2006 Volvo S40 2.4i Sedan 4-door 2.4l 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.

Volvo's Geneva-bound concept wagon looks sexy in a raincoat

Volvo is set to complete its concept car trilogy at the next month's Geneva Motor Show with the debut of its Concept Estate, the followup to its Concept Coupe from the Frankfurt Motor Show and Concept XC Coupe from the Detroit Auto Show. We've been looking forward to its Swiss debut, and now some teaser images of the Concept Estate have been uncovered... on the website of a raincoat seller?
Yes, Swedish raincoat maker Stutterheim has apparently been commissioned by Volvo to build a high-quality car cover for its Geneva concept, and the fabricator's website shows off some of the details of the long-roofed design study. From what we can see, it looks like the Concept Estate is more shooting brake than traditional wagon. Also, it's brown. So basically, Volvo has built the ultimate car for auto journalists.
Joking aside, the images show off more than a few of the design traits we've seen on Volvo's two previous concept cars. A wide, rectangular grille and lowercase-B-shaped taillights are both noticeable in these teasers, but we can't see much more than that.

Volvo planning Golf rival, 'breathtaking' C60 coupe

Despite just having refreshed nearly its entire portfolio, Volvo is still in the middle of a big product offensive. Vehicles like the C30 hatchback and C70 convertible have been given the axe, but a brand-new platform is being developed in addition to the Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA) that will underpin larger vehicles. According to Automobile, this means some very interesting newcomers may be on tap for the brand.
Volvo, in collaboration with Geely, is said to be working on a new platform about the size of a Volkswagen Golf that will likely spawn both a sedan and hatchback. Automobile reports that while the automaker's new scalable architecture is quite flexible, it cannot be stretched (or rather, shrunk) to accommodate a smaller vehicle.
Instead, SPA will be used for the company's larger offerings, starting with the V40 on the small end. (Though to our eyes, the current V40 looks plenty Golf-sized to us.) A new XC40 is apparently in the works, as is an S90 flagship, and new versions of the XC60, XC90 and S60 will all be coming based on this new flexible architecture.