2004 Volvo C70 Base Convertible 2-door 2.3l on 2040-cars

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Five vehicles named Top Safety Pick+ including new Civic, MKZ

In an attempt to help push vehicle safety to a higher level, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created a stricter Top Safety Pick+ rating last year, which incorporates a brutal small overlap test and requires cars to get Good ratings in four out of the five categories (and no less than Acceptable in the fifth). Joining the list of the safest cars of 2013, the 2013 Volvo XC60, Lincoln MKZ, Honda Civic (sedan and coupe) and the 2014 Mazda6 have all received the coveted TSP+ rating.
The Mazda6 and Lincoln MKZ have both been completely redesigned, and both received Acceptable ratings in the small overlap test. The Honda Civic, coming off its emergency refresh for 2013, is the first small car to be subjected to the small overlap test, and IIHS says that one of the car's many upgrades includes a stiffer front structure allowing it to receive Good ratings in all categories. Similarly, the XC60 gets all Good ratings thanks to, according to IIHS, Volvo updating the airbag software allowing the side airbags to inflate during the small overlap test.
The 2014 Subaru Forester has not yet been subjected to the small overlap test, so it must make do with just a Top Safety Pick rating until the IIHS tests small utility vehicles, which is expected to happen later in the spring.

Sweden's Prince Carl Philip to race for Volvo in STCC

Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte has it good. He is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, he dates a model and he has been voted by Forbes as one of the "20 Hottest Young Royals." If that were not enough, he is a fairly successful racecar driver. The latter has earned him a spot on the Volvo Polestar racing team for the Swedish Touring Car Championship. The prince will be piloting a race-spec S60 in the 2013 STCC campaign.
Starting in 2008, Prince Carl Philip began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup, where he placed as high as 11th. In 2010, he finished first in the Porsche GT3 Endurance competition, and most recently, he placed fourth in the 2012 Swedish GT GTB.
As his motorsport career up to this point suggests, the prince is quite serious about racing and the STCC is the next step up. According to Prince Carl Philip, "There is no tougher championship in Sweden and at the same time as I have respect for it, it motivates me greatly." You can read more on Prince Carl Philip's upcoming campaign with Polestar in the press release below.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.