Volvo all but confirmed for V8 Supercars in 2014

So what are your thoughts about Volvo coming into the series?

With no V8 they are using the 'unbranded' Chev block, do you think they can be competitive?


http://www.v8xmagazine.com.au/index....ement-imminent

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V8 Supercars will announce Volvo as the latest manufacturer to join the series from 2014 at a press conference in Brisbane on Monday.

As V8X first reported last week, the Swedish manufacturer will team with current Holden team Garry Rogers Motorsport, which will run a V8 Supercar version of Volvo's S60 sedan (pictured above) with factory backing.

Without a suitable V8 engine in its line-up (the S60 uses a V6), Volvo is believed to be the first manufacturer to seek to use the unbranded Chevrolet engine block V8 Supercars has produced for manufacturers without its own V8 powerplant.

The boss of Volvo's performance division Polestar, Christian Dahl, is a guest of Garry Rogers Motorsport at Hidden Valley this weekend, though he has declined to comment until the announcement at 11am Monday morning.

Volvo will launch the Polestar version of the S60 sedan and announce the V8 Supercar program, which is believed to be a four-year initial commitment with an investment of approximately $7 million per year.

The manufacturer already races the S60 with great success in the Swedish Touring Car Championship, along with the American Pirelli World Challenge.

Volvo, which won the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship with Robbie Francevic in a Volvo 240T for the Volvo Dealer Team, will join Nissan as a new factory-backed entrant in V8 Supercars under the Car of the Future regulations and will become the fifth make in the series.

Stay tuned to V8X.com.au for the Volvo announcement from 11am AEST on Monday.

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Can't wait. The more manufacturers the better!

Agreed.
Can`t see Ford staying on.
Would be nice to see Chrysler there also given they have a "factory" presence in Drag Racing and Touring Car Masters.

My predictions (this should be good)

Ford will continue on in the championship, but the mustang or possibly fusion (like in the Nascars) will replace the Falcon.

Another two manufacturers will come into the mix. Have heard many rumours about this, Chrysler are one and a Korean manufacturer is possibly the other (maybe the Hyundai Genesis)

Holden, I'm not too sure. Maybe they will die with Ford and then the Camaro will take it's spot??

I wouldn't be too surprised if at some point in the game, that we'll even see Toyota join in as well. I just think a few of these other manufacturers are just sitting back and waiting to see how it all pans out before they field their own entries.

Would love to see Chrysler in there!

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Originally Posted by Nurb608

Can't wait. The more manufacturers the better!

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This. It's a shame they don't have their own v8 though.

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Originally Posted by chris_r

I wouldn't be too surprised if at some point in the game, that we'll even see Toyota join in as well. I just think a few of these other manufacturers are just sitting back and waiting to see how it all pans out before they field their own entries.

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They have a Toyota Camry V8 running in the NZV8 Series.

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[IMG]http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps651410a1.jpg[/IMG]

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According to Polestar the will use the Volvo V8 thats was developed by Yamaha and it willl be bored out from 4.4 ltr to 5ltr V8SC specs.

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Originally Posted by Shaun

According to Polestar the will use the Volvo V8 thats was developed by Yamaha and it willl be bored out from 4.4 ltr to 5ltr V8SC specs.

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That's good. I thought because that engine had been discontinued (2010 I think) they couldn't use it anymore - even better that they will be able to use one of their (Yamaha developed) engines . :thumbs:

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Originally Posted by poita

My predictions (this should be good)

Ford will continue on in the championship, but the mustang or possibly fusion (like in the Nascars) will replace the Falcon.

Another two manufacturers will come into the mix. Have heard many rumours about this, Chrysler are one and a Korean manufacturer is possibly the other (maybe the Hyundai Genesis)

Holden, I'm not too sure. Maybe they will die with Ford and then the Camaro will take it's spot??

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I reckon Ford will disappear from the series altogether !
Also I think they have to be a four door sedan so the Mustang and Camaro will not be eligible.

Surely Ford could take the existing chassis, and replace the bodypanels with those from a Taurus? If Volvo can use an engine they haven't sold for 3 years, Ford need not even change the engine, although they could always switch to a Mustang block if they felt it necessary. Unless they specifically /wanted/ to retire, this would seem like a sensible option...

Of course, with the Falcon gone and the racing Taurus being just as dissimilar to the roadgoing variants as the other new entrants, there would only be Holden in the way of V8SC converging with DTM, JGTC and the Grand-Am series. And that depends on exactly what they do after the VF. If it's Epsilon-II based (think current Chevy Impala), then they'd probably be open to a convergence. If they go Alpha, and particularly if there's a V8 in the range still, they'll fight to keep the series separate...

