1980 265 Volvo Wagon Diesel Brown Exterior on 2040-cars

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Weekly Recap: Lincoln Continental serves up the style, Cadillac CT6 delivers the substance in New York

Lincoln and Cadillac grabbed the spotlight this week at the New York Auto Show in a dramatic fashion that evoked the brands' glory days. America's two luxury carmakers went toe-to-toe with their glittering reveals and plans for ambitious expansion. Both were selling their technology, style and the promise of a better future. Cadillac vs. Lincoln. At the Javits Center, 2015 seemed a lot like 1956. Neither company was interested in drawing comparisons with the other, which is fair, and accurate. They're in vastly different places in terms of sales and the pace of their turnarounds, but they hope to reach the same eventual destination at the pinnacle of the luxury-car world. Lincoln used the element of surprise to great effect with the Continental concept. A production version is still at least a year away, and the company was vague on details. Officially, we don't even know if it is front- or rear-wheel drive, though speculation abounds. Who cares? The seats can be adjusted 30 ways! The Continental also showed off a bold chrome grille that will be the new face of Lincoln. The blue bomber also rolled on blinged-out 21-inch polished aluminum wheels, used a 3.0-liter EcoBoost engine and had huge LED head lights with "laser-assisted" high beams. All of this resulted in almost blinding attention. The concept drew rave reviews, stirred controversy with Bentley designers who argued Lincoln ripped them off, and most importantly, pointed a way forward for the newly determined brand that hopes to compete with Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Cadillac and Lexus. View 32 Photos Meanwhile, Cadillac showed the CT6, a finished product that will top its range and is loaded with the best and latest technologies General Motors has at its disposal. With production starting late this year, Cadillac had more specifics at the ready. Engines? Cadillac has a couple V6s and a turbo four for sure. It's working on a hybrid, and has considered a V-Series variant. It's based on a new rear-wheel-drive, aluminum-intensive chassis called Omega, features an advanced collision-mitigation system with automatic braking and has a cabin that's laden with "leathers, exotic woods and carbon fiber." It will be assembled at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck factory and goes on sale next year. At this point, Cadillac is more than willing to talk about every except for the price. The devil was not in the details for Cadillac, as evidenced by the CT6. But it wasn't for Lincoln either.

Watch Volvo's V8 Supercar drivers play with the Polestar S60 in the Arctic

The Volvo S60 Polestar may not seem like a natural fit for the V8 Supercars series that runs throughout Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. After all, the all-wheel-drive production-spec car isn't even available with a V8. But the rear-wheel-drive racing version has acquitted itself well in the early races of the season, even scoring an overall win at a race in Melbourne. Currently at seventh place in the championship, the S60 the most successful car that isn't a Holden or Ford.
To celebrate its burgeoning success, Volvo sent its V8 Supercars drivers Robert Dahlgren and Scott McLaughlin to home base in Sweden to have some fun driving in the snow and to visit Polestar headquarters. The two of them do some big power slides on an icy lake and then taker a deeper look into the company's performance division. Scroll down to watch the video full of sliding Swedish sedans.

Volvo racks up the most IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards of any 2022 carmaker

It should not come as any surprise, but Volvo has won the most IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards of any automaker in 2022. Top Safety Pick+ is the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety's top prize. Volvo has accumulated 13 of the awards, spanning its entire lineup. IIHS and Volvo separates models between gasoline and electrified versions of the same car, even though the tests may have been conducted only on one variant. For example, the XC60 Recharge earns an TSP+ even though tests were conducted using gasoline-powered XC60 T5 and T6 models. Similarly, a C40 Recharge gets the award even though the actual test was conducted on a similar XC40 Recharge. Also, as with Mazda's lineup TSP+ rankings from earlier this year, some are carried over to 2022 model year cars from tests on previous model year cars. This is only when the model has not changed significantly. For example, the XC60's 2022 ranking was based on a 2018 model year's crash test. The IIHS conducts six tests on each car — a moderate overlap front crash, two small overlap front crashes for both driver and passenger, a side impact crash, a roof strength crush evaluation, and a head restraint test using just the car seat. The results are ranked out of four levels, with a green "Good" marker indicating the top tier. Beyond the crashes, Volvo earned top marks for standard safety features such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and pedestrian and cyclist detection. It should be noted that most Volvo models earned an "Acceptable" rating for ease of use of the LATCH safety seats. This is the second best rating, but does not affect crash worthiness, and won't matter if you don't use child seats. XC40 models received a "Poor" rating for its safety belt reminders, which IIHS deemed not loud or long enough. Some models like the S90 and XC60 received "Acceptable" ratings on headlights, with IIHS wishing the beams were brighter on turns. Despite these minor quibbles, the overall ratings are still very impressive. It should be noted that even the V60 and V90 wagons, which are (achingly beautiful but tragically) discontinued in America, also got TSP+ ratings though were not included in the 13-model 2022 count. Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Volvo XC90 Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Crash Test Rating