Volvo that almost drives itself
THE Volvo S90 is just about the nearest thing you can get to a self-driving car at the moment.
The Swedish company has always majored on safety, but the new flagship saloon has just about everything.
It’s suite of safety and driver assistance equipment comes under the Intellisafe banner and includes an adaptive cruise control system with a thing called Pilot Assist.
This clever gizmo – should you want it to – can take over accelerator, steering and brakes meaning that all the driver has to do is keep their hands on the wheel.
The car will slow down and speed up in traffic jams completely autonomously.
Of course, there is also the usual range of other electronic help, including blindspot and lane departure warning, plus City Safety, which is an automatic emergency braking system that can detect pedestrians, cyclists and large animals in the road ahead.
Added to these is Volvo’s latest – and very good – self-parking system.
I drove the D5 R-Design from the middle of the simple three-model range, which has four-wheel drive (4WD) as standard when fitted with the higher output twin turbo 2.0-litre diesel boasting 231bhp.
There are no purely petrol engines in the range. Apart from the two diesels, there is one hybrid petrol/electric called the T8.
All models drive through an eight-speed automatic gearbox and the pairing works extremely well in the R-Design.
Gear changes are almost imperceptible and the engine is very quiet and refined even when pressed – just as it should be.
The road holding is excellent for a car that’s nearly five metres long, with well controlled roll and excellent grip.
There’s plenty of space up front and in the back, where two adults can stretch out with ease. Headroom is good and legroom even better.
The Volvo S90 D5 R-Design I drove costs £42,860.