Volvo Car Corporation calls all pirates, scallywags and treasure fanatics to join The Hunt!, a competition is in connection with the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which opens in theatres on May 25. The company earlier announced the online search for a sunken treasure chest containing $50,000 in gold pieces and the keys to a new Volvo XC90 luxury SUV will begin May 4 and the company is challenging Canadians and registrants from 21 other countries to find it.
The online hunt is the second in Volvo's partnership with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise and it's the first time the competition has been open to Canadians. Last year's program was limited to residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and Austria. In addition to the US, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom are participating in The Hunt.
To join Volvo's The Hunt, participants 18 years of age and older must visit a Volvo retailer to pick up a special pirate chart and register at www.volvocanada.com/thehunt any time between May 4 and May 29. Once registered, participants set sail on a virtual high seas adventure and receive clues as they solve a series of challenging and fun online puzzles. People can join The Hunt at any time through May 29, and can catch up with other participants if they correctly answer the puzzles posted online. As the contest progresses, the puzzles will become increasingly harder to solve.
On June 2, the first person from each of the 22 participating countries to finish the online hunt will compete against one another in one final online challenge. To participate in the global head to head, players will be required to present an original pirate chart upon conclusion of The Hunt. Winners will only be eligible if they can produce the pirate chart.
The first of those 22 individuals to solve the final puzzle will be named the winner and will receive a trip to the burial location to retrieve the chest filled with $50,000 in pirate gold and a key to a brand new Volvo XC90.
"Last summer, we held a treasure hunt to find a buried Volvo XC90 V8 to tie in with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and were blown away by the success - more than 100,000 participants from around the world joined in," said Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager for Volvo Cars of North America. "This year, with more countries, more booty and all the early interest, we're really excited to set sail.' So, come join The Hunt!"
The Volvo brand has already established a reputation for comfort, safety and longevity. And such qualities are imbibed in the XC90, a mid-size luxury crossover SUV. It is based on the Volvo P2 platform, shared with the S80 and other larger Volvos. For this model year, the XC90 was updated to cover refined parts accessories like the , subtly-restyled front and rear, and a more comfy interior.
According to Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, US study showed that Volvo's safety has been slipping. Additionally, Finland's Safety Technology Authority (TUKES) stressed that of Volvo 440 and 460's structure manufactured between 1993 and 1995 had caused several cases of flare-ups during refueling. Dan Johnston, Volvo's spokesman, denied that the company's vehicles are any less safe than the Institute's top-rated vehicles. He said, "It's just a philosophy on safety that is different from building cars to pass these kinds of tests."
In a review, Edmunds.com stated, "The XC90 is well-stocked with standard features. Among them are dual-zone climate control, a power driver seat, steering wheel-mounted stereo controls, one-touch up and down front windows and a roof rack (cross bars are optional)." However, it added, "While around-town driving poses few problems, we found the engine tended to get out of breath while climbing grades, even though altitude doesn't affect for turbocharged motors nearly as much as naturally-aspirated ones."
What reviewers liked most about the vehicle is the fact that "ride motions are tidily controlled, the ZF rack-and-pinion steering reacts and reads back faithfully, and the chassis feels stable and predictable."
But the best one liner about the XC90 was uttered by the Car and Driver. It said, "When a car company whose name means 'I roll' in Latin plans a foray into the world of sport-utility vehicles, you can bet there's some serious review of the issues." AutoWeek further noted, "Like gazillions of soccer moms nationwide, we've succumbed to crossoveritis. So much so we've added Volvo's new upmarket SUV, the XC90, to the AutoWeek long-term fleet"
