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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Volvo announces design updates for XC40 Recharge and single-motor C40

Volvo announced a round of updates to the electric members of its portfolio. It gave the XC40 Recharge a subtle mid-cycle update that brings a new-look front end, among other changes, and it unveiled an entry-level version of the C40 Recharge with one electric motor. It takes a well-trained eye to differentiate the updated XC40 Recharge from the model that's currently in showrooms. Look closely and you'll notice that the lower part of the front bumper is more chiseled, the Thor's Hammer accents in the headlights are more, well, hammer-like, and the body-colored insert that replaces the gasoline-burning model's grille loses its frame. These changes bring the battery-powered crossover in line with the C40 Recharge and with the non-Recharge version of the XC40, which received the nip-and-tucked front bumper in November 2021. Volvo also notes that buyers will also have new upholstery choices, exterior colors, and wheel designs to choose from. XC40 Recharge models also gain pixel LED lighting technology. This system relies on individually-controlled LED elements to illuminate the road ahead without blinding other motorists; in a way, it occupies a middle ground between high and low beams. While this technology has been illegal here for many years, the NHTSA finished making the rules for adaptive headlights in February 2022 so they're on their way. Moving on to the C40 Recharge, a front-wheel-drive version with a single electric motor is now available in some markets as a cheaper alternative to the dual-motor all-wheel-drive model. It's fitted with a 69-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, and it offers a maximum driving range of about 270 miles on the relatively optimistic European testing cycle. Volvo notes that charging the pack from 10% to 80% takes about 32 minutes when it draws electricity from a fast charger, but the firm hasn't provided technical specifications (like horsepower). For context, the existing dual-motor C40 Recharge is equipped with a 78-kilowatt-hour battery and its powertrain is rated at 402 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque. Its EPA-estimated driving range checks in at 225 miles, and it tips the scale at approximately 4,740 pounds. Volvo also restructured the trim level hierarchy in a bid to reduce complexity and make it easier for buyers to configure a car. Pricing for the updated 40-Series models hasn't been released yet, and neither car has been announced for the American market yet.

Volvo celebrates 20 years of sleeper wagons with 850 T-5R and V60 Polestar

I must have been around Bar Mitzvah age when I was in the back of my parents' car on the highway as we passed a truck full of Volvo 850 T-5R wagons - half of them in black, half in banana yellow. It was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen: a whole gaggle of sleeper power wagons that were infinitely cooler than whatever minivan we were riding in. Hard to believe that was 20 years ago, but it was. And Polestar is understandably keen to mark the anniversary of the first overt Volvo performance wagon.
While Volvo's racing partner hasn't released some commemorative edition to celebrate that prototypical sleeper, it has shot a special batch of photos of the T-5R (based on the 850 wagon internally known as the 855 for its five doors) alongside its modern successor, the V60 Polestar. The images shot in Huntington Beach, CA, only go to show how much has changed in the two decades that separate them.
Whereas this front-drive T-5R packed a turbocharged inline-five driving 240 horsepower through a four-speed automatic propel the yellow box to 62 in 7.0 seconds, the turbo six in the svelter, Rebel Blue-clad 2015 V60 Polestar churns out 350 hp to all four wheels through a six-speed auto for a 4.9-second sprint. That's the kind of progress we can get behind. In fact, it's the sort of progress that everyone can get behind, really, because chances are whatever you're driving will probably have a hard time keeping up.