From a French point of view (wonderful roads, merciless police), for a family car, 200-250 hp seems fair. I’ve owned many VW, Audi, Bimmers, Volvo, etc... mostly in their diesel wagon form, ranking from the 2004 116hp Audi A4 (nice interior, worth the wait...) to the absurd BMW 335d (286hp and bazillions of torque),…

Exactly.

Jean Pierre Beltoise, Monaco 1972 win.

There are some videos on youtube showing these laps from the outside, where you can see this raging bull way beyond the track limits, entering each and every corner with 4 wheels sliding. With a 750hp 1,5 ton car on this particular track, it should automatically give a Titanium-Carbide Balls award for the pilot…

The Peugeot 205 Rallye: the end of carb engines . An ultra lightweight (790kg) hot hatch (103hp @ 7200rpm), with a saucy 1.3 four-pot with two Weber twin carbs. It was intended as a low-cost Group N racer for the 1300 class. It had no right mirror, no rear wipe, no clock, no AC, no power-nothing. It had wheels (small,…

In this side of the pond, economy turbos are not really for economy, they are for environment saving purpose. Distinction between these two points is merely marketing. And CO2 tests are completely dumb and pointless. See, an over 900 hp Porsche 918 is rated for CO2 emissions of 70g/km while my 1.6 diesel VW is rated…

Touchscreens.

As a happy 2012 V60 D5 customer, all I can say is it has the best seats I’ve ever been into. Driving from Paris to Rome or Glasgow is a breeze, and you arrive relaxed and comfy. If you choose your phone nav instead of Volvo’s. And if you didn’t try to listen to the radio. Seriously, infotainment isn’t just dated. It…

Owning a V60 D5 as a replacement to a Mk7 Golf TDI 150, I respectfully disagree for the practical aspect. The Golf’s trunk is hardly roomy enough for two ewoks backpacks, while the V60 easily handles 8 ft Ikea packs and allows you to bring back the person who helped you lifting it.

After having owned (here in France) a Golf GTD mk6 (a very nice car but a bit tiny for my familial needs), replaced by a BMW 330D touring (very nice, but shameful service in the area), then a Golf 7 TDI 150 (which is very different from the GTD, lacking any sportiness), and actually a Volvo V60 D5, thanks to Jalopnik,…

Ticket prices on these highly competitive distances are close, but the TGV brings you to the center of major cities. You jump off the train, go downstairs, and take the subway. Simple as this. Speaking from a business meetings p.o.v., the only places where it’s still faster by plane are the Toulouse and Montpellier…

French TGV, which is 17mph slower, can ride high speed on its dedicated LGV (lignes à grande vitesse, high speed routes), and has the ability to ride standard speed everywhere else. Usually, the TGV starts from a central Paris station towards another city speeding on its track, then, form this city, it goes further on…

As frenchies, my wife and I spent some summer vacations in Italy during the last 5 years: Tuscany, next year Rome then Venice, and last year, the northen lakes region. Each time we went there by car (our usual station wagons way more practical to carry all the kids stuff than an airplane luggage). I must have driven…