Some news from Volvo. No, it’s not about the Chinese market S60L; you still can’t have that. But what you can have might be enough.
Quoth the folks who requote the press releases at AutoGuide:
Buyers of the XC60 and S80 can equip their cars with the upgrade, known as the inscription package. It includes Inscription Sovereign Hide leather seats, a leather covered instrument panel, wood inlays, and an embroidered Inscription logo along with unique floor mats. Three different paint finishes, crystal white pearl, electric silver or ember black, are available with the package along with 19- or 20-inch ten spoke wheels.
The package won’t affect performance, but Volvo also announced that every vehicle in its lineup can now be had with a Drive-E engine. This lineup of four-cylinder engines use turbocharging or a combination of turbocharging and supercharging to deliver equivalent power to today’s larger engines, all while being more efficient.
In the U.S., the Drive-E lineup consists of a a 2.0-liter I4 producing 240 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque and a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-liter making 302 hp and 295 lb-ft.
I just checked the Volvo Configurator for the United States and the Inscription package isn’t yet available. I’d spent a lot of time on there when I was choosing my current car — the S80 was kind of a weird dark horse in my selection matrix — and it doesn’t look like anything’s changed since then. It’s still easy as pie to drop fifty grand on an S80 without it, however. As long as you believe in the company and its mission, that’s probably okay.
No matter what the quality of your interior…
No matter how sexy you think your exterior is…
No matter how fast your car is…
No matter how well it goes around curves…
No one CARES about it until rappers rap about it and the music video passes 20 million views.
Notice there is no song called: “I woke up in a new Hennessey Venom GT”
I haven’t seen any Volvos being rapped about yet – nor on the covers of mix tapes.
The word “pimp” used in the same sentence as “Volvo” holds no coherency.
You’re so new to the game, son.
When I’m riding in my Volvo cops harass me
They never ride past me
They hound me like LassieWantin’ to give me a summons or a ticket
Huh, I got a place for them to stick it
(Kick it)
They can’t understand to see a black man
Drivin’ a car that costs 25 grand
The first thing they say is, “Where’d you steal her?”
And then they assume that I’m a drug dealer
Huh, that just makes me wanna laugh
‘Cause naw, I’m a star and your son got my autograph
So all the cops on the highway gettin’ me
My name ain’t Keith, so could you please stop sweatin’ me
lol, classic Jack.
Ha! You’ll be pimpin’ that Volvo.
In fairness, this was back when owning Volvo was actually something that people thought was cool.
It’s all about the CLA now…
You are correct, owning a Volvo is no longer cool:
“I bought my whole family whips, no Volvos
Next time I’m in church, please no photos”
COL! Got one for Saab’s, Jack.
Aw S*%t. Only 1M views.
youtube.com/watch?v=tKOVF1qwPzI
Does anyone even listen to rap anymore? I never did, so maybe that’s the reason why it has always been 100% irrelevant to me.
They were blasting some over the outdoor speakers at my usual gas station this morning.
A 40-something white woman in a hoody filling her Cruze was standing with a 1000-yard stare and pulsating up & down with the beat.
But then the tune changed to some country ditty with a nasally female displaying the laryngeal consequences of poor childhood nutrition and things were back to normal.
and if she got booty then Kenmore was pleased…
Even booty can’t ameliorate the stench of rap.
I say this as a guy who always prefers the “before” pictures of Weight Watchers women.
More cushion for more pushin!!!
Last night I heard a musaked version of what, in its day, was a legitimate gangster rap song while standing on line in one of the whitest burbs in the nation. Last month I was eating in a fairly nice restaurant and realized I was listening to a vocal free (can’t bring myself to say instrumental in this context) of the Luniz hit “I got 5 on it”. It’s just more pop now, completely mainstreamed.
…i realised i was truly old about fifteen years ago, late one night visiting the grocery store when i recognised a cheery beautiful-music arrangement of an old ozzy song wafting gently over the aisles…
Trick Daddy rapped about his Volvo. There is at least one rap video dedicated to Volvos -“My Volvo”- by Grynch
Juvenile from Cash Money Records was rapping about Volvos back in the late nineties.
Dare I squeeze three at your Volvo XC…
Also, why not just call it the EMBROIDERY Edition? Inscription – week.
Finally, is this special leather the same garbage factory leather that festoons every Volvo as of late?
No it isn’t it’s Sovereign hide leather and it IS an upgrade from the regular leather.
I’m a corinthian leather guy from way back.
The “standard” leather in my C70 is nicer than what comes standard in Audi, standard from Caddy, and standard in BMW from all of the time I’ve spent going to car dealerships to look at cars for fun. The Sovereign stuff that I have in my Inscription S80 is even nicer though, so yes. It is upgraded, and quite nice. Smells like high quality leather while sitting in a showroom, which few car companies can claim about their leather at least haha.
I’ve read that people think the standard leather in a Volvo is cheap or poor quality because of its quality. They don’t bathe it in quite as many chemicals in the same way other marques do, so if you don’t take proper care of it through cleanings/conditioning it every month or two, it can show wear earlier. Which I have seen before on somewhat regular basis. But it’s a nice smelling, thick hide that comes standard, just requires more care. I’d rather have to condition it every month or two, and have it smell like leather than it have it last forever but smell and feel like plastic. That kind of defeats the purpose of having it.
The leather on my ’07 XC90 sport seats is holding up great and still looks nearly new with some wear, like a nice leather couch.
The leather in MY ’07 XC90 looks like sh*t, but it does have 139,000 miles on it, and i’m not the first owner, and it was bad when I got it.
