Volvo S60 Polestar Enters Limited Production

Truth to be said, last year's S60 Polestar Performance Concept was a big success in terms of publicity for Volvo, with the one-off, 508-horsepower-strong sports sedan turning many heads towards the Swedish carmaker. To refresh your memory, said saloon was sold to an unnamed American collector for $300,000 or about €228,500 at today's exchange rates.
At the time, both Volvo and its official racing and performance partner Polestar had said that they were considering a limited production run of the car. To some extent, the two companies have made that happen.

We say "to some extent" because the limited production S60 Polestar does not have all the performance goods or the 508-horses of the concept, and for the time being, the 345hp (350PS) model will be offered exclusively for the Australian market. However, Volvo said that the new S60 Polestar was developed as a pilot project and that further markets "are under investigation" pending the response of the Australian launch.

"We received a fantastic response to our Volvo C30 and S60 Polestar concept cars, so we are very happy to now introduce our first production car to the Australian market," said Christian Dahl, Managing Director of Polestar. "This is an important step forward for Polestar, one that promises an exciting future."

What Volvo and Polestar did with the new car is take the standard S60 T6 R-Design and upgrade it with select parts from the S60 Polestar Performance Concept such as dampers from Öhlins, high capacity brakes, while also tweaking the car's aerodynamics with new kit including a front splitter, rear wing and diffuser.

Under the hood, the 3.0-liter six-cylinder turbo-charged T6 engine gains a bigger turbo, new intercooler, revised engine mapping and racing exhaust to lift output to 345hp (350PS / 257kW) and more than 500+Nm (369+lb-ft) of peak torque.

A tuned six-speed automatic gearbox transfers power to the road through an all-wheel drive system featuring modified software for more rear torque. Volvo says that the weight remains unchanged over the standard S60 T6 R-Design at 1,684 kg (4,176 pounds).

The S60 Polestar goes from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 4.9 seconds and has a limited top speed of 250km/h (155mph).

"The Volvo S60 Polestar is a car that we are truly proud of, our first step to a production car available to the customers," said Robert Dahlgren, Volvo Polestar Racing driver.

"We have taken the best bits of the standard S60 T6 and our S60 Polestar Concept Car, creating a vehicle that puts a smile on your face when you drive it over your favourite twisty road. At the same time, it is more than capable of everyday driving, too," he added.

Read More

2013 Mazda CX-9

Mazda said that select models get LED Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) with a halo ring light guide around the headlamp unit.

Rounding out the exterior styling changes are the redesigned rear combination lamps, the re-sculptured rear bumper, the different exhaust trims, the newly styled 20-inch aluminum wheels, and fresh paint finishes.

The enhancements inside include different color schemes and materials for the seats and door panels, satin-silver decorative trims, white illumination for the instrument panel gauges that also get new finishes and a redesigned shift knob.

The infotainment system was also upgraded and features the latest audio, navigation and speech-recognition systems.

Finally, Mazda said it has added a raft of advanced "i-ACTIVSENSE" safety features such as Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and High Beam Control (HBC).

At least in Australia, there are no changes made to the CX-9's 3.7-liter V6 engine that continues to produce 273hp (203kW) and peak torque of 367Nm.

The North American model should make its world premiere at the LA Auto Show in November or at the Detroit Motor Show in mid-January 2013.

Read More

Ferrari F70 V12 Hybrid Hypercar

Before we let you check out Williams' well-executed renderings in the gallery below, we'll remind you that the new F70 is slated to debut before the end of the year and go on sale in 2013.

The rear wheel-drive flagship from Maranello will sport a hybrid powerplant linking a mid-mounted 7.3-liter V12 naturally aspirated V12 rated at around 800-horses to a dual-clutch transmission and a pair of electric motors with about 120hp for a total system output in excess of 900 ponies.

Read More

Holden Commodore ClubSport and Maloo

The big story for the new model year is the re-introduction of the most affordable Commodore based V8 models, the ClubSport saloon and the Maloo ute, which is Aussie talk for a car-based utility vehicle (think Chevrolet El Camino).

Both models sit below their respective R8 level variants in terms of equipment missing out on HSV’s Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) and in the case of the Maloo, the remote locking hard tonneau and performance sailplane as well, but do keep other goods such as the 20-inch wheels, performance seats, satellite navigation and Rear Park Assist with reversing camera.

The Clubsport and Maloo are both powered by HSV’s 6.2-liter LS3 V8 that delivers 425hp (317kW) and 550Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque with prices starting at AU$64,990 and AU$58,990 respectively for manual gearbox versions.

As part of the new model year lineup, maximum power for the ClubSport R8, Maloo R8 and ClubSport Tourer R8 increases to 436hp (325kW), while all cars get new 20-inch forged alloy wheels that replace the previous 19-inch rims, and standard leather instead of cloth seats.

New available factory-fitted options include the 20-inch SV Performance Forged wheels in Gloss Black, “Vector” hood scoops and side vents and specifically for the Maloo R8, a new 6-piston brake package.

The Senator also gains the upgraded 436hp (325kW) V8 engine along with new 20-inch forged allow wheels in Dark Stainless, and Side Blind Zone Alert as standard, while it can be optioned with HSV’s 6 piston brake package.

Finally, as part of the company's celebrations, all MY12.5 models will feature unique “25th Anniversary” content such as new HSV 25th Anniversary “start-up” screen, build plate, internal I.D. plate and sill plates.

"25 years is an important milestone for our company, and we will be looking to celebrate in many ways through the course of the year," said HSV Managing Director, Phil Harding. "From a customer perspective; however, it is the product that matters so we have been working hard to deliver even more value across our range."

All MY12.5 HSV cars are available for sale in Australia now.

Read More