As clearly hinted by its name, the Volvette featured here is a V70 estate that does away with its factory Volvo engine to adopt an American heart and drivetrain from an early 2000s Corvette C5 Z06.
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The new diesel, which is designated D3, has an output of 136HP and 350Nm (258.1 lb-ft) of torque and slots between the 115HP D2 and the 163HP D4 engines. It will be available in the S60, V60, XC60, V70 and S80 models and can be combined with both manual and automatic transmissions.
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Volvo is taking measures to solve this problem and make its EVs attractive to the public by adding an extra 1,000 km (621 miles) to their range. The solution, which has also been adopted by other models such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Audi A1 E-Tron concept, is the addition of a “range extender” internal combustion engine.
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Starting with Volvo’s premium sedan model, a special badge on the C-pillar hints at the enhanced features inside, which include a leather wrapped instrument panel, ventilated soft leather seats with massage function, leather-covered door panels, an aluminum center console storage compartment and an analogue clock on the dashboard. The extra thick carpets and an optional fridge in the rear seat that comes with a set of Swedish crystal glasses round off the equipment upgrades.
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This V70 T6 AWD R-Design is motivated by the firm's 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 upgraded with a recalibrated ECU and a sport exhaust system that cranks out 325HP and a maximum torque of 460 Nm / 339 lb-ft, a jump of 21HP and 20Nm over stock. The engine is matched to a six-gear automatic gearbox with geartronic function.
Both cars continue to use a 1.6-liter diesel with 109HP and 240Nm of peak torque that's hooked up to a five-speed manual gearbox.
However, Volvo's engineers employed a smart battery recharging system that 'forces' the alternator to charge the battery only when the engine is operating at low load (e.g. when driving downhill), while they also redesigned the tensioner and alternator pulleys.
"Smart battery recharging is the most important measure," says Ulf Nordström, Technical Project manager at Volvo Cars.
"It is primarily thanks to this that we have dipped below the 120-gram level that gives car owners tax breaks and other benefits in a number of European countries. What is more, one might say that we offer the normal driver one free tank of fuel a year," Nordström added.
The Swedish automaker said that the reduction in fuel consumption from a combined 4.9 lt/100 km to 4.5 l/100 km means that someone driving 15,000 km a year will save 60 liters of diesel or as Nordström put it, one fuel tank.
Volvo did not disclose any performance figures for the updated 2010MY S80 and V70 DRIVe, but just to get an idea, the 2009MY S80 DRIVe accelerates from standstill to 100km/h in a claimed 12.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 118mph or 189 km/h.
We say that, while any efforts to improve CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are more than welcome, fitting a puny 1.6-liter diesel engine in cars of the size and weight of the S80 and V70, isn't exactly pioneering anything new...
Even though Volvo did not mention anything about Ford, we suspect that the new four-cylinder unit that combines turbocharging technology and direct injection with twin variable camshafts, is either the same engine or heavily based on FoMoCo's new 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine that will be used on several cars including the European Mondeo and the Australian Falcon.
Volvo said that the new 2.0 GTDi petrol engine produces an output of 203 horsepower and 300 Nm or 221.3 lb-ft of peak torque that is sustained from 1750 rpm all the way up to 4,000 rpm.
The engine will be offered in combination with Volvo's automatic six-speed Powershift transmission or a six-speed manual gearbox
"We've succeeded in making a four-cylinder engine that is as powerful as a 2.5-litre five-cylinder unit, and it's also much more energy-efficient," said Magnus Jonsson, head of Product Development at Volvo Cars.
"One of the most important reasons behind the results is our new, patented turbo system that has been tailor-made for smaller energy-efficient engines," Jonsson added.
With this new engine and the six-speed manual gearbox, the S80 sedan accelerates from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 7.9 seconds while returning a combined fuel consumption of 7.9 lt /100km which is equal to 29.8mpg US and 35.8mpg UK.
Volvo said that the new 2.0 GTDi engine is being initially launched on markets that offer tax incentives for engines below two liters in displacement including South-East Asia, the Netherlands, China and Japan, adding that more countries/regions will follow later in the year.
