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News Volvo R-design Adds Style, Not Performance To 2008, 2009 Models


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I voted good idea purely from the Volvo business standpoint. History has proven that a prettied-up T-5 with essentially no performance enhancements and just cosmetic enhancement can generate excitement and even communities of enthuisasts (and limited access "R Forums"). I probably would have thrown in a gratuitous 10% horsepower tune on the ECU and maybe a shiny blow off valve like a binky for the Chuck's and Mitch's of the world, but otherwise, I can see them selling this car and meeting the expectations of most buyers that just want something that "looks impressive" and doesn't consume more fuel than its base counterparts.

Yeah cause the S60Rs were such good sellers. If you cannot sell it with extra HP what makes them think it will sell without? The S60R depreciate something nutty like 50% in 2 years.

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it all depends how much they raise the price on them, if its a reasonable increase over price than i think it is a good a idea and a step in the right direction (reminds me of the ever popular here corrolaS) and well lets face it guys in the volvo market we are a small percentage the average volvo consumer is not performance oriented...

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I voted good idea purely from the Volvo business standpoint. History has proven that a prettied-up T-5 with essentially no performance enhancements and just cosmetic enhancement can generate excitement and even communities of enthuisasts (and limited access "R Forums"). I probably would have thrown in a gratuitous 10% horsepower tune on the ECU and maybe a shiny blow off valve like a binky for the Chuck's and Mitch's of the world, but otherwise, I can see them selling this car and meeting the expectations of most buyers that just want something that "looks impressive" and doesn't consume more fuel than its base counterparts.

This is the lazy way out. Kind of “let’s just give in to the what the other unimaginative car manufactures are doing.” Instead of going, “let’s give them what they want and more than they ever expected.” That’s what made the Mustang, Camaro, 850 and so on. It was more than we could even imagine. So…. Volvo let’s make a car that gets good mileage and good performance, it is possible, believe me!

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This is the lazy way out. Kind of “let’s just give in to the what the other unimaginative car manufactures are doing.” Instead of going, “let’s give them what they want and more than they ever expected.” That’s what made the Mustang, Camaro, 850 and so on. It was more than we could even imagine. So…. Volvo let’s make a car that gets good mileage and good performance, it is possible, believe me!

What if they threw in Samco hoses, poly mounts, drilled and slotted rotors and silicone vacuum hoses?

Let's be realistic:

ECU remap: cheap and doable (I would have done it, but I know not the support costs associated with it)

Bigger turbo: great, but not justifiable for number of units

Different trans or gearing: great, but not justifiable for number of units

Better brakes: not cheap, but nice to have. (remember most consumers consider "four wheel disc with ABS" to be high performance in braking)

Sways and performance tuned springs: nice, but most will bitch about ride quality

Louder, free flowing exhaust: only car guys like loud exhaust, would alienate most of your potential buyers

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What if they threw in Samco hoses, poly mounts, drilled and slotted rotors and silicone vacuum hoses?

Let's be realistic:

ECU remap: cheap and doable (I would have done it, but I know not the support costs associated with it)

Bigger turbo: great, but not justifiable for number of units

Different trans or gearing: great, but not justifiable for number of units

Better brakes: not cheap, but nice to have. (remember most consumers consider "four wheel disc with ABS" to be high performance in braking)

Sways and performance tuned springs: nice, but most will bitch about ride quality

Louder, free flowing exhaust: only car guys like loud exhaust, would alienate most of your potential buyers

You are missing another aspect. Volvo and Ford both invest big time in racing. But most classes now are factory spec. They are screwing over anyone who might want to campaign a car by not building an R, Lite, or GT version. As gimp as the S60R was it allowed the teams to run AWD. All volvo has to do is build 500 AWD, high comp engined cars and that would give teams a base to built a VTS off of. The R-design is not even limited numbers. At least has Bill personally wax each of them and add a K&N for 2 more HP.

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Well this is what I was hoping as they have a template to copy based on the same platform.

Mazda 3 ---- Volvo C30 v1 & v2

MazdaSpeed 3 ---- Volvo C30R

Keep the cost down and match the performance capabilities of the MazdaSpeed 3. Then copy the same for the S40 ---- S40R

Bring new life into Volvo brand.

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You are missing another aspect. Volvo and Ford both invest big time in racing. But most classes now are factory spec. They are screwing over anyone who might want to campaign a car by not building an R, Lite, or GT version. As gimp as the S60R was it allowed the teams to run AWD. All volvo has to do is build 500 AWD, high comp engined cars and that would give teams a base to built a VTS off of. The R-design is not even limited numbers. At least has Bill personally wax each of them and add a K&N for 2 more HP.

Thats what I'm talking about. Give us the blueprint and we'll make our own. Dodge is doing it with the SRT, and GM has the Cobalt model. This works, Volvo could even get another company to do it so they could save on R&D.

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Poor. Volvo should be able to offer 400hp models. Wuss-out IMHO. And to me, the S60R's performance was not at the same level as the cars it was competing against. It seemed to me to be some kind of middle ground in price and performance and ended up being nowhere. Beside, styling wise, Volvo's current lineup doesn't need much more. This just seems over the top.

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They should have used another letter and disassociated the"R" from these new cars. Maybe they could use "SR" for Siegfried and Roy or some other illusionist. It will make me want to get rid of any "R" reference on my car. We are pretty much screwed anyway as new Camrys and Accords will out perform our cars. Somehow, Chevy can build an HHR SS for $25K

($495 for LSD and Brembos!!!) that will handle better and go better but Volvo give us a newt.

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