Yeah, I purchased mine new and have applied Coach leather conditioner on a regular basis since taking delivery. I only have 58k too. Also, my sport seats appear to be constructed of 2 types of leather, grainy and smooth.
Volvo leather does not hold up well, especially in lighter colors.
What an awful name. How about the Recircumcision: Alte Yenta Edition (what to drive when the Bris fails)? The Intussusception Edition for when your bowels fold in upon themselves? How about the Inception Edition when mind-ninjas plant a secret desire to own a car model? Obviously a focus group failure. How about MyVolvo or the Apple version: miVolvo? Please send the royalties to 360joules@greed.com!
I’m just happy it’s a NAME and not a number/letter combination. Maybe it’ll start a trend, and American companies can trump imports with a return to classic model names like Cougar, Wildcat, and Brougham Colonnade.
The leather in current Volvos is actually really good. I wouldn’t listen to anyone who misspells “weak” as “week” and uses a word like “festoon”. I do agree the “inscription” branding thing is really stupid. they should just make it a standard part of Volvos to take it up a level.
@ tremorcontrol
Someone at Swedespeed summed it pretty well “The leather in the XC90s is nice and soft when it’s BRAND new, but otherwise it’s very poor quality. They start to look like crap very quickly — especially the lighter colors.” And I agree completely.
That zillion-pokey-holes seat material reminds me of old VWs and makes me happy.
Give me an hour, $100 and a red-hot sewing needle and I can give your seats the same treatment.
Bertel knows a site that needs your skills..
For the record, driving a Volvo has never been cool.
dumb. for the record, lemmings who drive audi, bmw, and merc because they think they’re “cool” have never been cool.
The German marques you listed are in fact inherently cool….but driving one would never, in itself, make you cool. It would just mean that you drive a cool car. Volvo isn’t known for any kind of “cool” factor. It is known for safety. Want to drive a safe appliance? Volvo is your car. Just ask Alan Harper….lol
Boy, you are in sore need of education.
How is Audi inherently cooler than Volvo or even Toyota?
The greatest thing about Volvo today is that EVERY vehicle in their current lineup has a 3500lb towing capacity at minimum.
So a FWD I4 turbo S60 is rated to tow 3500, but a Charger V8 is at 1000lbs and an ’11 Town Car at 2000.
I’m sure the ability to trailer twice the compost to the garden is high on the priority list of wannabe luxury car owners…..
I doubt many S60 or S80 shoppers would care, but it might be a selling point for V60 or XC70 buyers.
If Volvo is going to play in niche segments, they might as well embrace it.
In other markets it’s common to see all kinds of cars, most of which we would deem unsuited, towing household detritus to the local landfill.
Think back to Top Gear’s earlier rants and segments about “caravaning” in the UK. It’s not at all uncommon for woefully inadequate vehicles to be used in this application.
It is exactly why Russians love Volvos – to tow composts to dacha to grow produce and tow produce back to town to consume – the survival instinct developed after several revolutions and wars in the row in XX century. Volvos are very popular in Russia also because they are (were) built like tanks, nice bonus. Now that China controls Volvo I am not sure it is a good idea because next war most likely will be with China.
oh wow, look! — a xenophobic generalization supported with no evidence that tries to insult people from multiple countries! nice. Can’t wait for the Range Rover-Jaguar analysis about India!
Are you on duty all weekend? Must be the new guy, eh?
Well, PC Patrol is a tough job. It’s how I started out.
Thank you for your service.
The Inscription package has been available for quite some time on S80s. My local dealer here in Austin has a CPO 2013 in Ember Black and it’s a beauty. Not sure why Inscription fell off the configurator, I’ve seen it there in the past. Kudos for some Volvo coverage, Jack. Not enough of it out there these days.
How about an “INCEPTION” package…
Dreams feel real while we’re in them. It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.
I really want to like Volvos, but I just can’t.
I liked the XC90. I didn’t care that the design was old. But dropping the V8 the year I was in the market was a bad move, Volvo. Also the stupid split tailgate needs to leave.
Plus, the name issues remain. Somehow I just can’t get into driving a car whose name is just a couple of vowel sounds from being a female body part.
So the inscription has to say inscription, or can I pick my own?
Got me thinking that “inscription” might have been the product development placeholder for the name they eventually intended to decide on.
In the world of special editions, both clergy and OBGYN’s ought to have the option for a “conception” edition and might Hummer’s fortunes have seen a boost from a “Conscription” edition?
Up here in Scandalahoovia where English isn’t (quite, yet) the native language, it’s not too rare to see Edition editions of stuff, including cars.
That’s what I was wondering too. Free engraving if you order online.
Wow, I thought the Inscription written on that head rest was just a placeholder or a parody pic of interiors with inscriptions on the seats. There’s actually an Inscription Edition Volvo?
Too bad you can’t get one customized with a clutch.
Mrs. Chiburb has the 2012 C70 Inscription which included Polestar tuning, upgraded leather, sport wheels, and a black grill. She/we have never seen another one on the road as I think only 500 were offered in North America.
To this day we thank Mr. Lang for his review here at TTAC which brought it to her attention.
I don’t get why this has just come about as “news” on auto sites the past couple days. I heard about this ages ago, and I looked it up again just to verify my information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVq4bdhWg7A
Here’s an AutoTrader review published back on 6/27/13 of an S80 with Inscription package. So this really is NOT news. I’ve also seen S80s previously on Ebay, used(!) with the Inscription package.
One of the issues with Volvo is the lack of advertising. Maybe this is an example or they are finally trying to catch up.