entered the winning bid of $9,900,500 for John Schneider’s personal 1969 Dodge “General Lee” Charger on eBay Motors last week has withdrawn it. Or at least, that’s what we’re led to believe by negative feedback left by Schneider, who on eBay goes by johnsebiz, on the profile of fellow eBay user fishbashr1. 
It may not look like anything revolutionary to the untrained eye, but to hear DaimlerChrysler tell it, the all-new Freightliner Cascadia is very much a big deal. It’s built on a new platform that readily accepts EPA ’07-compliant engines and is ready to play home to powerplants built off DCX’s Global Heavy Duty Engine Platform, the first of which are set to arrive later this year from Detroit Diesel. It also incorporates a new, common Electric/Electronic Architecture, and many features and systems were designed from the outset to be easily accessible, repairable, and/or replaceable to ensure that the rig’s able to maximize its on-road time. 
A little over a year ago Volkswagen introduced their TSI engine range in 138 hp and 168 hp flavors. Those two engines both had displacements of 1.4L with the output of something considerably larger. They achieved this by combining gasoline direct fuel injection with what they call twin charging. Both engines had both a turbocharger and mechanical supercharger.