Yes, Sweden gave us the blissful/mournful pop of Abba. It also handed us the Detroit-by-way-of-Stockholm grit of the fabulous Hellacopters. But lest we forget, our Scandanavian friends are also responsible for the parping atrocity of Joey Tempest's execrable Europe, and the folks in Gothenburg seem to have been gorging on "The Final Countdown" alongside their pickled herring and Wasa crackers.
Not long ago, Volvo was offering six-cylinder and five-cylinder powerplants. It then announced its intention to move to an engine lineup consisting exclusively of those with four or fewer cylinders. We've already received a download on the four-pot 'plants; word has now come down from the U.K.'s Autocar that the Swedes have a line of three-cylinder mills in the works.
The Drive-E four-cylinder rollout is due to be completed in 2016; the first vehicle to completely adhere to the strategy is the freshly unveiled XC90 crossover. With even more stringent emissions and economy rules looming worldwide, Volvo is developing the three-cylinder line to stay abreast of the moving targets. Set for deployment in vehicles as large as the V60, S60, and XC60, the 1.5-liter turbo triples are being designed with an eye toward use in hybrid applications. Given that the U.S. is Volvo's largest market and our countrymen seem to prefer gas-electric powertrains to the diesels favored by European behemoth Volkswagen, it's a smart play on the part of the Swedes.
- Scandinavian Modular: Volvo's SPA Platform Architecture Detailed
- 2016 Volvo XC90 Unveiled—It's One Swede-Looking Crossover SUV
- Volvo V60 Research: Photos, Reviews, News, and More
And the electric/turbo-triple hybrid configuration is certainly capable of performance. BMW uses the setup in its wonderful i8, where the little three sounds positively monstrous. Asking for something that looks like the Volvo Concept Estate but goes like i8 is a tall order, but there's a certain subset of the population (read: automotive journalists) who'd go gaga for the concoction. We might even forgive them for Europe.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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