Volvo the famous Swedish brand which once upon a time boosted itself as the safest car has now revamped their design entirely and the new iteration of Volvo has surely surprised everyone defining Swedish luxury cars at it’s best. The boastful XC 90 is spacious, comfortable, luxurious with integrated modern technologies that will just make you want this car.
All Volvo cars are just 4 cylinders 2.0 litre yet they perform so well, thanks to their combination of Turbo and Super charged Engines. Specifications of the XC90 T6 tested would be
- Engine – Direct-Injected Turbocharged & Supercharged
- Number of Cylinders – 4
- Engine Displacement – 2.0 Liters
- Horsepower – 320 HP
- Fuel Capacity – 18.8 gal
- Cargo Capacity – 85.7
- Seating Capacity – 7 passengers
It’s amazing how they have well thought a fuel efficient design yet it has a kick and strength of a powerful V6 | V8 or atleast you don’t feel you are driving a less powerful car. It’s about power and efficiency. The XC90 feels light as opposed to the BMW X5.
R-Design gives the XC90 a performance inspired look both inside and outside. There is an imposing road presence. The new LED Thor inspired hammer headlights on the Volvo XC90 gives it a distinctive look on the road. The 20inch 5-spoke diamond cut alloy wheels also makes a strong impression.
THE XC90 interiors reminds me of the Jaguar F-pace which is a simple and clutter free design. Everything is straight forward covered by quality fabric and cross brushed aluminium inlays. Center console is slightly tilted for the convenience of the driver. The seats are comfortable and ergonomically designed. R-design have special mats, contrasting stitched seats, steering wheel with perforated leather with carbon fibre inlays. You can also find gearshift paddles mounted behind the steering wheel.
Active Bending Lights
As you steer, the headlights turn to illuminate the curve ahead. Advanced LED light technology allows a supremely wide and long light pattern. The system uses a camera at the upper edge of the windshield to detect the headlights of oncoming vehicles or the taillights of a vehicle directly ahead. When this happens, the headlights will automatically switch from high beams to low beams. When the camera no longer detects the headlights/ taillights of other vehicles, headlights will switch back to high beams after several seconds.
LED Headlights with Thor’s Hammer Daytime Running Lights & Active High Beam
-No need to switch between low/high beam as headlights stay on high beam all the time. When another car approaches from the opposite direction, the system prevents dazzling the other driver switching to low beam.
City Safety
City Safety is a support system designed to help the driver avoid low speed collisions when driving in slow-moving, stop-and-go traffic. City Safety is active from 2.5 mph.
-Applies the brakes automatically, thereby avoiding or helping to reduce the effects of a collision.
-The system will not intervene in situations where the driver actively steers the vehicle or applies the brakes.
Brake Pedal Release
In certain frontal collisions, the brake pedal is designed to release and move down to the floor to help reduce the risk for injuries on the right foot and leg when the foot is on the brake pedal. This Volvo safety innovation is triggered by the same sensors that activate the safety belt pre-tensioners and airbags when needed.
Blind Spot Information System and Cross Traffic Alert
As a vehicle enters your blind spot, this function can alert you via a warning light built into the front door post – left and right. BLIS is activated once the car exceeds 6 mph and reacts to almost any type of vehicle, including motorcycles. To be honest, their bind spot alerts from the side mirrors have not been effective as I noticed as a driver we don’t easily notice the flashing light quickly. I think they needs to have lights a little larger in design to notice it better. Cross Traffic Alert uses rear sensors to alert you of crossing traffic from the sides when reversing out of a parking space.
Front Center Armrest and Storage
The Front Center has two cup holders and a 12 volt power outlet. Lift up the arm rest and you will find AUX, CD player and USB inputs to connect external devices.
You are looking at an R-design steering wheel, hand-stitched leather-wrapped steering wheel in uni-deco trim. The zig zag stitching on the steering has a good feel.
Lane Keeping Aid
The Lane keeping Aid functionality will gently steer the car back to keep the car in lane if the car seems to cross the lane without using any indicator assuming that you have lost control or careless. You can see the steering wheel in control by itself. Digital camera is used to register the lane markings and help monitor the car’s position on the road. If you use an indicator while crossing the lane then there will be no intervention.
Sensus Touchscreen
The 9 inch touch screen in the center of the dashboard is the infotainment hub with convenient apps for entertainment, navigation, control, connectivity and service. The touch sensitivity is fluid and didn’t face any issue. You can swipe and across. There is also a button to take to you the home screen anytime. Pretty much like the iphone and the touch screen works very well.
Bowers & Wilkins Premium Sound
It doesn’t matter where you sit in the XC90, Bowers & Wilkins Premium Sound brings in awesome clarity and realism to the music played in the car. A 12-channel amplifier with 1400W output and 19 separate high-end speakers – including a top center speaker that minimizes acoustic reflection from the windshield. There are three room modes allowing you to recreate the acoustics of a specific room. Speaker Panels can be visible in stainless steel and speaker cones are visible through the mesh.
The leather sports seats have been comfortable. The power seat controls for the front seats is a simple one. The interesting feature of the seats would be integrated Center booster cushion for kids. Something that you don’t see in other cars.
