VIDEO: Race Driver Fast Laps NZ Circuit in New Volvo S60 Blindfolded!

And you thought your latest weekend track race was adrenaline-filled... Enter the realm of Jonny Reid, one of New Zealand's top racing drivers. The 27-year-old Kiwi put a brand new 2011 Volvo S60 to the test around Hampton Downs raceway in Auckland. Nothing spectacular there you say? How about if we told you that he did it blindfolded? Yes, that's right; the young racing driver couldn't see a thing.

According to the promo event's organizers, it took Reid more than one try but in the end, he managed to return a lap time of 1:28 with a top speed of 193km/h (119 mph). "He was guided only by the feel of the car, his knowledge of the track, and co-driver Earl Bamber's voice," said Volvo. Pretty neat, though we're not sure who was the bravest of the two; the driver or the co-driver... Scroll down to watch the clips.

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FAIL No2: Volvo V60 Safety System Flub Ends with a Dead Dummy Named Bob

This is officially the second safety system demonstration in as many "Look at this!" announcements that has gone horribly wrong for Volvo. That's right, two. The first one was back in May and led to a new S60 estate crushing itself into the back of a truck - see the video here. This latest mishap occurred during a media demonstration to Australian journalists in Europe.

Now that the known-as-safe Volvo brand is officially owned by the Chinese, is this a sign of things to come?

The mechanism in question is part of Volvo's pedestrian avoidance technology, which makes use of cameras and radar in the nose of the vehicle to control the brakes and stability control system in order to reduce driver/pedestrian injuries. The object that the system was meant to detect was Bob the Dummy; as you can see in the vids below, it didn't detect a damn thing.

That's not to say the system is terrible; after all is said and done, it worked 75% of the time. Of the twelve runs, only one ended with Bob getting the full force of the Volvo unleashed on him, with the other two still being less than perfect. Some of the blame has been placed on a camera that doesn't work well in low-light conditions (infrared / night vision, guys?).

Volvo's Jonas Tisell, Active Safety Systems manager, told journalists, "The failure of the test was due to the dummy not being set up properly, therefore it did not give an echo enough for the system. So the dummy was not relevant in this situation." So...blame it on the dummy? And "not relevant"? How does being to blame (according to Volvo) translate as irrelevant?

More like Volvo just got caught with its pants down...again.

By Phil Alex

Via: Drive and Autoblog.com

Volvo Unleashes New C30 STCC Racer [with Video]

Volvo and its motorsports partner Polestar will begin this year's Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) season on 24 April at Jyllandsringen in Denmark with an updated version of their ethanol-powered C30 racer based on the facelifted production model.

The new race car gets a revised front end which is longer, lower and wider, with the Swedish automaker claiming that the new design delivers a higher ground pressure at the front, and an improved airflow right around the vehicle.

"This is the fastest Volvo I've ever driven," says Volvo Polestar driver Robert Dahlgren.

"We've worked very hard to take full advantage of the new C30 facelift, spending countless hours in the wind tunnel at Volvo Cars in the process," says Jan Andersson, Technical Director of the Volvo Polestar team.

Volvo recently extended its agreement with Polestar right through to the end of the 2012 season.

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2011 Volvo S60: New Video Gives us a Complete View of Swedish Sedan

Following the release of the first teaser photos of the all-new 2011 S60 back in November, Volvo has now published a new video that gives us a full view of its small executive sedan that will make its world premiere at the Geneva Salon in March 2010. Closely based on the concept model that appeared at the 2009 Detroit Show, the new S60 is squarely aimed at the Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3-Series.

Volvo, which will soon pass on to the hands of China's Geely Motors, has released very little information on the car but the company did say that the new S60 will be more driver orientated that its predecessor.

While it is not clear yet how the sale will affect the S60's engine range, it is believed that Ford's new EcoBoost 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine featuring turbocharging, direct injection and outputs ranging from 150 to 180 horsepower will be amongst the offerings.

Via: Autoblog.com

Video: 2010 Volvo S80 Facelift

Earlier today, Volvo published the first photos of the 2010 MY S80 saloon that received a mid-life facelift which includes subtle visual changes as well as two revised diesel engines and a new eco-friendly, but underpowered, DRIVe variant fitted with a 1.6-liter turbo diesel delivering an output of 109HP. The new S80 will be unveiled for the first time at the Geneva Auto Show in early March with sales commencing this spring.

Video: Volvo S60 Sport Sedan Concept

One of the most exciting concept cars at the 2009 Detroit auto show which runs for two weeks from January 11, is the Volvo S60 Concept that provides a preview of the production model that will follow in 2010. If you hit the jump you can see the first official video of the compact sports sedan that includes the usual exterior shots as well as a short film of the S60's innovative crystal centre stack being created at Swedish glassworks Orrefors' workshop. For more details and high-resolution pictures of the Volvo S60 sport sedan concept click here to view our previous post.

Volvo: 81 Years of History in 9 Minutes

We know that it’s quite difficult to squeeze so many years of history in a video that's less than 10 minutes long but Volvo actually did a fine job in creating a film that pinpoints the most important highlights of its 81-year long history. The video starts with Volvo’s first ever automobile, the OV4 that rolled off the production line on April 14, 1927 and continues all the way up to the Swedish automaker’s latest offerings. –Check out the video after the jump

Geneva Video: Volvo XC60 Compact SUV

Eyeing the successful BMW X3 compact SUV, Volvo’s stylish XC60 (click here) will go on sale in Europe during the second half of 2008, while sales in North America getting under way in early 2009. The XC90’s baby brother, will initially be available with the six-cylinder turbocharged T6 engine producing 285 Hp and two five-cylinder turbodiesels: the D5 producing 185 and the 2.4D with 163 Hp. All Wheel Drive (AWD) with Instant Traction is fitted as standard on all variants. –Video after the jump

Video: 2009 Volvo XC60 Compact SUV

Revealed ahead of the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the XC60 is Volvo’s first offering in the compact SUV/Crossover category and it will compete against the likes of the BMW X3.The XC60 is equipped standard with All Wheel Drive (AWD) and is being launched with a choice of three engines, a turbocharged 6-cylinder 3.0-liter petrol unit with 285 HP and two variants of the D5 turbodiesel. Check out the official images and details in our previous post here. For the video, follow the jump. -Continued

Video: Heico Sportiv Volvo C30 & S80

Due to be officially unveiled at the 2007 SEMA show in Las Vegas (Oct 30 to Nov 2), the S80 High Performance Concept has an aluminium-look exterior paintjob and 350 hp bioethanol engine, while the special version of the Volvo C30 features a surf-pattern exterior / orange interior and a 300 Hp 2.5T that helps it sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph)in 5.4 seconds. (See pics of the S80 here and the C30 here).