2008 Volvo C30 T5 Hatchback 2-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Volvo S60 Polestar concept plays in the snow with Mercedes C63 AMG

Chris Harris took to a snowy stretch of tarmac to get a fingertips-on-the-wheel feel of the Volvo S60 Polestar concept. Harris says the turbocharged sedan with 508 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque - and a manual transmission - is "a study to see if Volvo can get back into the fast-car market." The Polestar S60 concept, one of which was already purchased for $300,000 by a private buyer, is still making the publicity rounds because even Volvo's Chinese owners realize that, as Harris says, "Volvo sold more cars because it made fast cars" like the old 850 T5 Wagon that stormed the British Touring Car Championship in the 1990s.
For reference, Harris compares the blue wonder to the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and its 487 hp and 442 lb-ft. The question is, were Volvo to get the price of a production version of the S60 Polestar to climb way down from its 200,000-pound sticker, could it be worthy competition to the established giants?
You can watch Harris divine the answer via a lot of drifting through the snow and a drag race in the video below.

How does a massive Volvo truck compare to a Koenigsegg on a track?

Volvo Trucks thinks that its latest FH semi truck has a little sports car DNA mixed in with the ability to haul heavy loads thanks to its novel dual-clutch gearbox. And the company's marketing department certainly has an intriguing strategy to get the word out about the big rig's sporty traits. First, it staged a prank on an unsuspecting valet on the Italian Riviera, and now the FH has lined up a track battle around the Knutstorp racetrack against Sweden's ultimate supercar - a Koenigsegg One:1.
Fifth Gear host Tiff Needell takes the reins of the big Volvo and spends a little bit of time talking up its I-Shift Dual Clutch gearbox. However, the real fun is seeing the FH taking on the One:1. Of course, a head-to-head battle would hardly be fair against these extremely mismatched opponents. Instead, the challenge is for the 1,360-horsepower Koenigsegg to lap the track twice in the same time or less than the semi can do it once.
You just have to watch the video to see how if the big rig rises to the challenge. Also, scroll down to read Volvo Truck's press release touting the new gearbox, and check out the company's YouTube channel for more views of the race and a behind-the-scenes look.

Volvo and Ericsson to take Spotify on the road

Volvo is working to bring Spotify to its vehicles. Ericsson has announced it will provide its Connected Vehicle Cloud service to Volvo for future products, and Spotify streaming music is part of that service. Like Toyota Entune and other infotainment services, the Connected Vehicle Cloud will use the driver's smartphone as a modem to stream music and serve as a base for other applications, all of which will be controllable through the vehicle interface. Expect to see the service launch in 2014, though Ericsson stresses later generations will feature an embedded modem with its own SIM card that will piggyback off of the owner's phone data plan.
But that system won't show up in production vehicles until at least 2016. In the interim, Ericsson says it will continue to work with government agencies on its car-to-car communication efforts. That program could eventually help pave the way toward autonomous road trains capable of helping vehicles travel safely together while also reducing traffic congestion. Wired has a full break down of the Connected Vehicle Cloud strategy. You can read it here.