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From Swedespeed.com Events Coverage
Volvo Cars’ new Special Vehicles Department in Gothenburg has given birth to the first fruit of its labors in the form of a V50 SV design study. Based on a T-5 AWD version of the smallest Volvo wagon, the V50 SV weighs in with a commendable 340hp – well over the stock 218hp of the T-5. The V50 is said to squirt effortlessly to 60-mph in 5.5 seconds while AP Racing brakes bring it all back to a stop with authority. Inside the car we noted several production changes that could see production as either standard equipment or as accessories. A new aluminum-look shift knob matches the aluminum trim currently available in U.S. cars, while some cool new floor mats with ultra-white, almost incandescent piping much like that found in our recent 2006 S60 T-5 test vehicle are a great addition as well.
The ultra-cool blue color of the car – called “Sonic Blue” – we’re told is destined for the U.S. market by the 2006 model year. Unfortunately, we could make no confirmation that a 340-hp engine would ever make production.
Heralding the XC90 V8 – launched at the Paris Auto Show – Volvo joined the SEMA club with a tuned SUV. The Aria Corp.–developed widebody XC90 strikes an aggressive pose, decidedly more performance in appearance than typical SEMA bling. While it wouldn’t be an SUV at SEMA without “dubs”, Volvo’s 20-inch alloys look more the sporting part than chromed spinners and the like.
We hear engine work hasn’t been completed on the XC90 yet, though they’re confident in their claims of nearly 650hp once the supercharger is attached to the Yamaha-built V8. Volvo highly doubts such a car would ever be built with production in mind, but says the parts could be developed and sold to the market either through an independent marketer and – less likely – through Volvo themselves. We hear a second concept XC90, in yellow, has also been ordered.
Last year, Volvo couldn’t have surprised more people than they did with the stunning S60R show car built by then unknown Evolve Cars. In the year since, Evolve has begun selling a line of accessories based on that car. Evolve showed, yet again, just what considerable talent they have in building cars that make users stop and take notice, even amongst hundreds of other cars built for the very same purpose.
Last year’s blue Evolve S60R was not too far away, located in the Powerchip booth, heralding the announcement that Powerchip will now be Evolve’s strategic partner for ECU programming. However, inside it was Evolve’s latest creation – based on an S40 T-5 – that drew all the praise, including a design award from Ford. Don Nicholson, President of Evolve, was generous enough give us a walk around of the car. This year, in round 2, Evolve has massaged the S40’s 5-cylinder up to a reported 550-hp. The upgrade looks legit, with huge front-mounted intercooler, larger turbo and upgraded plumbing.
Connecting the car to the road are 19-inch HRE wheels, with 8.5-inch wide front tires and a full 11-inches wide at the rear. In order to make those seriously wide rear tires fit under the fenders, Evolve had to totally redesign the rear suspension, crafting a custom F1-inspired pushrod rear suspension. Not only did it make for the room, we hear it improved handling substantially. We can’t wait to take a spin in the S40, which he was generous enough to invite us to do sometime in the near future. Evolve has proven that they’re willing to go the whole nine yards when it comes to engineering and we can’t wait to see how that translates to the road and track. Outside the Ford area in the Exhibit Hall could be found two more Volvos. The first a P1800 appeared to have been given the works by a talented body shop, though from underneath, looked relatively stock. Lamentably, we never found an owner to tell us more about the vehicle.
Also outside was a V50 built by the Volvo Concept Center in California. With no information on the car other than a website, all we could determine about the vehicle was that it wore 18-inch BBS CH wheels and had an IPD exhaust. As we learn more, we’ll pass it along.
On the far side of the main exhibit hall, we almost walked right past a small display of VST goods. Yes, VST – the Japanese Volvo tuning firm had their product line on display through one of their OEM suppliers who also does business in the USA. The company was here to guage interest in the US market as it is extremely interested in doing business here.
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