Miscellaneous Features
Details on R Driving Event by Its Devious Creator
By by: George Achorn
Apr 7, 2003, 10:42

Las Vegas, NV - Jay Hamill is a car guy through and through. VCOA's Manager of Product Launches & Consumer Marketing is not new to the high performance, having worked on some serious performance projects at Pontiac prior to his stay at Volvo, and he's quite confident about the upcoming launch of the new R.

Jay bears more than a passing resemblence to Superman's arch nemesis Lex Luthor and he was certainly my arch nemesis as I kept trying to hit his claimed 130mph on the banked front straight of Las Vegas Motor Speedway only to find myself in the 120s. "Damn you Hamill!", I thought to myself as I slammed the brakes before the first chicane; clearly I was no Superman that day.

In all seriousness, it's car guys like Hamill that make us ever so confident that Volvo is on the right track with their current line of product. If my own inner speed competition with Jay hasn't convinced you, consider this. He's also the man behind the upcoming R drive where pretty much anyone over 21 can come out and try the new R models. With that knowledge, many a performance nut might want to grant him sainthood.

After constantly being thwarted at beating his top speed, we sat down for a conversation with Jay at the recent R event for automotive journalists in Las Vegas in order to get the latest details on the upcoming R drive.

Swedespeed: So tell us about the latest Volvo driving experience.

Jay Hamill: The 'R' drive experience is designed to create awareness and consideration amongst the enthusiast set by showcasing the performance, technology applications and safety of the 'R' ... ie, 300 HP, 295 lb ft of torque, 4-C chassis, brembo brakes, Haldex electronically controlled AWD, etc... demonstrating the instantaneous response of the system -- and the choices, ie, versatility of the car. It'll will also be a lot of fun!

Swedespeed: Why choose the R? It'll be a limited production car. Do you really need to promote it like that?

Jay Hamill: The 'R' is designed to be the halo for the S60 / V70... therefore, when it all comes together like this, we call the car an 'R' ... but, we will utilize specific technology applications in other car lines. A perfect example is the Haldex AWD, available in S60, V70, XC70, XC90 and now S80, or the 4C chassis, which will be available in the S80 shortly.

Swedespeed: How many participants can you take, and how many slots are still open?

Jay Hamill: We have 4 events; New York, Miami, Chicago, and Southern California. There are a total of 3,000 spots, which vary by venue, due to space limitations at the event. Approximately half have been filled before we 'officially' invited anyone. We have since opened up 288 additional slots for the first event in NY due to demand. Later events are still open, but filling quickly.



Swedespeed: How has reception been to the event thus far?

Jay Hamill: Nothing short of inspiring. It's been very exciting for us. Before we dropped a single piece of mail, which started late last week, we had over 1,500 people signed up, coming from 44 different states including Alaska & Hawaii. As mentioned, the only method of notification to this point has been a posting on the internet, which quickly spread between three main sites --Swedespeed, Volvospy and Edmunds). We have now posted a note on our site (www.volvocars.com) as well.

Swedespeed: So just how hard core is this? Will people really be able to stretch the R's legs or is that reserved for the hot laps with professional drivers?

Jay Hamill: It will be very similar in format to the event you attended in Las Vegas with opening comments from Hans Nillson via a video, demonstration of Haldex and then driving with and without professional drivers. And yes, people will have the opportunity to fully experience the 'R' cars capabilities.

Swedespeed: This almost sounds too good to be true. Are there any limitations for drivers such as experience levels, age etc?

Jay Hamill: They must be signed up on our website and they will need their confirmation number. We will try to accommodate walkups on a space available basis. They will need to be 21 and have a valid driver's license.

Swedespeed: So you're that confident in the car's abilities?

Jay Hamill: In one word. Yes! I highly doubt people will leave disappointed, although they may want to take the cars home, but we need to keep them around for the other events! (Laughs)

Swedespeed: Sounds like things are about full, what advice do you have for our readers who are interested, but haven't signed up yet?

Jay Hamill: The signups are first come, first serve. (FYI, Jay emailed us since the interview to let us know that within 2 days of the direct mail being dropped, Volvo is already seeing a 'considerable' increase in signup pace. That said, they are reacting to the situation by adding spots in NY. Volvo will evaluate the other cities on a case by case basis, but they say they are often we are constrained by the venue itself).

Swedespeed: Jay, thank you for your time.

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