Ucarmagazine

The best-selling Volvo V70 becomes the fifth Volvo model to be offered with the sporty factory-fitted R-Design option pack. This further cements Volvo Cars’ aim to offer unique products to particularly discerning customers.

The Volvo V70 estate car is for many people the very essence of Volvo: practical, safe and exuding Scandinavian elegance. The R-Design pack spotlights a new dimension: impassioned, extrovert and challenging.

“Increasing numbers of customers want cars that express individual taste and style. Volvo Cars has therefore created the R-Design option pack to add a refined sporty look to the other attractive characteristics of our products,” says Gerry Keaney, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Cars.

Comprehensive package
The R-Design pack for the Volvo V70 boasts a wide range of eye-catching features. For example door mirror housings and grille detailing in silk metal finish, chrome exhaust tailpipe and specially designed 18-inch aluminium wheels. On the inside it is primarily the purposeful, sporty leather-clad seats in black and cool Nordic Ceramic Light that catch the eye - together with the various aluminium details. From the instrument panel’s aluminium inlays to the centre console and door sides, there is a milled circular décor pattern that spreads like ripples in water.

“The décor pattern in the aluminium details gives the interior a very special, modern character. The pattern symbolises how the dynamic R-Design characterises the entire car, linking together the seats’ ribbed surfaces and the exterior’s multitude of detailing in a silk metal finish,” says Maria Thunberg, manager of Colour & Trim, Volvo V70 R-Design.

Optimised sports chassis
Volvo R-Design not only offers visible detailing, it packs properties that simply have to be experienced out on the road. The sporty chassis offers plenty of driving pleasure and immense control in every situation. The sports chassis has been optimised with the help of features such as stiffer anti-roll bars and bushings and lower ground clearance for more direct road contact and more responsive and rewarding steering feedback.

“The big challenge with this project the R-Design chassis was to combine crisp driving pleasure with Volvo’s renowned secure properties in poor road conditions such as heavy rain or snow. I’m convinced we’ve found exactly the right balance,” says Ekkehard Schwartz, Vice President Chassis and Vehicle Dynamics.

The whole package - Volvo V70 R-DESIGN
-Grille in silk metal finish with R-Design emblem.
-Foglamp décor at the front in silk metal finish.
-Door-mirror housings in silk metal finish.
-Five-spoke 18-inch aluminium wheels - Cratus.
-Black anodised window mouldings made of aluminium.
-Tailgate spoiler in the same colour as the body.
-Chromed visible exhaust tailpipe, 90 mm diameter,
-Rear colour-matched spoiler with black insert.
-Sports chassis: lowered 20 mm front and 15 mm rear.
-11 exterior colours to choose between.
-Sports seats reinforced with extra foam padding in the seat and backrest cushions for added stability and comfort.
-Combined instrument with blue dial faces unique to R-Design cars.
-Sports steering wheel trimmed in perforated leather and R-Design emblem.
-Sports pedals made of aluminium.
-Upholstery of smooth leather in Off-Black and Ceramic Light colour combination, embossed with the R-Design emblem in the backrest.
-Specially designed centre console and unique décor pattern.
-Gear selector trimmed in perforated leather.
-Off-Black sports mats.

To further emphasise its sportiness, the car has no rails on the roof. These are however available as factory options for those buyers who wish to specify them.

R-DESIGN for the C30, S40, V50 and XC90
R-Design for the Volvo C30, S40 and V50 allows customers to choose between 10 different exterior colours and a range of specially designed exterior and interior details. For instance colour-matched bumpers and lower side mouldings, leather-trimmed steering wheel with R-Design emblem, a unique combined instrument and seats upholstered in black Flex-Tec with the seat and backrest cushions in contrasting cream-coloured leather.

The R-Design pack for the Volvo XC90 was introduced in early 2008 and replaced the optional XC90 Sport pack. Among the new R-Design details are 20-inch wheels (optional), twin exhaust tailpipes, a unique skid-plate, door-mirror housings in silk metal finish and R-Design emblems in the grille, on the steering wheel and embossed into the seats.

Emotional and extrovert
“R-Design is entirely in line with our accelerating focus on making our cars more extrovert and emotional. The packages allow buyers the option of giving the already distinct personalities of these models added spice,” says Volvo Cars Design Director Steve Mattin.

Steeply rising oil prices and a strong focus on the climate have made fuel-saving hybrid technology particularly interesting.

Volvo Trucks is now taking an important step towards commercialisation of this technology for heavy vehicles by launching two hybrid refuse trucks that will be tested in regular daily operations in Sweden by refuse collection firms Renova and Ragn-Sells.

