Tag Archives: Volvo

The Volvo P1800 Cyan Racing Really Is A Fantastic Restomod

December 4, 2020 admin

Cyan Racing caught everyone by surprise when they first revealed their Volvo P1800 restomod, a stunning creation that transforms the original 1960s coupe into an exotic driving machine.

The amount of work done here is pretty exhaustive, starting with the body and chassis; while Cyan’s restomod retains the beautiful lines of the classic Volvo coupe, the body is entirely new and made out of carbon fiber while the chassis is also redesigned and strengthened using modern high-strength steel. The only parts that are still original to the donor car are the roof pillars and the windscreen wipers.

The end result of all this work is a front-engined, rear-drive coupe that tips the scales at just at 990 kg (2,182 lbs).

Cyan Racing also ditched the original rear live axle for double wishbones and added a torque-biasing limited-slip differential while they were at it. That was necessary because under the bonnet now lives a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine as used in the Volvo S60 TC1 race car, paired to a dog-leg five-speed manual transmission from Holinger.

The engine has been further tuned to provide a more linear power and torque curve, like a naturally aspirated unit, with its redline sitting at 7,700 rpm. Power is rated at 413 HP (419 PS) and 335 lb-ft (455 Nm) of torque, which appears to be more than enough for that weight figure.

Autocar had the opportunity to review the gorgeous Volvo P1800 Cyan and their impressions are more than positive. The beautiful restomod is as good as we hoped it be, offering a raw driving character with one of the greatest manual gear changes around, big unassisted brakes, and no ABS or traction control. Combine this with an excellent high-quality feeling inside and out, and suddenly that price tag starts to make sense.

As a bonus, we are also sharing AutotopNL‘s POV video on the same car, just to get a better idea of what it feels like behind the wheel of Cyan’s gorgeous P1800.

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Polestar Banned From Using Its Logo In France For Six Months

November 10, 2020 admin

The three-year legal dispute between Citroen and Polestar has resulted in a French court temporarily banning the latter’s logo.

As we have reported earlier, Citroen claims that the logo of Polestar is too similar to its own double chevron badge and that of its premium DS brand. The French carmaker first asked parent company Volvo to stop using the Polestar logo in 2017, but the Swedish company refused.

Polestar now confirmed to Autocar that there’s an ongoing legal case in France, with a company spokesperson adding: “Polestar does not operate in France and we currently have no plans to operate in France. There is an ongoing legal case in France concerning the use of the Polestar logo, initiated by Citroën.”

“Whilst we cannot comment on the details of the case, we strongly believe in the position of our brand and logo. We recognize that as a new, exciting car brand on the market with ambitious plans to raise the profile of electric mobility, we may gather attention from established automakers. The case only relates to France and does not apply to any other countries.”

Citroen first took their case to the European Intellectual Property Office with no success. A French court however sided with them, ordering Polestar to stop using their logo for six months, starting in July 2020, and pay €150,000 ($177k in current exchange rates) to the French carmaker, plus €70,000 ($82k) in legal fees.

It’s not clear yet what will happen when Polestar’s six-month logo ban will expire this January.

Volvo Says Voice Commands Are Key To Safety In Future Models

October 19, 2020 admin

There’s a growing debate in car circles regarding the dangers of using certain infotainment features and touch screens inside vehicles that are on the move, with some studies indicating that fiddling with your display can be more dangerous than being drunk.

Volvo’s own safety research and behavioral science experts believe however that distractions are a fact of life and that in-car tech should be used to “create” more focused drivers.

Sure, some would say that a car from the 1940s is technically safer than a modern car from a distraction point of view (since it has no screen, phone connectivity or even a radio) – but that’s not the reality of today’s society.

“It is easy to think that phones and screens are the only scourge of the modern driver, but life as a whole is distracting,” said Volvo exec Malin Ekholm. “We know people do not get distracted on purpose, but it happens. You could be late for daycare and somewhat stressed. Or you get behind the wheel after a bad day at work. All this affects you as a driver.”

Read: German Tuner Removes Volvo’s Pesky 112 MPH Top Speed Limiter

She added that “people want to engage with friends, family, work and entertainment, and everyone responds differently to distraction.”

One clever way to do that is to have the infotainment software help you control various basic functions using your voice. This is something Volvo’s new Android-powered system does well – you can set the temperature, various destinations via the sat-nav or even listen to music, podcasts and make phone calls without having to remove your hands from the wheel.

Furthermore, Volvo believes distractions should also be addressed via in-car cameras and other sensors tasked with keeping an eye on the driver, so if for example the driver is intoxicated or distracted in any way, the car would intervene if he or she doesn’t respond to warning signals.

Such an intervention could involve limiting the car’s speed, alerting the Volvo on Call assistance service and, as a last resort, actively slowing down and safely parking the car.

This technology will be introduced on next-gen SPA2 models.