30 — Friday, February 5, 1999 — North Shore News NEW for 1999, the S80 is Volvo's new flagship model, reptacing the S90. Now front-wheel-drive, the S80 is available with a 201 horsepower 2.9-titre inline six-cylinder engine or a 268 horsepower 2.8-litre inline six-cylinder engine. New safety features include head airbags and anti-whiplash frent seats. Test drive the new S80 at Specialty Motors in North Vancouver. Vo WHEN the front- wheel-drive 850 sedan replaced the venerable rear-wheel-drive 240 sedan in 1992, many people were wondering if Volvo owners, who were supposed to be conservative and prac- tical, would warm up a sporty, front-wheel- drive sedan. The 850 (now S70) turned out to be the best- selling fuxury car in Canada for many years — and a great car to boot. So it’s not a big surprise that the all-new 1999 Volvo S80 luxury sedan is a sleck, sporty-looking front-wheel- vo Sa years. The $80 is now com- peting with such stylish European luxury sedans as the BMI 528) and Price as tested: $55,995 Base price: $49,995 Type: four-door, five-passenger sedan Layout: transverse front engine /front- Mercedes-Benz E320. The $80's styling is quite a departure from other Volvas, and somewhat con- troversial, In particular, the rear taillights which wrap around the contours of the raised tail in an unusual S- shape, are unique. The smooth, wraparound nose design is more conventional, alchough stili very different from other Volvos. Note thar, unlike most contempo- rary luxury cars, the grille is a separate component from Technical data the head, and doesn’t litt up when the hood is raised. Under thar V-shaped hood, $80s continue to use a refined 201 horsepower ver- sion of the $90’s base 2.9- litre inline six-evlinder engine with continuous vari- able valve timing. However, the now mounted sideways instead of longitudinally — the first time this has been done in my memory. Thi allows better packaging effi- ciency, increasing interior Torque: 280 Ib.-ft. @ 2,000 r.p.m. Transmission: four-speed automatic Geartronic Curb weight: 1,552 kw (3,421 Ibs.) cabin space. Base SSO modeis have an adaptive four-speed automat- ic transmission, but a manual transmission is not offered. Top-of-the-line S80 T-6 models have a twin-tur- bocharged, intercooled 268 horsepower 2.8-litre inline six-cylinder engine mated to a new semi-automatic crans- mission called the Geartronic. Like Porsche's Geartronic, and BMW’s Steptronic, it can be used as an automatic transmission or, by moving the lever to a separate gate, it can be shift- ed manually (sequentially) without a clurch pedal. All S80s offer a fully independent suspension, (front strut, rear multi-link) dard anti-lock. S80s have a new rigid body structure and a number of innovative safety features. A new seat design protects against whipjash in a rear- end collision by allowing the seat to bend to reduce G forces. As well as front and side airbags, the $80 has inflatable curtain head- airbags which protect the passengers heads in a side collision. Height adjustable out- board head restraints arc standard, and atthe rear the head restraints fold down via a dash button, allowing bet- ter rear visibility when there are no passengers in the rear seat. . : At the centre rear, is.a manually height-adjustable - head restraint. Length: 4,823 mm (189.8 in.) Width: 1,828 mm (72.0 in.) Height: 1,450 mm (57.1 in.) Warranty: four years/80,000 km which provides excellent handling and ride despite the forward position of the transverse engine. Brakes are dises all around with stan- wheel-drive Engine: 2.8-litre inline six-cylinder, DOHC, 24 valves Horsepower: 268 @ 5,400 r.p.m. rive sedan, replacing the rather conservative-looking rear-wheel-drive $90 sedan. The luxury car market has changed over the past five Other standard safety features include Volvo’s SIPS See Leather page 34 We wanted you to feel safe in a Saturn. So we started with the price. The payments shown here are based on the MSRPs for our brand-spankin' - new 1999 Saturn SW1. Phey include transportation, retailer prep and even a full tank of gas so you $960 fs ZERC DOWN won't have to walk to the station with one of those red containers. Bur some things are MMO 2% mo. lease 15,998 cits J freight & pai. sant to purchase your Saturn at the end of the lease (and who could blame you?), and . you've made a $2,000 downpaymeni, you're welcume to. And with that sare downpay- 1999 Saturn SW1 VQ MORREY SATURN SAAB ISUZU 294-1831 SATURN. 445% Leugheed Hwy at Willingdon, Burnaby km lease of 60,000 kin - which is pretty far — over 3 years, with a charge of 12¢ per km over that amount. This offer applies to customers with approved credit. If you decide you set individual selling and lease prices. Oh, and by the way, the vehicle is much larger than « adjustable sneering catemn © split-folding rear eat shown. wew.saturneanads.com . extra, like taxes (sorry), license and insurance. These lease payments are based on a low ment, the maximum lcuse obligation of an SWI is $11,360, As always, retailers are free to Complete with: AMIFM stereo casseite