Volvo’s head-turner has it all

IT WAS the late Deon du Plessis who coined the phrase “racing nanny”. It was a typical left-handed compliment from the man who would go on to found and publish the Daily Sun. In typical Du Plessisspeak it meant a vehicle that was as safe as houses, but could mix it with the best of them.

For those of us of a certain age, Volvos traditionally were museum exhibits – until the end of apartheid 22 years ago when the floodgates opened. Swedish aid workers all drove them, those in the know aspired to them.

Recently I drove my first Volvo, an XC90. It was everything I’d hoped it would be: safe as houses, with oodles of power, all underpinned by the marque’s high-quality renaissance and plenty of mod cons.

I didn’t stretch it much. I was happy just to sit back and drive all the way to the Berg, snug inside as the temperatures plummeted outside. Speed control and the wellintegrated centre console of entertainment, GPS, Bluetooth phone pairing and (for a first time for me) a touch-screen aircon system meant I didn’t have much to worry about.

The front seats were heated, with three memory settings – a boon for multiple drivers or just one driver with a range of needs on a long trip to ease an aching back.

I’ve been a sucker for head-up displays ever since my first experience in a BMW and the XC90’s was no disappointment, particularly as an aid to maintaining speed under the often Machiavellian speed limits on Free State roads, with the added benefit of a head-up micro GPS for lane selections on motorways.

The XC90 is specced as a fiveseater, with two extra jump seats in the boot that could be deployed in seconds. The jump seats were very generous, with room for a young teenager, if not a full-grown adult. Access in and out was easily mas- tered. The boot is compromised by the use of the third row, but given its gargantuan space to start with, you’re still left with enough space if you pack carefully. It really comes into its own if you split the sixth and seventh seats in the back, creating an L-shaped boot.

The tailgate is automated, with the added benefit of being able to close automatically and lock the car at the touch of a button, while the vehicle is unlocked by just bringing the key within range. Likewise, the engine is started by turning a knob on the centre console.

Aesthetically, the XC90 is a big vehicle, but with the necessary sensors to help park, as well as a 360-degree bird’s-eye camera format and another particularly clear and accurate rear-view camera.

The vehicle under test was a front-wheel-drive D4 Momentum, which lists at R865 524, but with the extras this one had, came in at R946 150. Powered by a 2.0- litre twin- turbo, with an eight- speed automatic gearbox, there was more than enough power (140kW/400Nm) to keep it competitive on the open road and nippy in town while remaining almost parsimonious at the fuel tank.

I didn’t get the claimed 5.2 litres combined per 100km, but did manage under 8l/100km, with which I was extremely impressed.

Add that to the 71-litre tank and even with my heavy foot I was able to drive to the Drakensberg and back on a single tank of diesel.

As for the racing nanny sobriquet, this is a vehicle with a mindstretching array of safety mod cons.

Over and above the seven airbags and the usual alphabet soup – there’s day and night pedestrian and cyclist detection, “run-off road mitigation with impact absorbing seats”, front- collision warning with full auto brake, autobrake at intersections for oncoming traffic, lane departure warnings and LED bending headlights for when you corner.

Granted you’re spending almost R1 million for the car under test, but it’s a head-turner too. A posse of policemen manning a roadblock outside Harrismith positively salivated over the vehicle while the security guard in an office parking mall was in raptures.

It’s rare when cars elicit that type of response, especially when they’re not particularly gorgeous. Then again, maybe it’s the “racing nanny” that unlocks that repressed emotion in us. ● Warranty: 5-year/100 000km Maintenance: 5-year/100 000km full maintenance plan

The Volvo XC90 is safe as houses, with oodles of power, great fuel economy and a mind-stretching array of safety mod cons.