Event Coverage: 2011 New York Auto Show

Apr 22, 2011 - 10:57:21 AM

The bigger auto show news might have been happening with the unveil of the Universe Concept in Shanghai, but the New York Show also brought great news for Volvo fans, a power boost for the S60 and XC60 R-design. Yes, when the 2012 model year examples of those two cars arrive here in the States, they'll come complete with 25 horsepower boosts over other T6-powered models. The "R" in R-Design once again means real performance gains. It make us even more excited to sit in the S60 R-Design sitting on the show stand, thinking about how excited we are to try that car out in a few months.

Elsewhere on the New York show stand, we were disappointed to find that the S80 and XC70 sitting there weren't the ones with the updated interiors unveiled a few weeks ago. Perhaps there just wasn't enough time to get them over here, so we'll just have to wait a while longer to see how dramatic the material and design changes are in person. The S80 show car redeemed itself by being a car equipped with the Inscription package, which adds vented seats, extra wood inlays, and a series of gorgeous upholstery options. This particular example had the Toscana/Off-Black leather combination, and we highly recommend it.



We were also happy to see a new pile of awards sitting in a cabinet at the Volvo booth, especially since the new S60 is so deserving. An Automobile Magazine All-Star award sat between a Top Safety Pick prize from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a trophy from Wards for the latest T6 engine, the one that is of course in models beyond just the S60 now. Congratulations to Volvo. 2011 is shaping up to be a great turn-around year for the brand.