Swedish sweep
The brand new 2017 Volvo S90 is securely luxurious
It is very difficult looking at the 2017 Volvo S90, which is their new flagship, to recall when even the president of Volvo referred to their cars as “slab-sided.”
This full-sized luxury car is a new class of car for Volvo.
The Swedes simply never thought of their products as luxury vehicles, they considered them luxuriously capable cars. But with the S90, they are prepared to call it a luxury car and aim at getting five percent of the mid-luxury sedan market.
The S 90 is a very attractive car us-ing a sweeping design, with along hood, as any self-respecting car of this class will have. The front wheel has been moved forward and the front fascia is an update of the classic Volvo look, with a scalloped grille inspired by the classic Volvo P1800.
Volvo’s designer, Tisha Johnson, says this comes from Volvo’s design attitude, which says to look back and then aim forward. From every angle the S90 looks modern and highend. Its proportions are pleasing and watching it coming at you or going away from you requires taking a closer look at it.
This is particularly true of the front face, because the “Thor’s Hammer” running lights are as dynamic as the first time they appeared on an Audi. With every car now having them, it’s tough to do something remarkable, but with another Volvo behind me most of the day during our drive, I was surprised by how often my eye was drawn to the car’s face.
When it comes to the interior you don’t have to bean interior designer to see this is a delightful modern
Scandinavian design. Its chief interior designer was the aforementioned Tisha Johnson, and she calls the cabin a “Scandinavian Sanctuary.” Jim Nicholas, the US product and technology spokesman, says this type of cabin is a good idea, because these days commuting is the biggest block of “alone time” for many people.
This Volvo’s interior lines are smooth and flow with an aesthetic which is both sparse but elegant. The seats are most comfortable and infinitely adjustable. As you would expect it is extremely quiet in the car, probably the most important quality to define a luxury car. the dashboard is the most creative and usable of the current crop of luxury cars. Granted it’s not a Bentley or Rolls Royce interior, but it almost could be.
The most noticeable feature of the interior is the huge screen in the
middle of the dashboard. It’s as big as an iPad, and works surprisingly like one. Granted, you can’ t pick it up and take it with you, but the manner in which you control the many features of the car will be familiar.
Not only do you use the screen to control things, there also aren’t any buttons alongside the screen. Instead the air vents create a strong vertical statement. Driving through the wilds of Long Island as far as one car get from New York City, the holiday traffic was so thick that we had plenty of time to play with the toys – I mean features – available inside. The sound system was top-notch, truly a pleasure to listen to.
It is a Bowers & Wilkins system, and the sound engineers attempted to duplicate the sound from the Gothenburg Concert Hall with the system’s 19 speakers in the cabin. The depth of the music was exceptional, and we were listening to satellite radio, not the highest technical quality since it is compressed digital material.
The Volvo’ s system did an excellentjob of“opening up” the music, so the louds were louder, and the softs were quieter. The controls were easy to use. The other infotainment features were equally clear.
There were some driving toys to play with as well.
This Volvo is all about luxury but doesn’t forsake the safety the Swedish brand is famous for. Volvo is proud that it is the first manufacturer to have their Semi-Autonomous Pilot Assist II as standard equipment. This is a system which “helps” with steering, acceleration and braking based on what it sees and senses. American law requires that it must be a hands-on-the-wheel process.
Unfortunately, I was unable to let the car drive itself down the road. But a part of it, the lane-keeping assist feature did work. In fact, it seemed to bring the car not only back towards the center of the lane, but seemed a bit more aggressive in its steering angle.
Volvo was happy that I didn’t get to experience their Large-Animal Detection with Auto Brake feature. The same held true for their Road Edge Detection& Run-off Road Protection, another assist to help drivers not do dumb things.
The animal detection system – which isn’t to be referred to as the Moose Misser – joins other radar and camera-based safety systems, including the City Safety and Blind Spot Information System. These combine to detect vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and now large animals to avoid or reduce the impact with them.
But the S90’s safety doesn’t just come from its electronics. The S90 uses 35 percent hot-formed boron steel in its body weight. This, says Volvo is the strongest type of steel currently used in automotive body construction.
Like many luxury cars, the Volvo offers all-wheel drive and seems to be ready to do anything, but to do it with confident discretion. It isn’t a sport sedan, but handles the way you expect and anticipate in this kind of car. There will be a more performance model called the Polestar coming, probably next year.
Three engine choices will eventually be offered on the S90. All of them are version soft he same 2.0- liter four cylinder engines. The T 5 has a turbocharged engine, which produces 250 hp. and 258 lb.-ft. of peak torque. The T6 engine is both turbocharged and supercharged, producing 316 hp. and 295 lb.-ft. of peak torque.
Since superchargers provide power at lower speed both it and the turbocharger are active. Then when the engine speed is above 3500 rpm the turbo takes over by itself. The power gets to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.