When I began reading about some of the safety systems on the new XC60, I figured I was headed for the equivalent of a long Saturday night at the Dallas Public Library.

Have you heard of “City Safety”? It uses a camera to sense when you’re approaching objects too quickly and literally slams on the brakes at speeds up to 9 mph, supposedly preventing you from doing the rumba with someone’s back bumper.

And this is definitely not a polite “put-down-your-latte-Buffy- we-need-to-stop” sort of deal. We’re talking locked brakes quivering in full ABS with people hanging from their seat belts here — an enormously amusing prospect for cellphone drunks. I got subjected to two tests of the system, and it seemed to really — ugh — work.

But the weird thing is that so does most everything else on the XC60, which is easily Volvo’s most stylish vehicle and one of its better-performing cars or crossovers.

Just to help you keep track of the landscape at Volvo, the XC60 is the newest of the automaker’s three crossovers.

At 4,174 pounds, it slots in between the 3,900-pound XC70 — a butched-up station wagon that calls itself a crossover — and the 4,700-pound XC90, Volvo’s most prominent crossover.

My metallic bronze, all-wheel-drive XC60 was loaded — as reflected in its lofty $44,240 sticker price. Equipped with a 281-horsepower, turbocharged, 3-liter six-cylinder and six-speed automatic, this beefy Volvo can sprint to 60 in 6.8 seconds, according to Motor Trend.

Style has never been one of sober, dowdy Volvo’s strengths, but the XC60 is a veritable hipster in a beret — not radically new or youthful, mind you, but certainly interesting.

Read the full story on Dallas Morning News

Add new tag · Automobile · Four-wheel drive · Makes and Models · Motor Trend · Station wagon · Volvo · Volvo XC60 · Volvo XC90

A beautifully designed crossover sport utility vehicle (SUV) which is designed and manufactured by Volvo Car Company is named as Volvo XC60. The SUV is developed in Belgium. The exact class or category of the car is compact crossover SUV. Volvo got the idea of designing XC60 in the late 2007 and by the end of 2008 the car was completely designed and was unveiled in 2008. XC60 has all the qualities of a SUV but the compact size of the car allows it to have more grip on the road which is a huge plus point for Volvo XC60.

Why do we like Volvo XC60?
Volvo XC60 is liked because of the technology from which it is manufactured plus the technology which is embedded in it. It has a number of technological devices and every one of them performs the task assigned to it efficiently. People like it because of the compactness of the car which gives a beautiful look. According to the survey, people also loved the newly designed front grill from Volvo included in the XC60.

Why is Volvo XC60 famous?
Read on Volvo XC60

Add new tag · Automobile · Autos · Belgium · Compact SUV · Crossover · Recreation · Sport utility vehicle · Volvo XC60

Given Volvo’s reputation for safety, when the company calls its new XC60 the safest Volvo yet, and probably the safest vehicle in the world, it’s not just hyperbole. It should be a serious consideration when out shopping. Impact test data was not available at the time of this review, but if a crash test dummy could ‘come to its sensors’ it should try to get in line for the XC60 test that day.

Volvo has rolled out the XC60 for 2010 to stake its share in the extremely popular small luxury crossover SUV segment, taking on the BMW X3 and much newer Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLK, among many, many others. Safety being in its DNA, this part of the XC60 story starts with the very steel used to make it and body structure that employs collision management to distribute energy. The very shape and flush elements of the energy absorbing front-end reduces the severity of impact with pedestrians and cyclists. Bumpers that match the height of lower car bumpers negate bigger than usual fender bender bills, and the transversely mounted engine will be less likely to penetrate the passenger cabin in a front-end collision. The XC60, of course, comes with a full complement of multi-stage front and side curtain airbags. We are talking about the company that invented the side airbag, not to mention the single most important advancement in automotive safety – the three-point seatbelt. Fifty years later, the XC60 boasts another nifty Volvo first. It stops itself!

The City Safety system is born out of these statistics. Seventy-five percent of crashes occur at speeds under 30 km/h, and half of those are because of distraction, where the driver did not brake at all! Behind the rear-view mirror on the XC60 is a laser that scans for objects 6 metres ahead. Based on the distance to any vehicle or object and your speed, the system calculates braking forces needed to avoid collision. If you exceed that threshold by, you guessed it, NOT hitting the brakes or not pressing down on the peddle hard enough, the system takes over. The City Safety system does not promise to avoid collision, but even if there is contact the severity of the crash will be reduced significantly. There are some limitations, however, like snow and ice covering the laser. In addition, that laser is best at reading reflective objects like a car, so don’t plough through your flat beige garage door showing off this cool new feature to your neighbor.

Despite its 2,774-mm (109.2-inch) wheelbase the XC60 provides a lot of leg and cargo volume at 1,907 litres (67.3 cu ft). Built-in two-stage booster seats are a very nice feature, too. XC, of course, stands for cross-country, and the XC60 provides ample ground clearance of 230 mm (9.0 inches) for off-road use. It does not offer lower gearing, however, because at its heart it is a luxury family mover.

Read the full review on Autos Canada

Airbag · Audi Q5 · Automobile · BMW X3 · City Safety · Crossover · Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class · Traffic collision

If you’re in the market for a new car, you really should look at the Costco Auto Program – it’s super easy and can save you a ton of money. 

Through January 4, 2010, Costco and Volvo are running a promotion for significant savings on all 2010 XC60, XC70 and XC90 models. In addition, if you purchase a vehicle and complete a survey, you’ll receive a $500 Costco Cash Card.

