A recent rumor that had us shaking our heads in disbelief suggests Audi will have allroad versions of both the A5 and the A7 in a few years. That's about as strange as Land Rover taking the Evoque and making a convertible out of it. Wait, they're actually doing that!
The thing is, Volvo was the first company to bridge the gap between SUVs and family cars with the XC70 back in 1997. So technically speaking, Audi copied them, as the first allroad quattro only came in 1999.
However, today we're going to talk about the S60 Cross Country, a car that has no Audi equivalent. It was launched earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, and new pictures were released this week to celebrate the start of sales.
The Swedish go-anywhere model is not a wagon, but a regular sedan, the kind that would typically compete with the BMW 3 Series. To make it more versatile, they've jacked up the suspension by a massive 65mm (2.5 inches) and introduced more capable powertrains.
Features that are unique to this model include the honeycomb grille, glossy black greenhouse and mirror trim and aluminum skid plates. There's also a set of very nice 19-inch wheels, but the reason we are showing you these images is the Crystal White paintjob.
Right, let's talk about the engines. The base one in America is the petrol-driven T5 with a 2.5-liter turbo and all-wheel drive. With 0 to 62 miles per hour taking 7 seconds, the Volvo S60 CC is relatively fast.
However, over in Europe things are a little different. The base unit is the D4 that uses a 2-liter diesel with 190 PS to motivate the front wheels. If you want all-wheel drive, your only option is the older D5 engine with five cylinders, a 2.4L displacement, and the same 190 PS output (though it has 5% more torque).
We haven't got a video of the S60 in motion yet, but we figured this mood song called "Made of" and commissioned by Volvo Sweden from Viola Martinsson will work just as well.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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