After a seemingly never-ending period of vague implications, I've finally ordered my car, putting an end to our long national nightmare.

And starting a new one, as I grouse about how long it's taking to get it.

Until then, you can all awe at its mighty specs and at how much I will never be able to utilize it.

Look upon my car, ye Mighty, and despair!

So... uh... where are you going to put your empeg?

Those blue gages in the console are some of the coolest I've ever seen. The Blue Anodized NewFace would go great with them.

also, the specs link is broken - you need "new" in place of the "www."

Congratulations on owning a Swedish supercar. Hope to see you at Swedish Car Day in Brookline, MA. I went last year and Saabs outnumbered Volvos by about 10 to 1.

My Viggen:

So... uh... where are you going to put your empeg?

I'm gonna rip out that factory stereo altogether. Scosche has a fascia kit, but it might be the old dash color (it was changed from an odd brown to graphite for all the 2004MY Volvos, apparently).

It was kinda sweet that it worked out that the two options I specifically didn't want, the upgraded stereo and the moonroof, were packaged together with nothing else in the Premium package.

the specs link is broken

Thanks. Fixed.

BTW, I like how the initial page when posting or editing limits how long a subject can be, but then the next page doesn't. Weird.

Congratulations on owning a Swedish supercar.

Thanks!

Hope to see you at Swedish Car Day in Brookline, MA.

Massachusetts is a long way away, but maybe I can figure out how to do it.

I went last year and Saabs outnumbered Volvos by about 10 to 1.

Ahhh! The illusion of exclusivity!

Here's some pics I took at SCD '02
http://www.nysoc.com/gallery/album05

Swedish supercar

I just stumbled across this site.

They pushed the specs on it from 300 HP and 295 ft. lbs. to 355 HP and 357 ft. lbs. with a software-only upgrade.

Wow.

They pushed the specs on it from 300 HP and 295 ft. lbs. to 355 HP and 357 ft. lbs. with a software-only upgrade.

Silly goose... You're definitely on the wrong BBS to be bragging about software upgrades which make things more powerful!

"with a software-only upgrade."

...and an instant product lifespan downgrade.

-Zeke

Probably true. I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but, wow!

It is impressive, to be sure. I was jest 'bein snarky!

-Zeke

Massachusetts is a long way away, but maybe I can figure out how to do it.

Here's a start, fire up that new car and go!

Bah. 55HP increase from 300HP = 18.33%. 62ft.lbs./295ft.lbs. = 21%

My Golf got a 54HP increase from 150HP = 36% from a software-only upgrade. And a 242ft.lbs./155ft.lbs = 56% increase in torque at the same time.

Mighty.

Yeah, but I'd still take the absolute 300HP over the 36% though.

BTW, come to MA. I'm tempted to turn up to that meet.

Hmmmm. I should definitely have the car by October, and I should have my 1000 mile break-in done by then, too.

Let's see. Yahoo claims that that's an 11 hour drive from here. And it's on a weekend (Sunday, actually). Maybe I could take a day off of work, drive up Friday night and back Monday morning. Someone wanna put me up? (Then again, I might have gotten a raise by then, too.)

I'm still up in the air on what sort of car I want to get, although the Volvo of doom certainly holds a strong appeal to me. An October ETA is a long time away. I'll eagerly await your empeg installation experience...

In case anyone's interested, I took some pictures of my dealer's demo units, a sedan and a wagon.

Volvo R Gallery

That's on this end of my DSL line, so posting it to Slashdot would not be appreciated.

Yeah, but I'd still take the absolute 300HP over the 36% though.

But the Golf weighs a lot less.

But the Golf weighs a lot less.

You wouldn't think so sometimes from reading some of the posts at vwvortex.com. There's too many kids wanting VW build quality with Geo Metro weight, and accusing VW of losing the plot. True, modern VWs weigh more than 70s/80s models, but I like the modern conveniences. My first car was a MkI Golf (Rabbit), and whilst it spanked anything else within my budget at the time, it wouldn't come close to my current car's overall performance and functionality.

Too many people seem to forget that sticking 600lb of people in a heavy car with an X power/weight ratio is going to have less of an effect than sticking 600lb of people in a light car with the same p/w ratio.

I'm happy

I'd argue that VW is losing the plot, but I don't think that the Golf is a good example of that; all cars are heavier and more powerful these days than they used to be. I don't really think we want VW producing Trabant equivalents.

The Touareg and the Phaeton would be good examples of VW's loss of focus, though.

I'd argue that VW is losing the plot, but I don't think that the Golf is a good example of that; ...

Yes, at least the new R32 can lay some claim to extending the GTI bloodline...

The Touareg and the Phaeton would be good examples of VW's loss of focus, though.

Some smaller, more utilitarian Touareg I could understand as the Next Big Thing, but a 12-cylinder sedan??? OK, so maybe you don't want folks thinking *too* hard about the genesis of volks wagen, but I *really* don't understand the Whole Porsche/Audi group strategy. It's like they got everybody together from P/A/Seat/Skoda/VW and *said* they were going to rationalize their product lines, but then let every group do whatever they felt like. Porsche SUVs? Gulp!

And they were doing so well. The Passat was sooo just right.

I've got a friend who's a big VW fanatic. He owns four -- a 60s/70s beetle, a Mk2 GTI, a Scirocco, and a Corrado. (Currently, none of them are streetworthy, although that's just because the Corrado, his daily driver just broke down with some sort of ignition switch problem.)

Anyway, he's always going on about how VW is going the wrong way, and he doesn't understand why they don't come out with another Scirocco/Corrado-type car. He claims that it's obvious that that's what people want.

I think he fails to recognize, though, that while the enthusiast group is loud, it's a small minority of people who buy VWs. It sure seems like they're bigger when you keep your head in eurocar magazines all the time. They probably wouldn't have pulled the Corrado after only a few years if it had been selling well.

I think it must be tough living in the VAG group. I'm sure that nearly every engineer in VW has the desire to produce the best looking and performing, lightest and luxurious, and cost-effective vehicle on the planet. But even when they do produce a great car, half the population says, "So, they want to be like Audi now?", or "For 3k more, I could get an Audi". It must be really sickening to hear that if you work for VW.
So I can understand that VW might not always toe the VAG corporate line. That being said, I don't think that the World needs YASUV.

My personal gripe is with VWoA, who seem to make some really bizarre decisions. Like dropping the 1.8T engine from 4dr Golfs. I really can't understand why they feel the need to try and pigeonhole their customers. I have a family, and a 2dr GTI is just not practical. The 4dr Golf is so practical - more so than the Jetta IMO.

The 4dr Golf is so practical - more so than the Jetta IMO.

I concur 100%.
In the past I have been able to load up my golf with an amazing amount of crap.

Objectively, that's usually true, but, subjectively, Americans like separate trunks. If it's got a non-separate cargo area, they want it to be something else, but not a wagon or a hatchback. Actually, that seems to fluctuate a little. Maybe Americans just can't decide.

Give me a hatchback any day!

Y'know, I really wish I had a trunk.

So, I noticed your post on SwedeSpeed, where the quality of the responses was underwhelming. Any other details to report? Does the Volvo stereo really handle car alarm functionality as well? Yuck.