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No boxy Volvo: Chilling in the S60 D3 Manual R-Design Lux Nav
Volvo has always been the marque you bought if you didn’t want to buy German. That didn’t change when Ford bought the brand and hasn’t now that it’s owned by the Chinese company Geely. This little number is a rival to a BMW 3 series or Mercedes C Class. Volvo puts as much emphasis on the trim level as on the engines and this …
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Sunday 6th September 2015 11:55 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: R?
"Two tonnes! Range Rover drivers are already getting fined for using Marlow Bridge, at this rate Volvo drivers will soon be in the same position."
It doesn't weigh 2 tons. There's been a cockup on volvos information page. I suspect that weight is the max towing weight, the cars actual weight is around 1.7 tons.
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Monday 7th September 2015 13:27 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Buy one now!
"Or alternatively, buy an Audi and have everyone+dog think you're an unmitigated douche...?"
That's a very unfair description of my neighbour. In fact I think he got his at more or less VW prices. It looks like the special shine is wearing off Audis.
Which manufacturer is going to be next to take on the mantle of tosserdom?
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Sunday 6th September 2015 20:19 GMT Alan Brown
Re: Chinese?
"how come they aren't selling the cars for about five grand a pop?"
Because people are willing to pay more for them (charge what the market will bear, etc)
Speaking about paying more, are there any stats on how many "driver assist packages" are actually being sold?
IE: Is it a halo product or are people actually buying the option in significant numbers?
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Monday 7th September 2015 08:24 GMT What? Me worry?
Re: Chinese?
"how come they aren't selling the cars for about five grand a pop?" 'Cause the Volvo cars are still made in Sweden. Not all, mind you, but many.
We were recently at the Volvo factory outside of Gothenburg for the Overseas Delivery Program with myinlaw who picked up a V60 T5 with all those bells & whistles mentioned in the review. Saw V/S60, V70, XC90s coming off the line. Really neat production stream, but photography strictly verboten.
Yes, I can see where the money goes. Still don't want mine myself, the need to sort out the bloody headrests and seats! The 740 had better fitting driver seat than these new ones. :/
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Sunday 6th September 2015 17:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
"You might argue that drivers should be aware enough to not need these features"
... and then you would be showing a fundamental lack of understanding of human performance factors.
Or it might just be that my driving skills have been undermined by all that advanced driver training, emergency services and heavy vehicles experience, as well as flying aircraft for a living, but I for one certainly welcome the recent technological improvements in driver assistance and situational awareness (which my current private car happens to have).
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Sunday 6th September 2015 21:06 GMT Diogenes
Re: "You might argue that drivers should be aware enough to not need these features"
Shady,
are/were you one my students perchance ?
I pass this on to my students, as it was told to me in my previous life as a dev by the Head of WHS at a very very large Australian Corporation & my brother a former Inspector in the NSW Rozzers.
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Monday 7th September 2015 06:16 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "You might argue that drivers should be aware enough to not need these features"
"A teacher once told me that all driver induced accidents could be reduced to zero by removing the airbag, seat belts and every other safety feature, and mounting a large spike on the steering wheel."
Is that because there were absolutely no driver induced accidents in the days when cars looked like this? https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/1913_Ford_Model_T_Speedster_dashboard.JPG
Or is it because the teacher is an absolutely imbecilic arse?
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Monday 7th September 2015 08:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "You might argue that drivers should be aware enough to not need these features"
"Or it might just be that my driving skills have been undermined by all that advanced driver training, emergency services and heavy vehicles experience, as well as flying aircraft for a living,"
You sound like someone who leaves a profession before they find out you're not very good. Tell us what airline you fly for so we can avoid it.
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Sunday 6th September 2015 18:32 GMT Anonymous Coward
Lane keeping aid
Lane keeping aid - does this mean it drifts until it reaches the edge of the lane then drifts back the other way until it reaches the other edge of the lane at which point it repeats?
If so then my congratulations to the designers: they will have automated the driving behaviour of those big 1980s Volvos perfectly.
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Monday 7th September 2015 07:33 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Lane keeping aid
Lane keeping aid - does this mean it drifts until it reaches the edge of the lane then drifts back the other way until it reaches the other edge of the lane at which point it repeats?
Basically, yeah, but it gets super-arsey with you if you try to drive for more than about twenty seconds without your hand(s) on the wheel. Usefully, though, that's just about long enough to open a sandwich / bottle of Coke etc.
The adaptive cruise on the Volvo is easily the best of any car out there, far smoother than competing systems and able to follow the car in front at a range of distances from "miles away" to "Audi". The driver support pack also gives you adaptive headlights, which shade out other cars and pedestrians so you can drive everywhere on full beam at night. It's jaw-dropping to watch, and although the LED matrix in Audis is better, you don't need to pay another £50k to get it.
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Monday 7th September 2015 13:04 GMT Blacklight
Re: Lane keeping aid
"The adaptive cruise on the Volvo is easily the best of any car out there, far smoother than competing systems and able to follow the car in front at a range of distances from "miles away" to "Audi". "
Not on mine, although maybe that's as I have a '60 plate S60 D5 which was one of the early release "new look" ones.
The adaptive cruise is good, but the closest it lets you get is at least 2-3 car lengths, whereas the average Audi can get so close they may as well be in the back seat.
Also, mine is a bit naff at spotting people changing lanes into yours, between the car and the one it's following - you can watch them move over, until they are firmly in the lane with you and driving normally, THEN the car will go "ooh, a car" and promptly slow down/brake. If you have the distance set at 2-3 car lengths, that can be quite 'interesting'. I've learned how it behaves, but I suspect it REALLY annoys the car(s) behind....
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Monday 7th September 2015 11:59 GMT Archaon
Re: £37K?
Not really how it works. Bearing in mind we pay around $30,000 for a half decent Focus which would cost you $18,000. And let's just say that while we can now get the Mustang officially in the UK, it's certainly not for $24,000 - double it and then some.
Cars are expensive here compared to the USA. As with everything there's various factors that cause it: tax, import costs, adaptation and manufacturing to right-hand-drive spec, pricing of competing products etc.
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Tuesday 8th September 2015 12:29 GMT Alan Brown
Re: Five cylinders...
"More cylinders != more power"
Fewer cylinders with more power == more stress and shorter lifespans.
You can get 1100hp out of a 1200cc engine with appropriate kit attached, but it won't last long.
OTOH the 300kW inline-12cylinder Merlees diesel gensets I used to tend to 30 years ago in a shortwave TX station (they were 50 years old at that point) would probably be approaching the need for new rings in another 20 years if they hadn't been scrapped. (there's an example of one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoUUUneG9TM)
Car engines might be _capable_ of developing XYZ horsepower. The fact that few of them are ever called to actually do so, or only ever do it for a couple of minutes over their entire service life is why you can get away with bolting on superchargers and electric boosters for the few times this kind of response is actually needed and get decent mileage the rest of the time.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
