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2 0 0 7 Volvo S80
R e v ie w
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lev‘ews on new motor vehicles
Scandinavian Luxury = Sex Appeal
AWD Sedan
by
^ se rv e r
May 9, 2007
K athleen C arr
T o keep pace in the ultra-com
petitive mid-size luxury car segment,
Volvo has introduced the revam ped
S80. V olvo is trying to capture
"S c a n d in a v ia n lu x u ry ,” w hich
translates into sex appeal. It may
not cause gossip and com m otion
am ong valet parkers, but its much
sleeker design captures the eye.
T he 2007 S 80 is kind o f like
C inderella and her hom ely stepsis
ter ( the boxy old Volvo 2 4 0 's), at the
ball. It's hard to believe the same
com pany produced both cars.
The second generation S80 rep
resents V olvo w ith understated
suave-style, beginning w ith the
com pact and sophisticated front
grille, turn signals integrated ink)
the side m irrors and prom inent
"pow er bulge” in the hood, which
looks good and helps to absorb the
impact during an accident.
Hop inside the new S80, and
you'll think Volvo should win the
Nobel Prize for understated el
egance with wood trim, leather up
holstery and upgraded instrum en
tation. Everything is so cleanly and
smartly laid with the controls being
intuitive, that sitting behind the
wheel has an overall calm ing effect.
The interior exudes the essence o f
Specifications: 4.4-Liter, 8-Cylinder, 311-Hp @ 5950 RPM & 325 Ibs.-ft. Torque @ 3950 RPM Engine: AWD, Geatronic 6-Speed
Automatic Transmission w/Adaptive Shift Logic: 17-City 25-Highway MPG; $56,025 MSRP
Scandinavian luxury.
The 2007 S80 is loaded with
luxury features such as eight-w ay
pow er front seats, dual-zone auto
matic climate control, eight-speaker
stereo with an in-dash C D changer
and I-pod player jack, Bluetooth
and one-touch pow er w indow s.
The S80 V8 has the wider 17-inch
wheels and tires, an electronic park
ing brake and an air quality control
system (which monitors incoming
air for contam inants and switches
to recirculation if necessary).
The Volvo S8OV8 offers up more
pow er in the form o f a 4.4-liter V8
rated for 31 l-hp and 325 Ib-ft o f
The S80 V8 uses a 6-speed auto
torque. Because o f the car's overall matic, which al lows the pow er to go
understated vibe, we were shocked to all four w heels via the electroni
at its grow ling engine when throt cally controlled all-w heel-drive.
tling up to the im pressive pow er G rip and handling were outstand
provided by the vibrant V8 engine. ing in the 2007 Volvo S80 AW D,
The V8 will d o 0-60 in 6 seconds, not providing the luxury o f a smooth
a small feat to accom plish.
quiet ride.
For 2(X)7, V olvo has upped the
safety ante. Such features as radar-
enhanced adaptive cruise control
system , w hich sounds a collision
w arning alerting drivers when they
are follow ing too close to the ve
hicle in front o f them, has been
added to the Volvo safety lineup.
Other safety features include front-
seat side airbags, full-length side
curtain airbags, anti-whiplash front
head restraints and tire-pressure
monitoring. Run-flat tires are optional,
along with the Blind Spot Informa
tion System, which uses cam eras to
monitor traffic toeither-sidefor prob
lems, then warns drivers o f the peril
with illum inated w arning lamps
mounted near the side mirrors.
Volvo takes great effort and pride
in being a safety leader in the indus
try., even providing exceptional and
extremely cool (if not a bit paranoid)
personal safety features such as the
Personal C om m unicator System.
When activated, it will inform ow n
ers o f the current status o f the S80
from up to a 300 foot distance, and is
equipped with a heartbeat sensor
alerting owners if someone is hiding
in the car.
