2002 Volvo S60 2.4t Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Volvo celebrates 20 years since 850 wagons came to BTCC

This year Honda Yuasa Racing brought a station wagon back to the ranks of competitors in the British Touring Car Championship (its drivers currently sit in third and fifth place in the Championship). In 1994, however, Volvo was the first team to run an estate in the series that's one of the best for delivering close racing.
Rickard Rydell and Jan Lammers drove the duo of 850 Estates prepped by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, lining up at Thruxton and proving that the rumors of a wagon in the series weren't a joke. The team used that year for development, getting the 2.0-liter, 290-horsepower, naturally aspirated five-cylinder engine ready for the next year's proper assault. The team's best finish over the 21 races was a fifth place, and they took 14th overall.
Rules changes led Volvo to switch to the 850 sedan the following year, but all the right noises had been made with the wagon. Rydell drive on to a third-place overall finish in 1995, three years later he claimed the Championship title. You'll find details and reminiscing from Rydell in the press release below, as well as the full video with scenes from the glory days.

These are your top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2012

Despite 2012 being the best year of auto sales this country has seen since 2007, not every vehicle got an equally large share of the sales pie. Some barely got a sliver, as evidenced by this year's list of the top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2012. We've dug through sales data from every automaker to come up with this year's list and, like last year, we've set some parameters to ensure it includes legitimately bad-selling vehicles. The first parameter is a starting MSRP under $100,000, which automatically excludes what's parked in most one-percenters' garages. We're also excluding vehicles cancelled in 2012, even if they garnered sales through the end of the year while dealerships sold off remaining inventory. This includes models like the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Mercedes-Benz R-Class and last year's worst-seller, the Acura RL. Next, vehicles are considered as they are reported by the automaker, which means that, while sales of the Murano CrossCabriolet were probably low enough to make the list, because Nissan reports only one number for all Murano sales, it was excluded. Cadillac, however, reports sales of the Escalade EXT separately from the Escalade, hence its repeat appearance. Finally, there was the question of whether or not eligibility should be given to Suzuki vehicles, as the brand announced in November that it would end sales in the US as soon as its current inventory ran out. We decided Suzuki vehicles should be included as the brand was offering 2013 models at the time of the announcement, and as far as we can tell, inventory levels remained high enough to satisfy demand through the end of the year. Without further ado, below are the top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2012. Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2012 10. Volvo C30 MSRP: $25,500 Units Sold: 2,827 Last Year: – 9. BMW Z4 MSRP: $47,350 Units Sold: 2,751 Last Year: – 8. Audi TT MSRP: $39,545 Units Sold: 2,226 Last Year: – 7. Subaru Tribeca MSRP: $32,595 Units Sold: 2,075 Last Year: 10 6. Suzuki Equator MSRP: $19,449 Units Sold: 1,966 Last Year: 7 5. Cadillac Escalade EXT MSRP: $63,060 Units Sold: 1,934 Last Year: 6 4. Nissan GT-R MSRP: $96,820 Units Sold: 1,188 Last Year: – 3. Acura ZDX MSRP: $50,920 Units Sold: 775 Last Year: 4 2. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback MSRP: $18,495 Units Sold: 702 Last Year: 3 1. Mitsubishi i-MiEV MSRP: $29,125 Units Sold: 588 Last Year: – Want a little more "worst-selling" data? Check out our list of the top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2011.

Volvo offers up more details on 2015 XC90 and its new infotainment system

We have more details on the 2015 Volvo XC90 and the all-new, touch-heavy infotainment system that will debut with it. An expansion of the Sensus system, as we've shown you before, we now know the new system won't only sport a large, vertically oriented touchscreen, but a head-up display and the ability to manage the systems via wheel-mounted buttons.
Key to the entire experience are the large, portrait-oriented touchscreen, a head-up display and the thumb controls you can see on the face of the steering wheel in the image above. Volvo is claiming that this combination will be easier to use and, fittingly for the Swedish manufacturer, safer.
"Using the screen is so logical that it will become part of your muscle memory very quickly," said Dr. Peter Mertens, Volvo's senior vice president of research and development. "Information, navigation and media are high up and easy to check. The phone controls, application icons and climate controls are located low, comfortable to reach and touch. All of this logic is based on extensive usability and user experience research and the latest technology."