I think will dissappear not based on a lack of product but a lack of factory support for any teams at all.

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Originally Posted by kabel

I think will dissappear not based on a lack of product but a lack of factory support for any teams at all.

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That doesn't necessarily mean the entire series will vanish. We've already got teams using customer parts with (apparently) little to no factory backing. But if the majority of the series goes that way it does suggest that a custom ruleset is an expensive luxury that shouldn't be maintained. Although at that point you could argue it's not strictly V8SC at that point...

Sorry that should have read Ford will dissappear from the series as a factory team.
Did not come accross the way it did in my head !

Found on the V8 Supercars App.

The V8 engine that will power Volvo’s attack on the V8 Supercars Championship is under development in Sweden now and should be in a race car and testing by December.

Based on the Yamaha-developed B8444S 4.4-litre V8 production engine that saw service in the XC90 SUV and S80 sedan, it will be bored and stroked to 5.0-litres for the Car of the Future S60 V8 Supercars that will debut at the 2014 Clipsal 500.

Polestar, Volvo Car Group’s global motorsport and performance car partner, has responsibility for engine development along with Volvo in Sweden, while Garry Rogers Motorsport in Dandenong will build the chassis of the new cars, design the bodywork and aerodynamic package.

“We are on the dyno in early December with the engine and then we get it in the car as quick as possible,” confirmed Polestar CEO and owner Christian Dahl at yesterday’s announcement of Volvo’s factory backed attack on the V8 Supercars Championship.”

Dahl, who has attended several V8 Supercars events including the SKYCITY Triple Crown last weekend, is in no doubts about the challenge his engineers face in developing an engine that will be competitive against the long-established Ford and Holden pushrod V8s.

And he is also aware of the difficulties Nissan and HWA (Benz) have encountered achieving competitive outputs and fuel economy from their production-based engines in 2013.

“Driveability is a big part and as we can see from the race weekend the rear tyres have quite a tough life and the engine is part of that together with the driver,” said Dahl.

“Then we have to test what we can and get the information from the drivers and Garry Rogers team, what they are wanting in the driveability and where they want the power and everything. We will attend a few races with our engineers later on in the season to talk to the drivers and see what they do on the track.”

Dahl praised the common Car of the Future chassis and componentry that now underpins V8 Supercars, predicting it would help Volvo get up to competitive speed more quickly.

“It is the modern form of racing and it gives Volvo a good opportunity to hit the ground running and then of course we have to race to gain further. There are a couple of tenths to the best cars in the field and we really want to close that gap as soon as we can, but I do not underestimate the challenge.

“I think Holden and Red Bull is a little bit on top of everyone at the moment and it’s a bit of job to catch up to them. But I think with more resources from Volvo, a bit of experience from Polestar and a really good foundation at Garry Rogers we have all the tools to do it.

"Of course you need the time, we are quite restricted on testing. You can’t just go off for five weeks and test but I think we have a good basis to start with and we build on that.”

Dahl also praised the quality of the Championship compared to tin-top racing in Europe: “We are used to this balance of performance and turbos and weights up and down. Here you do a good job and you are allowed to win. There is stiff competition and we are really proud to be part of it and it will be a big challenge.”

Dahl said the plan was to eventually integrate Polestar more heavily into the overall development of the S60 racers and having staff seconded from Sweden to Dandenong was “being looked at”. Already Polestar has supplied bodywork data to GRM, while Dandenong has sent digital chassis and suspension files to Sweden.

“Garry and myself are taking about how we can integrate both our support, but of course Garry Rogers Motorsport will be the base for the running of the team in Australia and hopefully Polestar can be a good link between Volvo Cars in Sweden and Garry Rogers in Australia to speed up communication and bring our experience.

“We have been working with Volvo Cars for 16 years and we can put that experience into the team and into the Championship.”

Dahl, who has also visited the GRM shop several times, said he was confident the two organisations would mesh well.

“I think the set-up of the Garry Rogers team is quite similar to what we have in Sweden, the mentality of the team is quite laid back and I think it should be a good chemistry of people working together. They have what they need to do the job there and to add some resources from Volvo Cars in Sweden and Polestar I think is really good.”

Dahl admitted there was a chance that a Polestar driver could race for the V8 Supercars operation, although he downplayed any expectation it might happen in the near future.

“There is talk but I think we want continuity when you go into this, you want the drivers that have done the Championship before so you have continuity in the feedback.”