Volvo S60 Touring Car

Anthony Crawford

09:5403 April 2010

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S60 Ready for The Track

Volvo is finally thinking straight again. Only weeks after they revealed the new S60 at the Geneva Motor Show, a racing version of this stunning car is well under way and it does look the business.

We can thank Volvo Cars Belgium who will enter the new car in the Belgium Touring Car Series, which kicks off next weekend.

It’s exactly what the brand needs to expose just how well some of their cars perform and the all new S60 will be at the forefront of that charge.

Bart Crols is the Managing Director of Volvo Cars Belgium and we like how he’s thinking when he recently said, “The all-new S60 sports sedan is Volvo’s most exciting driving experience so far and there is no better way to show this than by bringing to the race track”

It also helps that the S60 road car along with several other Volvo models are built in Belgium at the Volvo Cars Ghent plant.

Volvo’s S60 Racing Team has developed this car in record time and in accordance with BTCS (Belgium Touring Car Series) and S1 regulations, which thankfully, emphasise standardised features on these cars.

That means all cars must use a tubular chassis, the same type of front and rear suspension and aerodynamics.

There’s also a specification for engine specs but at the moment, teams are allowed to use their own engines and the S60 has a cracker.

Interestingly, the car runs a 3.5-litre V6, which develops 410 hp (306 kW) with 412 Nm at 5500 rpm and is mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox driving the rear wheels.

Stopping power looks to be well sorted too, with 6-pot callipers all round on 380mm discs up front and 355mm on the rears.

Front suspension is independent with 3-way adjustable shocks while the rear end is 3-way onboard adjustable shocks absorbers.

While the S60 race car looks good, it will need to be. It will face some serious competition from the likes of Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Volkswagen.

We’ll let you know how Volvo’s fares in its first race in due course.

Technical Specification Volvo S60 BTCS

Regulation: BTCS Silhouette S1

Chassis: Tubular frame

Front Suspension: Independent with 3-way adjustable shock

absorbers

Rear Suspension: Independent with 3-way onboardadjustable

shock absorbers

Brakes: 6-piston callipers, 380 mm discs at the front and 6