“This test phase is the last stage in the evaluation of our hybrid solution ahead of production launch,” reveals Staffan Jufors, president and CEO of the Volvo Truck Corporation.

“Since we presented our first concept vehicle in 2006, we have seen considerably heightened market interest in this technology. What makes our solution unique is that it is sufficiently powerful to drive heavy vehicles and more cost-effective than all other current alternatives. It is these characteristics that determine whether a hybrid can be commercially viable. We will start producing hybrid trucks in 2009.”

Fuel-efficient, quiet and clean

Volvo’s hybrid solution combines a diesel engine with an electric motor, with the electric motor being used for moving off from standstill and for acceleration up to 20 km/h. At higher speeds, the diesel engine is activated.

When the truck stops, the diesel engine automatically switches off, thus avoiding unnecessary idling. The batteries are recharged using the power that is generated during braking, making this system highly suitable for operating cycles involving repeated stops and starts, such as refuse collection duties. The hybrid refuse trucks are expected to use up to 20 percent less fuel and thus cut carbon dioxide emissions by a corresponding amount.

What is more, one of the trucks is equipped with an extra battery pack that drives the refuse compactor, and this is charged via the mains electrical system when the truck is parked overnight. Its total reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is expected to be as much as 30 percent, giving this approach a better eco-effect than for instance a truck powered by natural gas. Electric power has the added advantage of being entirely exhaust-free and emitting low noise, important considerations for refuse collection vehicles that often operate in urban areas early in the morning.

Hybrid technology is the future in all transport segments

Initially, hybrid technology will be utilised by vehicles in urban operations. In the longer term, however, Volvo aims to offer hybrid trucks within long-haul and construction too.

“Hybrid technology will play a major role in the future as the climate issue and oil dependency come into ever-sharper focus,” says Mats Franzen, engine manager at Product Strategy and Planning at Volvo Trucks. “No matter which fuels dominate in the future, their supply will be limited. Technology that leads to lower fuel consumption will be of immense interest to our customers, irrespective of the type of haulage operation with which they work. For distribution trucks, fuel consumption may be able to be cut by 20 to 30 percent. In long-haul operations, the percentage reduction will not be as great but since these trucks cover long distances, the total fuel saving will nonetheless be considerable.”

Volvo FE hybrid refuse trucks

- 7-litre diesel engine producing 320 hp.

- Volvo’s I-SAM (Integrated Starter Alternator Motor) serves as a starter motor, electric drive motor and alternator (120 kW).

- Electronic control unit and voltage converter (AC/DC).

- Lithium-ion batteries that are recharged via the energy generated from braking, or via I-SAM.

- Volvo I-Shift, automated gearchanging system.

- The superstructures are delivered by Norba

Chequered roof or butterflies on the bonnet? A striped car, or why not one covered in polka-dots? 20 more or less daring designs can be chosen by buyers of a new Volvo C30.

As of April 7, Volvo Cars in Sweden is the first car brand to make it possible for new-car buyers in this Scandinavian country to specify applique film on the bodywork panels of their cars. And the design team really has let its hair down. Zebra patterns and urban panoramas compete with rainbows and wood panelling, flames and clouds.

The applique film, which is removable, is not there just to look good - it also helps protect the car. The film offers guaranteed durability for about two years, after which it is replaced with a
new variant or removed completely. The car’s paintwork has in the meantime been spared the rigours of the weather, wind and risk of stone-chip damage.

The applique film, which previously only used to be available on cars for advertising purposes and to special order, is now available for all customers.

“When we decided to create applique films it felt perfectly natural that the C30 should be the first off the mark. This car is aimed at a fashion-conscious urban target group, people who would enjoy driving around in a car that stands out from the crowd. The decorated cars will truly be seen on the street and the adhesive film is a very good way of protecting the car’s bodywork, at the same time as it offers scope for varying the vehicle’s appearance,” says Thomas Andersson, President of Volvo Personbilar Sverige AB.

C30 buyers already have a wide range of choices at their disposal as regards interior trim, options and accessories. Now it is also possible to customise the car’s exterior appearance.

“All told there will be 12,314 variants of the C30 to choose between. It sounds more difficult than it really is. Our site is structured such that the customer can “build” his or her own car online based on specific choices, and the result is in effect a totally unique car,” explains Thomas Andersson.

The personalised Volvo C30 can be ordered via any Volvo dealer in Sweden and the applique film is applied by an independent contractor immediately after the car has been built at the factory, after which it is delivered to the customer just like any other brand-new car.

The customer can choose from the many variants and “trial-build” his or her car in all the available variants to see what it will look like, using a special website that has been developed for the purpose: http://www.volvoc30.se

The applique film will cost about 18,750 SEK including labour.