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Volvo XC90 Coasting Transmission Deep Dive | How, when and why of coasting

In our recent 2021 Volvo XC90 Recharge review, its turbocharged-supercharged-hybridized powertrain delivered impressive horsepower and fuel economy. But Volvo has one additional trick up its sleeve, propelling a car with power that's simpler, cheaper and all-natural: It's the power of momentum and gravity. I've always been halfway to a hypermiler. I'm not obsessive about it, but in city driving, I enjoy timing stoplight approaches to keep the wheels rolling and avoid the inertia of restarting from a stop. There's little point to needlessly racing and braking between red lights, wasting kinetic energy (and therefore fuel). So I tend to drive strategically instead, often catching up with the drivers who jackrabbit but get hung up at the lights. And, back when I owned a long line of vehicles with manual transmissions, I coasted. Coasting used to be slightly controversial. Some claimed it doesn't actually save gas, though my mileage calculations showed otherwise. Another school of thought insisted that removing engine braking from the equation, even momentarily, constitutes a dangerous loss of control. Of course, an experienced driver can slip a manual transmission back into gear in a flash when engine braking's actually needed. And one should always use some common sense and judgment about when and where to coast. I'm not talking about careening down a 15% grade into a school zone.  Anyway, those arguments became moot when automatic transmissions pretty much took over. (And no, never coast with a typical automatic transmission. Even if it weren't damaging to your type of automatic — but assume that it is — the risk of screwing up a nudge of the shifter from drive into neutral is too great.) XC90 Recharge 8 View 18 Photos But happily, some automakers in recent years have added a coasting feature to their automatics, with the aim of eking out more fuel efficiency. Volvo calls the feature on its Aisin eight-speed "Eco Coast." Some Mercedes, BMWs and others call it "sailing" or "gliding." The Hyundai Ioniq, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Polestar 2 are among EVs that allow you to cancel out all regeneration and freewheel downhill. And future cars such as the BMW iX are also being designed to do it. By building coasting into the clockworks, automakers have taken any traffic safety concerns out of the question, because the car will instantly switch you back into gear when needed.

Jaguar turns down offers to join V8 Supercars, questions AMG, Volvo participation

Rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Jaguar may be the next manufacturer to join the V8 Supercars racing series, made popular in Australia but now well-known in other parts of the world as well. Sadly, Jag's participation is not to be. In fact, it would be "insane," according to Jaguar Land Rover Asia Pacific Managing Director David Blackhall, for it to accept either of the two offers it has received to bring Jaguar into V8 Supercars.
Not only is Jaguar not interested in entering V8 Supercars, says Blackhall, it also fails to understand the recent entries from AMG and Volvo. "I don't know what it does for AMG to get flogged by a V8 Commodore week after week, but it's their brand, their issue. And the same thing will happen to Volvo to be honest."
Judging by Blackhall's statements to motoring.com.au, after not-so-serious consideration, the automaker decided the monetary commitment it would take to compete for wins would be more than any potential exposure would be worth, despite the fact that Jaguar has a 5.0-liter V8 to go along with what would seem to be a tailor-made rear-wheel-drive chassis. For what it's worth, one offer would have had Jaguar putting its name across an engine made by someone else, an option that was flatly turned down.

Lotus could be sold to Chinese automaker Geely

Two things are constant throughout the history of Lotus Cars: amazing vehicles, and financial struggles. Frequent changes in both ownership and leadership have left the company's future up in the air. And while the new management has improved quality and set a new product plan in place, its seems that Lotus could have a new parent company soon. Despite comments to the contrary, Chinese automaker Geely is rumored to be interested in acquiring Lotus Cars. The British automaker has been owned by Proton since 1996, but after Proton was sold to DRB-Hicom in 2012 investors suggested selling off Lotus. The Star Online reports that PSA in France is rumored to be looking at purchasing Proton cars from DRB-Hicom. In turn, Geely, the parent company of Volvo, is interested in purchasing Lotus from Proton. The report states that Geely has no interest in mass-market vehicles from Proton, while crossover-focus PSA, owner of Peugeot and Citroen, has no interest in a sports car manufacturer like Lotus. China has been encouraging its native automakers to purchase and acquire technology it lacks. Buying Lotus looks like it would benefit both companies. Lotus needs an influx of cash while Geely, looking to compete further on the global stage, would gain a great deal of technical and engineering knowledge from Lotus. Geely's stewardship of Volvo has been mostly hands-off, while giving the Swedish company enough money to invest in new platforms and technologies. If the same were to happen to Lotus, Colin Chapman's company could have its best years ahead of it. Related Video: News Source: The Star Online via Car BuzzImage Credit: Getty Rumormill Lotus Volvo Citroen Peugeot Lightweight Vehicles Performance Supercars Geely