Volvo S80 evolves further outside the box; lineup is expanded
When it came to styling, Volvo for years defined the term “frumpish.” The cars were safe but lacked scintillating styling. Of course, how scintillating can a box on wheels be?
But when the S80 sedan arrived for the 1999 model year, the transformation began. Safety was still primary, but decent looks and a little performance entered the scene.
However, it’s been five years since Volvo’s first large front-wheel-drive sedan was introduced, and it’s time for a freshening, albeit a modest one.
In addition to a few exterior cosmetic changes -- new front and rear fascias, headlamps and tail lamps -- the S80 gets a new chassis-control system to help smooth uneven road surfaces, as well as a new all-wheel-drive model to expand the 2004 lineup that goes on sale in April.
The new S80 model is built off the same platform as Volvo’s XC90 sport utility vehicle.
The S80 features an on-demand AWD system. The vehicle operates primarily in front-wheel drive until loss of traction is detected. Then power is automatically distributed to all four wheels.
It’s the same system in the S60 AWD sedan and is designed to work with the stability- and traction-control systems in the car.
The AWD system will be offered only on the S80 with the 2.5-liter, 208-horsepower, turbocharged, five-cylinder engine with five-speed automatic transmission.
The five-cylinder is the same in the S60 and V70 models.
The S80 also offers Four-C (continuously controlled chassis concept) for the first time, a system borrowed from the S60R and V70R that is designed, as Volvo boasts, to make “every journey relaxing and refreshing.”
The Four-C system lets the driver choose between “comfort” and “sports” suspension settings: comfort for a softer ride on rough roads and sports for a firmer ride for aggressive performance maneuvering. At the same time, the power-steering system was upgraded to deliver a quicker, more precise response to wheel input.
Although the S80 is a bit more performance-oriented, especially the AWD model, Volvo also has a limited-edition, top-of-the-line S80 Executive, which features a rear-seat entertainment system, special leather upholstery and walnut panel inserts.
BMW 7-Series
It was only about a year ago that the newly designed BMW 7-Series appeared on the auto show circuit.
To say the unveiling of the 7-Series sedan touched off a flurry of moans and groans nationwide would be an understatement.
The rear end, its detractors insisted, was designed by the devil himself. A big, obtrusive tail that looked, well, un-BMW-like and frumpish.
Despite the complaints, or maybe because of them, so much attention was focused on the 7-Series that the car that folks loved to hate can boast a 15% increase in sales for 2002 and a 12% gain in the first month of this year.
Beginning next month, BMW adds a sport package to the 745i and 745Li sedans.
The package includes a sports suspension teamed with larger-profile 19-inch radial tires -- 245/45 upfront, 275/40 in the rear -- for more responsive, performance handling.
Also new for all 7-Series models is a standard six-speed automatic transmission that offers Steptronic clutchless shifting. Buttons on the front of the steering wheel can be used to upshift; buttons on the back of the wheel can be used to downshift.
The sport package will be a $3,200 option on the 745i or 745Li.
In addition to the sport package models, BMW will unveil the xActivity SAV, or sport activity vehicle, concept.
The xActivity concept is designed to prepare the public for the X3 sport utility coming out this fall that’s based on the 3-Series platform. The X3 is to the 3-Series as the BMW X5 sport ute is to the 5-Series.
BMW also has the restyled ’04 3-Series coupe and convertible, which will go on sale in April.
Novel features on these models include optional “adaptive” headlamps that turn to follow the road based on such factors as steering-wheel angle; “adaptive” braking in which the taillights join the brake lights at the same intensity to give a bolder warning to following drivers; and a standard six-speed manual transmission.