The 2007 Volvo S80 is not all Hash
and show; the extrem e safety fea
tures probably w on' t make your heart
race, but the$56k sticker may make it
skip a short beat. Yet it is a Volvo,
which in Scandinavian, must trans
late as dependable, durable, safe and
sexy!
Gift to Preserve Peninsula Rose Garden
Historic park
gets help from
Neil Kelly,
Rejuvenation
This A ugust, Portland Parks &
Recreation wi 11 start a m ajor preser
vation project at the 94-year old
Peninsula Park Rose G arden in
north Portland, funded in part by a
$50,000 jo in t gift from Neil Kelly
C om pany and Rejuvenation, Inc.,
two long-tim e Portland com panies.
This much needed project will
restore broken and aging masonry
in the park's garden, known for its
I (X)-year-old fountain, collection of
nearly 9,(X)0 roses and for its cel
ebrated bandstand once used for
W orld W ar I patriotic dem onstra
tions.
T he gift to the P ortland Parks
F oundation w ill support the c o n
struction o f tw o ram ps leading up
from the garden to the h isto ri
cally d esig n ated b andstand. T he
new co n stru ctio n will carefu lly
The historic Rose Garden at Peninsula Park in north Portland.
p rese rv e the h isto ric in teg rity o f
the orig in al brick and sto n ew o rk
o f the park.
One part of a multi-phase project,
the ramps are anticipated to be com
pleted by this October.
St. Johns Parade,
Bazaar on Saturday
O n S atu rd ay . M ay 12, St.
Jo hns w ill be the place to be on
S aturday, M ay 12 as the north
Portland com m unity hosts its
annual parade and throw s in a
festival o f arts, cra fts, live m u
sic and food.
T he parade will take over
L om bard S treet in h o n o r o f
co m m u n ity volu n teers, b eg in
ning at noon at R o osevelt H igh
S chool and endin g at St. Jo h n s
PI aza on the co rn er o f L om bard
and P hilad elp h ia. T he festival
takes p lace at the p laza from 10
a.m . to 6 p.m .
T AND C AUTO SALES
• LICENSED
• BONDED
• INSURED
Tim Wilson
503-550-3841
This Week’s Special
1998 Chev Lumina
$2495
" L e a s t E x p e n siv e an d the e le a n e st in to w n ”
Sell me your car before you
accept less at the dealership.
I ’ll give you cash in hand.
"If I D on’t Have It In Stock, / Will Get It For Yon! ”
"Thanks to this generous gift,”
said Zari Santner, parks bureau d i
rector, “people with disabilities will
be able to have, for the very first
tim e, easy access up from the gar
den to the bandstand by m eans of
these new ramps.
The gift w as given in recogni
tion o f the 60th anniversary o f Neil
Kelly Co., a regional design/build
rem odeler, custom homes builder
and hom e repair firm , and the 30th
anniversary o f Rejuvenation, Inc.,
a m anufacturer and national direct
m arketer o f authentic reproduction
lighting and house parts.
It also honors Neil Kelly, who
taught his eight children, including
sons Tom and Jim , the im portance
o f com m unity service as they grew
up and entered the business world.
Tom Kelly is president o f Neil Kelly
C om pany;Jim Kelly is founderand
CE O o f Rejuvenation, Inc.
R eju v en atio n and N eil K elly
em p lo y ees w ill also d o n ate th eir
tim e and la b o r to th e p ro je c t
th ro u g h the co m p an ies' D ay o f
S erv ice program s.
"T he Kelly fam ily has long been
in volved in P o rtla n d ’s co m m u
nity life, e sp ec ially in the north
P ortland n eig h b o rh o o d s. O u r fa
th er N eil w as p assio n ate ab o u t
seeing the A lb in a area re v ita l
iz e d .” n oted T om K elly.
Jim
K e lly
added:
"R eju v en atio n 's first store was on
A lbina A venue, and I lived up
stairs. And our first com pany pic
nic was al Peninsula Park. So this
project excited both Tom and me -
a gift that is an investm ent in the
com m unity’s future, provides ac
cess to all and honors our architec
tural heritage.”
