R-Design for Volvo S60, V60

Volvo has confirmed today that the S60 and V60 models will be offered with an R-Design upgrade package.

R-Design for the two mid-size models sharpens up cornering without the same impact on the car's ride quality, the prestige manufacturer claims.

Quoted in a press release issued overnight, Stefan Sällqvist, Volvo's manager of vehicle dynamics, declared that the ultimate aim was to retain a "plush" ride.

"Refining a chassis is a bit like being an athlete looking to break new records. Once you're beaten one record, you're immediately focused on the next. In the R-Design chassis we've sharpened the steering, the agility and the solid overall impression still further compared with the dynamic chassis in the all-new S60 and V60."

"The driving experience should be so connected and compact that it feels as though the car has been milled out of a single block of aluminium."

"The challenge was to boost the dynamics without making the chassis feel raw. If the chassis is too firm, even smooth tarmac can feel bumpy. We wanted a distinct yet plush feel."

Sällqvist and his team have specified a front suspension strut brace for the R-Design option pack. This improves steering feel, it's claimed.

"The car now has a more solid feel to it, which in turn helps make the steering feel even more responsive with a distinctive contact with the road," explains Sällqvist.

Rear dampers are of the monotube variety, replacing the standard car's twin-tube dampers and expressing the fluid inside (for compression and return damping) through the same valve. Consequently, there's a faster response to changes in pitch and roll, says Volvo.

"This higher operating speed takes care of the initial roll tendency which can be felt just as you turn the steering-wheel. It's an effective way to improve the response and the connected feel" says Sällqvist.

Springs both front and rear are shorter and firmer. 15mm of travel have been cut out and the spring stiffness has been raised 15 per cent.

"This makes the car easier to control and reduces any tendency to lurch," says Sällqvist.

"This is an area that requires true fingertip sensitivity in order to find the right blend of dynamics and comfort. If you go too far the car feels bumpy even on smooth surfaces. We've invested a whole lot of time and effort in finding the ideal balance."

Complementing the new dampers and springs at the rear are firmer bushings to reduce compliance. Volvo's chassis development engineers have opted for bushes that are 20 per cent stiffer for the points where the dampers meet the body and the "front tie-blade bushing" -- presumably a bush for a trailing arm -- is said by Volvo to be 400 per cent stiffer than the same unit in the standard car.

"The stiffer the bushing, the less oscillation and roll. Movements are more controlled. This is clearly noticeable inside the car," says Sällqvist.

In addition to the new components fitted to the car, the R-Design package also upgrades the electronic driver safety aids. Corner Traction Control is a new electronic system that provides a torque vectoring facility. Should the car begin understeering, the CTC will braking the inside-rear wheel and thus transfer more torque to the outside-rear wheel and reduce the understeer.

Stability control features a new gyroscopic roll-angle sensor, Engine Drag Control (which prevents wheels from locking under brakes on low-friction surfaces) and a Sports setting to disable traction control and allow the driver to induce oversteer.

R-Design will be available on every variant in the S60/V60 ranges -- from the most frugal DRIVe models to the top-of-the-heap T6.

The S60 has already been released in Europe and it will be joined by the V60 at the Paris motor show early next month. We're expecting that Volvo will also have the V60 present on the stand in Sydney for AIMS (Australian International Motor Show), alongside the S60.

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