Active Lifestyle Vehicle Awards
Carspondent is the home for the popular ALV awards program sponsored by Tire Rack. In conjunction with Active.com, our automotive experts are constantly reviewing vehicles that fit your active lifestyles. Keep your comments coming!
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Volvo releases R-Design Package
Styling enhancements give the C30, S40 and V50 extra attitude
Volvo R-Design package
When designer, Peter Horbury, first came to Volvo in the early 1990s, he gave the brand a much-needed facelift. Boxy sedans and wagons gave way to elegant cars that combined Volvo’s humanism with Horbury’s post-modern panache.
It’s kismet that Volvo introduces its R-style kit for the C30, S40 and V50, just as Horbury prepares for his return to the mother ship. “R” is Volvo’s designation for performance-tuning. In this case, R connotes styling enhancements that also boost performance.
Customers can choose from ten exterior colors. On the outside, the R-Design package includes front and rear spoilers, ground effects, a larger exhaust pipe, seventeen-inch Serapis alloy wheels, special door and mirror trim.
Interior upgrades include special upholstery with R-Design inserts, R-Design center stack and panel inlays, special gauges, aluminum sport pedals, leather sport steering wheel, and a leather and aluminum shift lever.
For more information on Volvo’s current model line-up, visit the consumer web site.
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A Thousand Miles on a Single Tank of Gas
Ford driving team will see if the Fusion Hybrid can go the distance
Ford Fusion Hybrid
This weekend, a team of Ford drivers is attempting a thousand-mile trek in the Fusion Hybrid to raise awareness about eco-driving techniques and raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In order to go the distance on a single tank of gas, the mid-sized sedan needs to average 57 miles-per-gallon. In tests, the Fusion has achieved 70 mile-per-gallon fuel economy.
The driving team consists of hypermiling champ, Wayne Gerdes, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, Sherif Marakby and Gil Portalatin- both from the Fusion development team, and two of Ford’s hybrid experts, Tom Rolewicz and Steve Burke.
The 1000-Mile Challenge begins Saturday morning in Mount Vernon, Virginia, and ends Monday in Washinton, DC. The drivers will do stints of two-to-three hours apiece, for a total driving time of 43 consecutive hours. The Fusion Hybrid they are driving is a factory model with no modifications, which runs on regular 87 octane gasoline.
The Fusion team wants to share the following eco-driving tips with consumers:
Slowing down and maintaining even throttle pressure;
Gradual acceleration and braking;
Coasting up to red lights and stop signs to conserve fuel;
Minimizing heater and air conditioner use to reduce engine load;
Using the vehicle’s kinetic forward motion to climb hills and downhill momentum to build speed;
Avoiding bumps and potholes that can reduce momentum; and
Maintaining a safe following distance, and anticipating traffic conditions.For more information on this weekend’s thousand-mile challenge, visit the Ford web site.