More than 17,600 MY2008-2009 Volvo S80 sedans, V70 station-wagons and XC70 crossovers are being recalled in the States because of a potential problem with the engine cooling fan. The Swedish automaker said that due to a software programming error in the fan control module, the engine cooling fan may stop working. Depending on conditions, the driver could face reduced air conditioning performance, and/or a rapid increase in engine coolant temperature.The recall is expected to begin in July with Volvo dealers replacing the fan control module on the affected vehicles free of charge. Concerned owners may contact Volvo for more information directly at 1-800-458-1552.
The diesel-powered V70 2.0D ain't exactly the first Volvo model that leaps to mind when it comes to tuning, but this hasn't stopped Lexmaul from introducing a rather subtle performance kit for the Swedish estate. The German tuning firm's package is limited to an upgraded ECU that kicks output from 136HP and 320Nm up to 166HP and 390Nm of torque, and a set of sport springs that lowers the V70's suspension by 30mm. 
On Monday, Volvo announced that it has teamed up with Swedish energy giant Vattenfall to introduce plug-in hybrid models to the market in 2012. But before we see the final production cars arriving in showrooms, Volvo will present a trio of V70 diesel plug-in hybrid demonstrator cars this summer to test the new technology. Click through to watch the video that includes interviews with several Volvo officials as well as footage of the demo V70 plug-in hybrid in action.
Swedish automaker Volvo has revealed plans to have a production plug-in diesel-electric hybrid model on the market as early as 2012. To help achieve its goal, Volvo has formed a joint partnership with Swedish energy supplier Vattenfall. The two companies have been cooperating in the field of plug-in hybrid technology since early 2007. Volvo also announced that it has readied three prototype V70 Diesel-Electric plug-in hybrid models that will be used to gather information on the new technology, to determine driver habits and to establish how they want to charge their cars. On its behalf Vattenfall will, among other things, test various concepts for high-speed home charging and also for charging stations in public places, where owners pay to fuel with electricity instead of petrol or diesel.
The prototype V70 Plug-in Hybrids combine a front-mounted diesel engine that is designed to run on renewable synthetic fuels and will meet forthcoming extremely stringent exhaust regulations, with a rear-mounted electric motor powered by a 11.3 kWh Li-ion battery pack. The battery takes about five hours to charge from a standard wall socket, and the battery is also charged every time the car's brakes are applied.
Volvo said that the cars that are planned to go into series production in 2012 will feature somewhat different technology, but claimed that the launch of the prototype vehicles is a step towards series-producing plug-in hybrid cars specifically tailored to market needs.
The automaker claims that while the purchase price of the plug-in hybrids will be higher than that of conventional cars, its fuel costs will be cut to roughly one-third compared with diesel power.
"We are investing in an industrial joint venture to series-produce plug-in hybrid cars in Sweden in 2012, cars that can be powered by both electricity and diesel." says Stephen Odell, President and CEO of Volvo Cars. "This is an important business development for us and our partnership with Vattenfall allows us to take a giant step toward offering our customers cars with an even smaller environmental footprint."
It's recall time for Volvo as the Swedish automaker has detected a faulty diagnostic software in the central electronic module (CEM) on the MY 2007-2008 S80, V70 and XC70 models. Volvo said that the software problem could cause the windshield wipers to not operate when activated or in certain cases they may be activated when not switched on. Overall, some 12,300 S80s, V70s and XC70s are affected from this recall. Beginning from May, Volvo dealers will inspect the CEM and if required, upgrade the software free of charge.
In the imaginary land of photoshop and its ilk, everything is possible - even a V8 powered, rear-wheel drive pickup truck version of Volvo's V70 estate in the likes of the Holden Commodore Ute / Pontiac G8 ST. These computer generated images (CGIs for short) were sent to Carscoop by an 'old' acquaintance of ours, Bo Zolland from Sweden who has created many CGIs in the past including the Corvette Stingray- and Audi R8-themed speed boats. Follow the jump to check out the rest of the gallery or click here to get a taste of a real-life Volvo XC70 pickup truck that was spotted right outside the Swedish-firm's museum in Gothenburg.Images Credit: Bo Zolland of VizualTech
