Car Throttle

This question is inspired by one of Sajeev Mehta's latest "Piston Slap" articles on The Truth About Cars.  It's a darn good question, too.  Most people when talking about cars will refer to things like suspension tuning, power output, features, visibility... but they'll skip over one of the most important things when it comes to what makes a car good daily driver: the seats. Around town, for short distances, seats aren't that important.  They hold your butt up off the floor, allow you to grab the primary controls with a minimal of stretching, and you sort of forget about them.  But there's almost nothing more important when it comes to enthusiastic driving or long road trips than how comfortable the seats are.  Bad seats

When Volvo UK invited us to attend their UK Press Launch to celebrate the new range of Swedish vehicles for 2011, we grasped the opportunity with both hands. This would be our first video review ever, and most importantly, would mark our breakthrough into the British car scene as a fresh, web-only outlet. A whole day's worth of filming, some new gadgets and a long countryside trip later, we found ourselves staring at some awesome high-definition footage of two vehicles which Volvo let us get our mits on; the 2011 Volvo S60 R-Design T3 and the 2011 Volvo V60 R-Design D3. Below is our video review of the former; a well-designed "new generation" Volvo aiming to appeal to the younger-age segment of the market. The full text review

There's a lot of craziness out there - stunts, race drivers and the like. In fact some would even say racing a car around a track is crazy (obviously we wouldn't be counted as one of that bunch). But try racing around a race track blindfolded. Uh yeah, that is what we could categorize as insane. But that is exactly what Jonny Reid, a 27-year old driver, did around New Zealand's Hampton Downs raceway in Auckland. The event was sponsored by Volvo, with Reid managing a laptime of 1:28, clocking a top speed of 119 mph along the way. Volvo says he was "guided only by the feel of the car, his knowledge of the track and co-driver Earl Bamber's voice." Reid took more than

The new S60 is a pivotal model for Volvo, as a competitive entrant into the segment. With impressive sales of its crossover counterpart the XC60, the new sedan looks to be a big seller for the brand. As such, Volvo is in a midst of launching a big campaign for the car, dubbed the "Naughtiest Volvo Ever." Just based on its appearance, we already know the S60 isn't your usual Volvo - but the brand says it doesn't drive like one either. As part of the campaign, track days are being held across the country. There is an event in Los Angeles at the Santa Anita Racetrack tomorrow, October 23rd and Sunday, October 24th. Attendees can participate in a competition to win an Apple iPad, and will also be

Volvo has been on an effort to project a new image for itself with the redesigned S60. Volvo has always been noted for safety, but the brand would like to change things up with the S60's "Naugtiest Volvo" campaign. We don't know about that (it comes off as a bit desperate to us) but we do know the S60 ups the design ante considerably, providing a compelling product inside and out. The R-Design series is meant to be a sportier take on the S60 formula, providing more visual drama. R-Design starts out with the premise that the existing car is powerful enough - just that there are those who would like the car in a more sporting variety. As such, it is available in all trim levels and

With the sale of Volvo to Geely completed, the brand is hoping to turn the focus to product once again. No more headlines in the papers and automotive media about sale negotiations - and now Ford has entirely rid itself of any non-core automotive assets. The S60 mid-size sedan is an integral product for Volvo, and it shows off a new philosophy for the brand. No hardcore sport version is yet available, but Volvo is working with Heico Sportiv to introduce a limited edition sport model. Hot or not? Definitely hot. The S60 looks brilliant in Black Sapphire and in concert with the tasteful modifications made by Heico. Par for the course, ride height has been lowered and the suspension fitted with stiffer dampers. There are low profile

The sports compact genre has flourished over the past few years. Mitsubishi is a big player in that market with the Lancer Evolution, a favorite in racing games everywhere. The Evolution X SE is a new mid-range model that sits between the GSR and MR. Mitsubishi made a promotional video for the car as it was was put through its paces in California. We're glad Mitsubishi is focused on enthusiasts - because this car is specifically geared toward the enthusiast market. The Evo X SE starts at $36,445, and is equipped with the dual-clutch transmission on an Evo X. That price point puts it at about $2000 more than a base Evo X GSR and over $3000 cheaper than a base Evo X MR, the high-end model. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLkeGG_vva0&feature=player_embedded#! Next-Gen 3-Series

Here at CarThrottle, we love teaser videos. Especially the ones that show a lot of the car in action, and this new one from Volvo definitely does that. Particularly of interest to a lot of people is the interior of the new S60, which hasn't been debuted yet. That's where this video is really defined as a teaser - it shows only a bit of the interior that gives a few key details. The S60 has been expected for a long time, but ongoing wrangling over who the new owner of Volvo would be pushed the car's launch back a bit. It is now expected to make a debut at the Geneva Auto Show next month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6GCDOWEC0

With repeated reports about an impending Volvo sale for years, the brand has been on an uncertain path. Sales haven't been huge for most of the past few years due to an aging lineup and the S80 failing to take off in a big way. The past few months have seen sales increased posted. Volvo seems to be finally getting its mojo back with new products like the XC60 Crossover and S60 sedan. Success right before sale seems to be a pattern with Ford's recent sale of both Jaguar and Aston Martin as well, but I digress. The introduction of R-Design appearance packages for the C30, XC60, and potentially the S80 has highlighted the lack of true R performance variants in the

Volvo's new S60 has been in the works for a while, ever since the concept was introduced to preview the production car. It was spied undisguised not too long ago and more recently, a video demonstrating the car's Pedestrian Avoidance system was released. Volvo has released the first official pictures of the car now. Does it live up to the promise of the concept? Yes! Obviously there has been significant changes - like for instance, the suicide doors on the concept have been replaced with a standard layout. The basic coupe-like profile still remains intact though. Things could have been easily derailed in the translation from concept to production, but that didn't happen with the S60. It follows the recent design theme for Volvo that debuted with