Integrated, Center Booster Cushion
Volvo booster cushion can be adjusted to two heights as the children grow. When the booster seat is not needed, they’re easily folded into the rear seat cushions. The benefit of the booster cushion seats being, the kids can easily see the view by sitting at an elevated height and also they are now perfectly inside the seat belt.
Power Child Locks
I love this feature. Never have to worry about the child locks and not having to get up and physically check lock/unlock from the passenger door. Conveniently control the child locks from the drivers seat for the passenger doors. The power child locks enable you to conveniently lock the rear doors and rear power windows from the driver’s seat and prevent them from being opened from the inside.
Flat-Folding Three-Split Rear Seat
Each passenger seat backrest on the second row can be folded individually. You can also fold down part or all of the three-split rear seat and you’ll have easy access to a spacious load compartment with a completely flat load surface. And by folding flat the middle seat backrest, you can transport long loads while still carrying passengers. Finally, for added comfort and versatility, the seats in the second row can slide forward for even more load space
The front door sill moulding in aluminium adds an exclusive touch every time you enter your Volvo. Open the front door, and the Volvo logo embedded in the footstep lights up together with the interior lighting. This one you see above is an R-design special.
The climate controls for the passengers are pretty cool with touch screen controls. They add an elegance to the back. The rear AC can also be controlled by the driver in the front if needed. Moreover the rear passengers also enjoy air vents from the side pillars inside the Volvo XC 90.
4-Zone Electronic Climate System
-Cabin climate settings are easily controlled using intuitive touch screen controls – via the central in-dash touch screen.
-This climate system also includes air-conditioned cooling of the glove compartment – very convenient to keep drinks or other heat-sensitive stuff cool and fresh during the journey.
Third Row Air Conditioning
The system complements the four-zone climate system and provides an air temperature that follows the second row settings. Separate, adjustable air vents in the roof pillars make it possible for the passengers to regulate the airflow themselves. The separate air conditioning is activated from the central touch screen. It can also be activated when the third row seats are folded and you for example have a pet in the load compartment.
12.3″ Digital Driver Display
The 12.3″ driver display intuitively shows relevant driver information – including navigation directions, telephone and actual road signs. The display layout adapts to how you use it, and you have four graphic modes to choose from. Right in front of the driver, the display features two large round instruments and one central information display. If you use the navigation system, that display becomes bigger. To make it comfortable for your eyes, the driver display’s brightness automatically adjusts to the exterior light.
Graphical Head-up Display
The graphical head-up display presents the most vital driver information as it’s hovering in front of the windshield. You can keep your eyes on the traffic at the same time as you share information from the navigation system. The brightness of the head-up display adapts automatically to the light conditions, and you can set the system to suit your own personal preferences.
Road Sign Information
A forward camera detects speed limit, “no overtaking”, “no entry” and various types of supplementary signs. The actual sign is then displayed in either the speedometer, the head-up display (if equipped) – or Sensus Navigation in the center console to help keep you constantly alert on current restrictions. I haven’t found this feature to be accurate. Many a times it has given wrong information specially when it came to speed limits. Something you need to watch out and they need to improve.
Panoramic Roof
The power-operated panoramic roof adds a superb experience of airiness and light inside the Volvo. For ventilation, the front section opens or tilts at the push of a button. A power-operated sunshade in perforated textile reduces glare on sunny days. The sunshade also maintains the airy feel inside the cabin.
Navigation System
Volvo’s Navigation can be voice controlled or steering wheel controlled. Road directions are shown in the driver display and center display. Their maps seems to be limited, I couldn’t find many places in their navigation system.
360º Surround View Camera
An excellent feature in the car. Makes it’s so convenient to park this big SUV anywhere. With 360° camera you can see a bird’s eye view of the area surrounding your Volvo. Very useful when maneuvering or reversing in tight areas. You can even see what’s going around the corner at a 180° side view in front or at the rear of your car.
Park Assist Camera – Rear
The Park Assist Camera helps display what’s going on behind your car. The system uses the integrated driver’s information screen and a digital camera discretely located over the license plate. On-screen guiding lines provide extra assistance for smooth parking.
Parking is now made further easy by Volvo Park Assist feature. The SUV can automatically find and park the car for you. The Park Assist can also take the car out of a parking as well.
Park Assist Pilot with Front Park Assist
Park Assist Pilot makes parking enjoyable. It measures the parking space and parks your car by taking over the steering. It handles both parallel and perpendicular parking and can also assist when leaving a tight parking space.
Park Assist Rear
Activated when you engage reverse gear, rear park assist helps you when reversing into tight spaces. The audio system is turned down and a pulsating sound from the rear loudspeakers becomes a continuous tone as you approach an obstacle. The remaining distance is also shown in the center console color display. I personally hate the pulsating sound it really worries you unnecessarily.
There’s plenty of space for everyone and surely the Volvo XC90 is here to stay. It’s a promising car delivered by Volvo and future is looking good for this model. Click here to visit the official Volvo page. Click pictures below to see them in full screen view:
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