The stable Swede

By ALASTAIR SLOANE motoring editor.

A few years ago a survey team from an advertising agency asked New Yorkers to play a word-association game. "Drink?" got the response 'Coca Cola." "Jeans?" got "Levis." "Computer?" got "Apple." "Limousine?" got "Cadillac." "Camera?" got "Kodak." "Credit card?" got "American Express." "Sport?" got "Baseball." "Safety?" got "Volvo."

That nearly all the responses were American products came as no surprise, not on the streets of New York. But neither did the reference to Volvo. Safety and the Swedish carmaker have been mentioned in the same breath for years.

Volvo has done a good job of selling safety. It invented the three-point lap-sash seatbelt in the 1950s, back when America's carmakers figured such restraints were against constitutional freedoms. Some Americans still do.

It has always highlighted safety aspects. Some carmakers, with as much integrity as Volvo, deliberately don't. Planting pictures of car wrecks in customers' minds isn't good, they say. In Volvo's world it is one of the first things sales people talk about.

That's why it is talking up one of the safety systems in its new four-wheel-drive XC90, the first Volvo to be awarded the maximum five-star crash rating in the European New Car Assessment Programme.

Volvo calls it "Roll Safety Control", a system that uses a gyroscope and computer technology to help prevent the careless driver from tipping the XC90 on its ear.

Four-wheel-drives have a relatively high centre of gravity and are more prone than passenger cars to turn turtle if driven carelessly, or during a sudden, evasive manoeuvre. The XC90 is no exception.

But RSC constantly monitors the XC90's tilt-angle. If the rollover threshold is approached, a computerised Dynamic Stability and Traction Control system slows the engine and brakes the outside wheels to bring car and occupants back to earth.

The system wasn't tested at the XC90's New Zealand launch near Rotorua the other day. No such liberties could be taken with the few vehicles Volvo here had on offer.

But accident avoidance tests at the launch in America, where the XC90 had to swerve violently at 70km/h, saw the technology immediately kick in to stabilise the vehicle.

On the other hand, says Volvo, should the laws of physics take over from the foolish driver and send the XC90 and its maximum seven occupants upside-down into the trees, a high-strength, boron-steel-reinforced roof will protect the integrity of the cabin. Boron steel is up to five times stronger than normal steel.

That's also when a couple of other Volvo exclusives come into play: inflatable side curtain airbags for three rows of seating will burst forth and seatbelt pretensioners for all seven occupants will grab hold.

Volvo is proud of things like these. It is also pretty happy about the way the XC90 has been received. Already, production for the first year has been ramped up from 50,000 units to 80,000. The North American market is expected to account for about 65 per cent of total sales.

The XC90 is built at the Torslanda factory on Sweden's west coast, where Volvo is concentrating production of its larger models.

Volvo New Zealand is happy with all things XC90, too. "Sixty per cent of the total number of customer orders have come from non-Volvo owners," said general manager Robert Nash. "That's a strong conquest rate - we are extremely pleased."

The XC90 enters a crowded four-wheel-drive luxury market, up against established models from Mercedes-Benz and BMW and newer excellent offerings from Lexus and Volkswagen. But a brief drive the other day showed Volvo has one obvious advantage over its rivals: the interior design especially is the bee's knees, an elegant mix of function and form. The best of all the four-wheel-drives.

The ride/handling mix is up there, too, but without the on-road balance of the BMW X5. Off-road, in the mud and rain at the demanding Land Rover Experience site, and without a low-ratio box, the XC90 genuinely surprised. It comes with a choice of five or seven forward-facing seats and, like most vehicles of its type, is based on passenger car underpinnings, in this case the Volvo S80 flagship sedan.

The V-shaped bonnet and pronounced shoulders are typically Volvo and have been combined with a powerful stance and design featuring rounded lines. The look of the nose is new.

"We wanted the car to look masculine and confident, but not macho," said chief designer Peter Horbury.

The new model is powered by a choice of turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder and 2.9-litre six-cylinder petrol engines. A 2.4-litre, five-cylinder diesel variant is under evaluation. The 2.5-litre unit produces 154kW (210bhp) at 5000rpm and 320Nm of torque between 1500-4500rpm and is mated to a five-speed Geartronic (automatic/manual) transmission.

The 2.9-litre straight-six develops 200kW (272bhp) at 5100rpm and 380Nm between 1800-5000rpm. It drives all four wheels via a 4-speed Geartronic transmission.

Each model is equipped with Volvo's new four-wheel-drive transmission, which uses a Haldex electronic differential. Audi uses a similar system.

Power in the XC90 mostly goes to the front wheels, but when the going gets tricky underfoot, 60 per cent can be directed to the rear wheels for all-round traction.

Prices start at $94,990 for the 2.5-litre five-seater. The same vehicle with seven seats costs $99,990. The five-seat 2.9-litre model costs $107,990; the seven-seater $112,990. Equipment-wise, the XC90 comes with this and that and all the other things.

* The EuroNCAP crash-test said: "The XC90 has an immensely strong body shell that provides a safe, well-balanced occupant protection compartment for frontal and lateral (side) impact. Deformation and intrusion levels were minimal and the risk of chest injury from seat belt loads was low. The child restraints worked very well, meeting all the performance requirements and all of the different size ISOFIX seats available can be accommodated. Pedestrian protection for this size of car was average."