The best of both worlds

Volvo has taken the wraps off the V60 Plug-in Hybrid, ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Naughty. That's how Volvo is describing the 2011 Volvo S60 T6 in current advertising. It's a cute idea, but we're not on board with "naughty."
It implies misbehavior, and the all-new Volvo S60 T6 doesn't misbehave. It's actually a very disciplined sport sedan, maybe a little too disciplined for the kind of flogging we gave it. By the end of our test, we'd determined that the Volvo S60 T6 is as far from bad as any modern Volvo has ever been.

Sexiness, safety and evolution are the axis of the 2007 Volvo S80 sedan.

At first glance the all-new Volvo S80 looks identical to the model it replaces. The overall length stays the same, but the wheelbase is a bit longer, the track a bit wider, and it is a little more than 1 inch taller. The subtle changes in dimensions and in sheet metal give Volvo's 2007 S80 a much more aggressive stance. Coupled with new and more potent engines, Volvo continues to roll sex appeal into its models.

Newport Beach is one of the most disarmingly picturesque — and frighteningly expensive — beach towns in Orange County, California. This part of the "O.C." — don't call it that — is the perfect environment for the 2006 Volvo C70 T5, now a convertible of the retractable hardtop variety. (The essentially unchanged 2007 Volvo C70 goes on sale in midsummer.) Be it a misty morning of "June Gloom" or an SPF-challenging sunny beach afternoon, the Volvo C70 compromises neither beauty nor functionality when rigged top-up as a steel-roof coupe or top down as a well-finished convertible.

Catch him on a bad day, and Kermit will tell you, it isn't easy being green. But automotively speaking, that's about to change.

Turn the key in the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid and it drives like a well-sorted, peppy crossover. That's exactly the point. GM Powertrain engineers weren't trying to save the world with technology that takes a postgraduate engineering degree to appreciate or operate. People like Steve Tarnowsky, the assistant chief engineer of GM Hybrid Systems, simply wanted to build a hybrid that made sense to buy and drive.

Although it's raining in sheets, we're sitting in the new 2006 Volvo C70 with the top down. The jungle-covered Hana Highway was dry and sunny a minute ago, but the weather changes fast on the rainy side of Maui.

This station wagon is just about as extreme as they come. It's the Lancer Evolution wagon, a full-blown Mitsubishi Evo with five doors. Same 4WD platform as the rally-bred Lancer Evo IX sedan, same turbocharged goodness.

Swedish automaker Volvo has never been one to promote performance over style. Actually, they have never been one for flashiness either. What the company takes seriously, though, is automotive safety. On this end, few can question their standing as one of the world’s safest cars.

Certain things come to mind (for better or for worse -- usually better) when you say the word Volvo. Safety, of course. Solidity and reliability. And lately, clean, Scandinavian design. Crisp edges and sweeping curves. And interiors inspired by sleek, modern furniture, and home electronics. Now you can add "green." Volvo has always been an environmentally responsible company and produces many models that deliver low emissions and competitive fuel-economy performance. Volvo is now testing the waters of pure electric vehicle development and production.

The Volvo XC60 enters the 2011 model year with no major changes on either the exterior or the interior. What it does get is a new Pedestrian Detection with a full auto brake safety system and a new infotainment system, similar to the one found in the S60.