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New Volvo S80 flagship |
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To secure this price please call 877-252-8323 Email nemithsells@aol.com or stop in with printed copy of this ad or price/payment may be higher |
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100,000 mile factory certified warrantied |
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To secure this price please call (518) 867-3400 Email nemithsells@aol.com or stop in with printed copy of this ad or price/payment may be higher |
If increasing the odds of surviving a head-on collision -- the most common type of fatal traffic accident -- is a car buyer's paramount concern, then basic laws of physics trump fancy safety features. In other words, size matters.
So focusing on sedans, sparing no expense and taking into consideration its storied history as a leader in safety innovation, Volvo races to mind when evaluating safe cars, most experts agree. The Volvo S80 ranked among the four safest "large" cars that were collision-tested by the Insurance Institute. Nerad, who has been writing about auto safety for more than a decade, conceded that as his younger children now approach driving age he has been giving this issue a lot of extra thought lately. He is leaning toward Volvo.
"Volvo walks the talk on safety," Nerad said. "Being on the cutting edge is part of their culture."
Considering size and design durability, plus overlaying all of the advanced technological features Volvo drivers have come to expect, such as automatic driver alerts helping to mitigate everything from lane drift to blind spots, the Volvo S80 has to be considered a standard bearer in the drive toward safest car ever built.
2010 new volvo s80 Midsize Sedan|
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| Exterior | ||||||
| Length: 191 in. | Width: 73.3 in. | |||||
| Height: 58.8 in. | Wheel Base: 111.6 in. | |||||
| Curb Weight: 3825 lbs. | ||||||
| Interior | ||||||
| Front Head Room: 37.8 in. | Front Hip Room: 54.8 in. | |||||
| Front Shoulder Room: 57.4 in. | Rear Head Room: 38.3 in. | |||||
| Rear Shoulder Room: 56.3 in. | Rear Hip Room: 54.7 in. | |||||
| Front Leg Room: 41.9 in. | Rear Leg Room: 35 in. | |||||
| Luggage Capacity: 14.9 cu. ft. | Maximum Seating: 5 | |||||
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| Performance | ||||||
| Base Number of Cylinders: 6 | Base Engine Size: 3.2 liters | |||||
| Base Engine Type: Inline 6 | Horsepower: 235 hp | |||||
| Max Horsepower: 6200 rpm | Torque: 236 ft-lbs. | |||||
| Max Torque: 3200 rpm | Maximum Towing Capacity: 3307 lbs. | |||||
| Drive Type: FWD | Turning Circle: 36.7 ft. | |||||
| Fuel | |
| Fuel Tank Capacity: 18.5 gal. | |
| EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway/Combined) | |
| Automatic: 16 mpg / 25 mpg / 20 mpg | |
| Range in Miles: | |
| Automatic: 296 mi. / 462.5 mi. / 370 mi. There was a time when luxury sedans were more about substance than style. Take a spin in any Mercedes-Benz sedan from the 1970s, for example, and you'll get the idea. The "bling" factor is virtually nonexistent and the handling won't conjure up images of sports cars -- but you and your passengers will revel in the car's tank-like solidity and the reassuring sense of security that comes with it. The 2009 Volvo S80 is a modern-day application of this hallowed formula. Boasting a dizzying array of cutting-edge safety technology, the S80's primary purpose is to make its passengers feel protected from the vagaries of chance. Dual-chamber side airbags? Check. Blind-spot warning system? Available on all S80s. An audible alert if you're about to rear-end the car you're following? Comes with the optional adaptive cruise control. A security system with a heartbeat sensor that senses whether some nefarious character is hiding in the car? It's yours with the available Personal Car Communicator (PCC) system. The S80 seems to have been purpose-built for the obsessively safety-minded consumer. If there were a "Peace of Mind" award in the midsize luxury sedan segment, this Volvo would win it, hands down. Like those big Benzes of yore, the S80 isn't the most eye-catching sedan on the market, though it's a good bit more curvaceous than the boxes on wheels Volvo used to churn out with regularity. It's also not a leader in performance -- while both the turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 (T6) and the naturally aspirated 4.4-liter V8 provide rapid acceleration, the base 3.2-liter inline-6 struggles to keep up with other sedans in this class. Moreover, though the S80 happily gobbles up miles on the interstate, handling in the twisties is unremarkable. If you try to hustle the S80 along a country road, you'll find that its dynamics come up short relative to other cars in this segment. But terrorizing back roads is hardly the 2009 Volvo S80's raison d'etre. Rather, it's about ensuring the safety of its occupants while coddling them in its luxurious and attractively styled cabin -- and outside of the top-of-the-line V8 model, the S80 is actually quite reasonably priced. For some buyers, these traditional virtues could outweigh the S80's somewhat subpar performance and conservative outward appearance. |
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