Engine:	inline-5
Position:	Front
Aspiration:	Turbo
Valvetrain:	DOHC, 20 Valve
Displacement:	2521 cc

Weight:	3717 lbs
Width:	565 inches
Height:	329 inches
Transmission:	5 Speed Manual
Drive Wheels:	AWD

Horsepower:	300 hp @ 5500 rpm
Torque:	295 ft/lbs @ 1950 rpm
HP per liter:	119 hp/L
Power/weight:	12.39 lbs/hp
0-60 mph:	5.5 seconds
Quarter Mile:	14 seconds @ 101 mph
Top Speed:	155 mph

The spring 2003 arrival of "R" sport versions of Volvo's S60 sedan and V70 wagon means the lessons of the previous R cars didn't go unheeded.

As the scope and sales volumes of the sport-sedan category widen, so does its definition. Now there is a place for cars other than BMW and BMW-poseurs in this burgeoning class. And the R cars avoid any comparison to the BMW by dint of their front-wheel-drive-based all-wheel-drive systems, turbo powerplants, and haute design. But not, alas, to Audi, which offers the same values in mildly different form.

The S60R and the V70R will fall somewhere in price and performance between the top-line A4 3.0 and the forthcoming S4/S4 Avant. In terms of content and execution, they are fully competitive with the Ingolstadters. The R cars have been designed, in the words of Volvo designer Steve Harper, "to be subtle. They're for somebody who appreciates an individual statement, somebody who appreciates the little details, the extra pleasures." Just like an Audi, in fact. The R cars are similarly awash in careful touches. Harper reports thirty changes to S/V body and interior, for a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing effect: "You can still see the claws, or wheels, the teeth in the grille, and the exhaust peeking out like a tail," Harper notes. The claws are something: big Brembos lurking in seventeen- or eighteen-inch five-spoke wheels. The braking system's four-piston calipers clamp down on thirteen-inch ventilated discs. As a fetishistic touch, the calipers have an italicized R stamped on their sides.

The grille has been moved down a bit to lower the center of oncoming air pressure, and the entire front end has grown longer to make room for two turbo intercoolers. The Volvo design boys enlarged the central air intake, too, pulling it square and forward à la BMW's M5. Flanking the grille are bi-xenon headlights in new, squinty satin-silver frames.

Harper's inspiration for the exhaust design came from the Guy Ritchie flick Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, wherein the villain wraps his sawed-off shotgun in a newspaper to silence it. Pointing to a plastic drape over the twin exhaust tips, Harper says, "This is my newspaper."

Inside, the detailing is equally thoughtful, over and above the already high levels of craftsmanship in the mid-size Volvos. Two tiny italic Rs glint in the metallic bezels surrounding the blue speedo and tach. Three leathers are offered: dark blue metallic, beige metallic, or natural. The last is the highest grade, with the hand of a soft Hermès purse. The cabin's color scheme, with warm tones abutting harsh ones, was inspired by the silver/cream gas tank on Philippe Starck's motorcycle design for Aprilia.

Overindulgence is the theme here, both cosmetically and mechanically. The complex web of electronics supporting the R driving experience is integrated into something Volvo calls its Active Performance Chassis. It coordinates the functions of Volvo's electronically controlled Haldex clutch-based all-wheel-drive system with DSTC (Dynamic Stability and Traction Control) and a new semi-active suspension called Four-C (Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept). Four-C takes readings from sensors measuring longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, yaw rate, vertical motion of the body, vertical motion of each wheel, engine torque, throttle position, degree of braking, and steering-wheel position and turn rate. It processes all this information and adapts damping force accordingly. Volvo claims the system is lightning quick, able to adjust wheel and body resistance 500 times a second. Four-C has three settings: Comfort (for highway driving or bad pavement), Sport (for smooth-road sweepers), and Advanced Sport (for billiard-table surfaces and tight corners, such as you would find on a racetrack).

Racetracks and Volvos are an unlikely combination, as Volvo unintentionally made clear recently. Indeed, just as it was demonstrating to the world's press its new racing-inspired R cars on the Paul Ricard test circuit in France, Volvo was canceling its involvement in the European Touring Car Championship.
edits from Automobile, by Eddie Alterman

This section will feature my personal take on this car.