Source: My Coupons

Automobile · Autos · Makes and Models · Money · Recreation · Volvo · Volvo V70 · Volvo XC90

As well as scooping two coveted Top Gear magazine awards – the “Saloon Car of the Year” award for the Jaguar XF S Diesel and “Interior of the Year” for the new XJ – the Jaguar XF has also won the inaugural “Women’s World Car of the Year” award.

This new award was conceived in November last year and stemmed from the fact the US based World Car of the Year judging panel did not have a single female judge in 2007.

Chief Judge, Sandy Myhre, said: “Over the past year the judges have tested 21 cars from the short list and the Jaguar XF was the clear winner, beating the Volvo XC60 by 21 points, which is quite a considerable margin considering some of the cars were separated by one point or less.

Source: The Auto Channel

Automobile · Jaguar · Jaguar XF · Jaguar XJ · Makes and Models · Top Gear · Volvo XC60 · World Car of the Year

In tested the Volvo XC-60 Adaptive Cruise Control:

I was in our Volvo XC60 a couple days ago for an early morning drive and found it to be an effective highway cruiser. The cabin is pretty quiet at speed, the driver seat is comfortable (though not as those in other Volvos) and the turbocharged inline-6 provides plenty of grunt for passes or when going up steep grades.

I also took the opportunity to fiddle around with the adaptive cruise control. Adaptive cruise control works by monitoring the distance of vehicles ahead of you. You just set your speed and the minimum distance gap. When the XC60′s radar sensor detects a slower vehicle within that preset range, the XC60 automatically applies its brakes to adapt to that vehicle’s speed.

Our Volvo is the only long-term car in recent memory to have this feature; it’s part of the $1,700 Technology Package. Overall, the XC60′s adaptive cruise control worked well for the two hours of driving on straight highway that I used it on. It’s not a must-have feature by any means, but it is nice in that it eliminates the traditional need to cancel and reset your cruise speed every time a slower vehicle gets in your way.

The only thing I noticed was that the XC60′s cruise-speed adjustment buttons seem to bump you up or down in 5-mph increments, which is excessive. Presumably, there’s a way to switch this back to the more normal 1-mph increment, but I didn’t have the opportunity to RTFM.

Automobile · Brake · Cruise control · Driving · Recreation · Turbocharger · Volvo Cars · Volvo XC60

The 2010 International Car of the Year Awards were given to the Ford Taurus for the car and the Volvo XC60 for the truck.

The announcement was made Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The award had been given at the auto show in Detroit for the past 13 years.

Automotive journalists and editors chose the winners.

Auto · Automobile · Detroit · FordTaurus · LA Auto Show · Recreation · United States · Volvo XC60

Most vehicles fitted with navigation systems have some sort of disclaimer about how one shouldn’t use the navigation system while driving. A smaller percentage of cars also have warnings about their backup cameras. OK, sure, I understand that we live in a litigious society and there is a subsequent need for such things. But the warning that pops up for our 2010 Volvo XC60′s review camera display is particularly annoying.

Put the XC60 into reverse and the camera’s view pops up on the navigation screen. But the top one-fourth of the display is taken up by a legal disclaimer. This text blocks the camera’s view of what’s about to come into to the Volvo’s path. You can still see what’s directly behind you, so it’s not all bad. But for parking-lot situations where you are wondering if a car is coming down a lane, it’s just about worthless.

The warning goes away after about 5 seconds, and it only comes up the first time you put the Volvo in reverse. But the first 5 seconds is exactly when most people are actually planning on backing up, and typically you’re only putting a car in reverse one time for any given trip. The solution to all this is to just wait for the warning to go away or just not bother using the camera at all. But overall I’ve found this issue to be the most annoying on a day-to-day basis for our long-term XC60.

[source: Insideline ]

Automobile · Makes and Models · Navigation · Parking lot · Recreation · Shopping · Volvo · Volvo XC60

The XC60 project is targeted to customers with high demands on design, brand integrity and high-tech content. According to Volvo the XC60 exterior was conceived as a mix of two car styles. The lower part is characterized by muscular and bold volumes, with large wheels and high ground clearace. Up above, the flowing lines and sleek profile create the sporty look and visual impression of a coupé.

Source: Absolute Car Picture

Automobile · Business · Coupé · High tech · Parts and Accessories · Shopping · Volvo · Wheels

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars which has rechristened its firm’s name to Volvo Auto India Private Limited, will be focussing on using its resources towards promoting new cars which it plans to launch in India in 2010.

Volvo Auto India which will not be participating at the Auto Expo in Delhi in January 2010, has plans to launch the 2010-spec S80 luxury sedan in India priced around Rs 38- 40 lakh. Reports in media indicate that a conatiner carrying S80 sedans is already on its way to India and is likely to hit Indian shore by beginning of January 2010. In addition, the company is also proposing to roll out XC60 compact SUV in the first half of 2010 and the S60 saloon, both of which it believes are well suited to the requirements of the Indian market.

According to Volvo, the luxury car market (comprising of cars costing Rs 25 lakh and above) in India grew by 11 per cent in 2009, while sales of Volvo cars in the country grew by 16 per cent during the year. Volvo Auto India sold 900 cars last year and expects to beat the 10 per cent increase it had earlier projected for this year.

Even after delinking its business from Ford, VCI has stated that it is quite upbeat about the country’s operations and would also be intruding its global models in a phased manner. It has also been learnt that Volvo India is keen to set up a car assembly unit in India, if its annual numbers touch 2,000 units. After established its presence in seven cities; Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai and Pune currently in India, the company is now chalking out robust strategies to enhance its dealership base to Goa, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and Coimbatore.

Read more: Volvo lines up S80, S60 sedan and XC60 SUV for India in 2010 – WheelsUnplugged Automobile Industry News
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Asia · Automobile · Automotive industry · Chennai · Ford Motor Company · India · Mumbai · Volvo Cars