T he P en in su la Park R ose G a r
den is P o rtlan d 's o ld est public
form al rose garden. C o m p leted in
1913, m uch rem ain s o f the o rig i
nal featu res, in clu d in g the la n
te rn -sty le stree tlig h ts, the stone
p illars, vast b rick w o rk and the
nearly 100- y ea r-o ld fo u n tain in
the ce n te r o f the garden.
U pon en terin g the park from
A in sw o rth S treet and A lb in a A v
en u e, v isito rs are g ree ted by
m a g n ifice n t p la n tin g s o f 65
rose v arieties w hich b o rd er the
steps lead in g to the sun k en rose
gard en , the only one in O regon.
T h e o ctag o n al b an d stan d o v e r
lo oking the rose g arden w as c o n
stru cted in 1913 and is now the
site for m any su m m er w ed d in g s
an d c o n c e rts. T h is w o n d e rfu l
g azebo-like structure is a N ational
H eritag e h isto rical stru ctu re and
w as d esig n ated a P o rtlan d H is
to ric L an d m ark in 1973. It is the
last o f its kind in P ortland.
Harris’ New Vision for Jefferson
continued
fro m M etro
com m unity,” H arris says.
W ith Dudley gone, she w ants to
change the tone from earlier this
y ea r w hen she sent a n o te to
Jefferson staff saying, “T here are
N O T to be any reporters in the
building or any interview s unless
they are approved by Mr. D udley
or Mrs. Harris. It will be docum ented
if you do not follow this directive.”
O ptim ism about a sustainable
educational program at Jefferson is
relum ing for Andrew Kulak, who
has taught English at the school for
seven years.
“ We will not have to spend so
much time scram bling with each
reinvention if students are able to
collaborate," he says.
Students like A kela A uer think
that school adm inistrators need to
address Jefferso n 's "lab rat” sta
tus in the district.
“Jefferson is one o f the best-
funded Portland Public Schools,
but it's not evident in w hat we
need,” she says. "D udley dug our
hole a little deeper instead o f just
leaving when no one liked him ."
H a rris n o w o c c u p ie s th e
p rincipal's office that contained
Dudley, and his m aterials, ju st one
month ago.
PHOTO BY R WMONI) K e NDLEMA n ZT i IE PORTLAND OBSERVER
Officially leaving for medical rea Jefferson High School Interim Principal Cynthia Harris chats with
sons, Dudley may return: Harris student LaQuana Price in a science class taught by Russ
w o u ld n 't co m m en t fu rth e r on Steinbach (in background).
I
D u d ley 's “personnel m atter," but
she looks elsew here for leadership
inspiration.
“W hen I cam e in, and [departing
superi n tendent | Vicki | Phi 11 i ps | was
here, I was totally im pressed with
her, so w e’ll continue her good
w ork,” she says.
Phillips’ decision to leave before
fully im plem enting academ ies at
Jefferson has been intensely criti
cized, but H arris will try to carry
forw ard the current plan.
She is not w orried by the fact
that the Young M en 's A cadem y
has so far only attracted 50 o f the
250 expected applications.
“ W e 're w illing to start out w ith
a sm all g ro u p ,” she says. Y oung
W o m e n 's A cad em y a d m in istra
to r A urora L ora “ had a little m ore
tim e for h er p la n ," w hich has a t
tracted 180 ap p licatio n s.
A large percentage o f Jefferson's
560 students have learning disabili
ties and com e from low -incom e or
foster homes. But people involved
with Jefferson consistently see their
num ber I problem as perception.
Young M en 's A cadem y adm inis
trator Willie Holmes says, “We have
to stick together to protect o u r
selves from the inaccuracies."
Harris thinks that a better repu
tation will begin with the “spiritual
freedom o f the Jefferson co m m u
n ity " arising through d ialogue.
“ I' ve learned you have to utilize the
com m unity brain," she says.
I