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Special steel in roof structure
If the XC90 rolls over, the passive safety systems step in. The goal is to reduce the risk of the occupants’ heads from coming into contact with the vehicle’s interior roof panel or sides. Parts of the roof structure are reinforced with extremely tough boron steel, which is four – five times stronger than normal steel.
All the seats are equipped with seat belt pretensioners to hold the occupants securely in place. In order to help prevent the head from striking the car’s sides, the XC90 is equipped with Volvo’s Inflatable Curtain (IC). The IC also helps prevent the occupants from being ejected in an accident. In the XC90, all three rows of seats in the 7-seat version are protected by the IC.
Selfless compatibility
The problem of compatibility – when a tall SUV collides with a car that sits closer to the road surface – was in firm focus throughout the development of the XC90. The typical SUV has a high ground clearance and thus often comes with high-positioned bumpers. This may create a greater risk of damage to the oncoming passenger car and more serious injuries to its passengers, since the lower car’s protective beams and crumple zones simply slip below the front of the SUV without being activated.
In order to reduce the risk of this type of injury, the front suspension subframe in the XC90 is supplemented with a lower cross-member, positioned at the height of the beam in a conventional car. This lower beam is integrated into the XC90’s structure and is neatly concealed behind the spoiler. This construction reduces risk of injuries in frontal collisions as well as in rear-end impacts and side impacts. The lower cross-member strikes the oncoming car’s protective structure, activating its crumple zone as intended so the occupants can be given the maximum level of protection.
Night Vision
Volvo is the first European carmaker to offer Night Vision as an option. The infra-red technology in the XC90 allows the driver to see up to 5 times further than is possible with conventional low beam. The aim is to boost active safety when driving at night, making it possible to see people and animals earlier.
Night Vision uses a heat-sensitive camera that is fitted just below the headlamp on the left side, about 70 cm above the road surface. The camera registers the infra-red radiation that is given off by the surroundings, generating a video image whereby warm objects such as people and animals are shown as light objects against a dark background. The images are projected onto a mirror display measuring 70×180 mm, which is positioned directly in the driver’s natural field of vision. When the Night Vision function is not being used, the display retracts into the instrument panel. The IR camera in the car’s nose is shielded by a protective glass panel that can be heated to prevent snow and ice from accumulating and obstructing its use. The extra reaction time that Night Vision gives the driver may spell the difference between being involved in an accident and avoiding one altogether.
Focus on flexibility
The interior of the XC90 offers what is perhaps the greatest flexibility in the SUV class. Despite its compact dimensions, the vehicle offers generous interior space. The XC90 can be ordered either as a five-seater or seven-seater; no matter which variant the customer chooses, both the second and third rows of seats can be folded down to create an entirely flat luggage compartment floor no less than 1.89 metres long, 1.13 metres wide and with a volume of 2404 litres.
The middle row of seats, designed like seats in a regular passenger car, has a three-part backrest to offer maximum flexibility. The middle seat in this row can be equipped with an integrated child booster cushion. In a 7-seater the child seat can slide forwards so that it is positioned partly between the two front seats, thus improving contact between the child and the parents in the front seats. The third row features two separate seats, offering full comfort for children or for adults of modest build.
“Everyone rides in Business Class in the XC90, nobody travels economy class. It is true that the third row isn’t built for full-size adults, but a modern family rarely needs room for seven grown-ups in the car”, says Peter Horbury, Volvo’s design chief.
Coming to Malaysia?
Though it was officially unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, the XC90 does not go on sale anywhere till later in the year. According to a Volvo source, revealing the car early is to enable final roadtesting in public without fear of spy photographers getting a scoop (and making lots of money!).
As for the Malaysian market, Volvo Cars Malaysia Marketing Director C.Y. Pang says that the XC90 will eventually be offered but not in 2002. Due to some specific requirements for this market, extra time will be needed so the earliest would be 2003.
