Look, I'm just a biochemist. Most of the time, I work in a little glass jar and lead a very uneventful life. I drive a Volvo, a beige one." That dialogue from the Rock (1996 film) says a lot about the old general image of Volvo.
They were considered unexciting and just 'safe'. The styling was 'safe', so was the drive and Volvo has always been at the forefront of safety inventions and innovations. Volvo has made good looking cars in the past but lost its zing somewhere along the line.
But ever since Geely stepped in, Volvo's design at the hands of Thomas Ingenlath (Chief designer) has undergone a complete transformation. The XC90 showed us how an imposing SUV can be beautiful and now, the recently revealed S90 has thinned the line between concept and production even further.
Design
Auto and General The design is nothing short of majestic. It is designed on the company's SPA or the Scalable Platform Architecture, on which the recently launched XC90 is also based.
According to Hakan Samuelson, Volvo's CEO, the platform keeps only the dash to axle proportion constant. It can be used to build any car of any body type or proportion.
Aesthetically, the S90 is almost identical to the Concept coupe shown at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor show. The Thor's hammer LEDs sit on either side of the concave waterfall grille inspired from the P1800 of the seventies with the company's iron mark sitting right in the middle of the grille. The design isn't radical or aggressive but confident.
The shoulder line runs the length of the car ending at the tail lamps. The tail of the car features an edgy design with twin stepped wraparound tail lamps lifted again directly from the Concept coupe.
Compared to the S80 it is set to replace, it features a shorter overhang by 150mm in the front and a slightly higher roofline. The wheelbase too is longer for more cabin space. The car sits low to the ground on 20-inch wheels shod with Pirelli PZero tyres.
But them coming to India is a bit doubtful we will probably have to make do with 18-inch ones.
Interior
The S90 has probably the best designed interior ever fitted to a car. It follows the same minimalistic approach as the XC90. The front seats are also the same slim seats as on the SUV.
The Sensus infotainment system is the centrepiece of the whole dash and takes all the clutter of hundreds of buttons away from the panels and onto a 9-inch screen, which can even be used with gloves on. The home screen houses the main icons like, navigation, phone and media. One swipe to the left takes you to vehicle options whereas the access to your apps lies in the right swipe.
All that remains on the centre panel are air-fins with diamond cut knobs and the audio controls for the Bowers and Wilkins sound system.
There is generous use of natural wood and high quality leather in the cabin, on the steering, dash and of course the seats. The crystal gear knob though will only be available with the T8 plug-in variant and it will be available in India.
The only downsides of the interior and we are nitpicking here, are that the S90 doesn't come with an electrically adjustable steering and in place of the volume and stereo controls, controls for the climate control system would've probably made more sense for adjusting the air conditioning via touch screen while driving could be a bit cumbersome.
Having said that, both things make no negative impact on the overall experience of the interior.
Safety
Volvo as we said before has many safety firsts to its name like, first laminated glass in 1944, inventor of the three point seatbelt, first to introduce blind spot recognition, booster seats, whiplash protection and the list is never ending.
Needless to say the S90 is one of the safest cars on the planet. Along with the radar guided cruise control or the Pilot Assist as Volvo calls it, the blind spot recognition system and pedestrian recognition, Volvo has introduced large animal recognition as well which also works in the dark.
In addition, Volvo also announced that it plans to make the S90 fully autonomous by 2017.
Drive train
The S90 is be powered by a range of DriveE engine which will be available in both petrol and diesel guises. Power figures will range from 150bhp to 407bhp. All engines will be four cylinder units to qualify for the forthcoming Euro 6. The different outputs will be achieved by turbo charging.
The D5 diesel engine also comes with Volvo's new PowerPulse technology which helps negate turbo-lag. In addition with normal diesel and petrol engines, a petrol plug-in hybrid will also be available. It promises to be a great handling car and will offer a range of 50km in all electric mode.
Resources : indiatoday.intoday.in
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