New Volvo all fangs and claws

In the early years of colour television, way before high-definition screens, an advertisement of a Volvo station wagon commonly featured a happy family.

A dad with impossibly good looks and a wide smile would walk to the rear of a vehicle and be seen lifting a tail-gate. A tail-wagging pooch would then jump in.

The dad would take his place on the driver seat, glancing to the side and smiling as the camera revealed the beautiful mama and then both would look together at the rear seats, happily satisfied to see the brood safely buckled in and the pet dog, panting happily.

Fast forward to this day and Volvo's new TV ad is chillingly different.

It features no pretty lady this time and no happy children.

Instead there is a man wearing a black helmet and piloting a station wagon in a deliciously evil manner, drifting sideways into narrow passages and performing hand-brake turns.

At the end of the promo, it's not a woolly German shepherd that leaps into the cabin. Instead it's a black panther, all fangs and claws, which leaps into the rear of the car and the driver bullets off with it.

You may ask why a manufacturer which is a household name for safe driving is suddenly showcasing the Stig's (of motoring television show Top Gear fame) ninja cousin who has a wild cat as a pet.

Notice there is also no yummy mummy who probably would have read him the family riot act that stipulates safe, straight-line driving. The helmeted driver hints that only the sporty need apply here.

Children and wives can be ferried around in the normal, safe and comfortable manner of a typical station wagon - the hallmark of Volvo safety are retained while luxury items are on-board.

What Volvo is saying is that the V60 is engineered for driving on a knife's edge and special emphasis is on the agility of the chassis, engine power and new found naughtiness of this particular model.

It is a station wagon and as such can be used for grocery shopping, loading and all that. But the V60 should be likened to a coupe or sportwagon instead.

The V60 line-up is extensive and is made up of a variety of petrol and diesel engines that range from the top-drawer 3.0-litre T6 version with 224kW and 440Nm to a 1.6-litre T3 four-cylinder GTDi engine that produces 110kW.

In between are the T4, T5, D3 and D5 engines all featuring turbo-charging technology and pegged at various power outputs.

Gearboxes are a choice between a six-speed manual and six-speed geartronic options.

The T6 is the sole model driven by an AWD (all-wheel drive) system while the rest make do with front-wheel drive configurations.

Apart from this arsenal of engines, the V60 is equipped with a host of safety systems, some which detect pedestrians and some designed to keep the car firmly on the road.

CC CONFIGURATIONS

T6 3.0 6-cylinder

Power: 224kW

Torque: 440 Nm

2.0T 2.0 4-cylinder

Power: 149kW

Torque: 300 Nm

T5 2.0 4-cylinder

Power: 177 kW

Torque: 320 Nm

T4 1.6 4-cyl in-line

Power: 132 kW

Torque: 240 Nm

T3 1.6 4-cylinder

Power:110 kW

Torque: 240 Nm

Diesel engines :

D5 2.4 5-cylinder

Power: 151kW

Torque: 420 Nm

D3 2.0 5-cylinder

Power: 120 kW

Torque: 400 Nm