The
Volvo XC90 is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by
Volvo CarsVolvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish...
since it was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show 2002. It is based on the P2
platformAn automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques...
, shared with the first generation
Volvo S80The Volvo S80 is a mid-size executive saloon/sedan from Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, and was introduced in 1998 to take the place of the rear-wheel drive Volvo 960/S90 saloons in the model range. The Volvo S80 was built at the Torslanda Plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Unlike most Volvo models, it...
and other large Volvo cars. As Volvo's top-selling vehicle in the United States, the XC90 was also Volvo's best selling model worldwide in 2005 with 85,994 cars sold.
First generation
At its launch for the 2003 model year, it was presented with a choice of two trim levels, the 2.5T and the T6. The 2.5T was the entry level version and offered a 2.5L 20 valve turbocharged inline 5 engine putting out 210 hp and 236 ft.lbf mated to an Aisin co-developed
AW55-50/51The Aisin AF33 is a 5-speed automatic transaxle. It is designed to be used in transverse engine configurations and can handle up to 243 ft·lbf of torque. It is built in Anjo, Japan....
5 speed automatic. The T6 offered a 2.9L 24 valve twin turbocharged inline 6 with 272 hp and 280 ft.lbf mated to a GM-sourced, Volvo modified
4T65EV/GTThe 4T60-E is a series of automatic transmissions from General Motors. Designed for transverse engine configurations, the series includes 4 forward gears...
4 speed
automaticAn automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
. While the 2.5T came standard with front wheel drive, a Haldex Traction all wheel drive system was optional. The T6 was offered only with the AWD system.
A new
YamahaYamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
V8 engineA V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
was added in 2005. This 4.4
L
Volvo B8444S
V8 engineA V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
produced 292 hp for the first few models later upgraded to 311 hp and 325 ft.lbf of
torqueTorque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
. The XC90 V8 was priced at just over US$45,000. Volvo sold just over 40,000 XC90 units in North America that year.
The XC90 won the
North American Car of the YearThe North American Car of the Year is an automobile award voted annually in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The jury consists of no more than 50 automotive journalists.-Example:-Pre-1994:-1994-1999:-2000-2009:...
award and
Motor TrendMotor Trend is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, issued by Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, and bearing the tag line "The Magazine for a Motoring World". Petersen Publishing was sold to British publisher EMAP in 1998, who sold the former Petersen...
magazine's
Sport/Utility of the YearCar of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile...
for 2003.
The XC90 was updated for 2007 with a restyled front and rear and a revised interior. The 235 hp 3.2 L
SI6Ford's Volvo Cars subsidiary designed the SI6 straight-6 automobile engine for use in 2007 models. An evolution of the company's long-used straight-5, which itself is an evolution of the Volvo B6304 straight six engine, the SI6 can be mounted transversely for front wheel drive applications or...
straight-6The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
replaced the 208 hp B524T2
straight-5The straight-five engine or inline-five engine is an internal combustion engine with five cylinders aligned in one row or plane, sharing a single engine block and crankcase...
in the base model for the US market. The 2007 XC90 debuted in April 2006 at the New York Auto Show.
The XC90 is produced at Volvo's Torslanda Plant (
TorslandaverkenThe Torslanda Plant , is one of the largest production facilities of Volvo Cars and is located in Torslanda on the island of Hisingen, about 12 km north west of Gothenburg city centre. The plant turned 40 on April 24, 2004...
) in Sweden.
The Passion Red avatar of the XC90 was heavily showcased in the 2009 Bollywood blockbuster,
3 Idiots, which has since become Bollywood's biggest box office success to date. Curiosity and demand for the car went up hugely in India and elsewhere, after its prominent feature in the film.
Safety
As with all Volvo models, the car's safety is a key part of its design. The Volvo XC90's front end is specifically designed to absorb frontal impacts and also deflect any pedestrians up on to the hood of the vehicle rather than underneath the vehicle. Volvo has patented the unique frontal structure that has renowned crumple zones, and a pre-determined positions for the engine and other ancillaries during a frontal impact.
The XC90's roof is reinforced with ultra high strength steel to help prevent a collapse in the passenger cavity in the event of a roll over. This Volvo system is called
ROPSRoll Over Protection Structure refers to operator compartment structures intended to protect equipment operators from injuries caused by vehicle overturns or rollovers.Commonly found on heavy equipment Roll Over Protection Structure (ROPS) refers to operator compartment structures (usually cabs...
, and is closely associated with the Roll Stability Control (
RSCRSC is a three-letter initialism that can stand for several things:-Science & Technology:* Chromatin Structure Remodeling Complex* Reconfigurable Supercomputing - a method of supercomputing that takes advantage of reconfigurable computing architectures * Reverse Standards Conversion - a video...
),
DSTCElectronic stability control is a computerized technology that may potentially improve the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go...
, and
SIPSA Side Impact Protection System is a system of protection against injury in side collisions, developed by Volvo.SIPS was released in the Volvo 700, 900 and 850 series in 1991....
systems of Volvo to prevent and ultimately minimize effects of a pending accident.
The XC90 has been designed on the rear end to absorb impact energy, but the occupants are also protected by a whiplash protection system. This Volvo
WHIPSWHIPS, or Whiplash Protection System, is a system of protection against automotive whiplash injuries introduced by Volvo in 1999 in the Volvo S80....
system cradles the entire body of the occupants when they are jolted during a rear end collision.
The
Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a U.S. non-profit organization funded by auto insurers, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that...
awarded the Volvo XC90 their Top Safety Pick award. The XC90 was granted the IIHS's highest rating of "good" in front, side, rear and roof strength tests and has
Electronic Stability ControlElectronic stability control is a computerized technology that may potentially improve the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go...
as standard equipment to receive the award.
The industry-first Roll Stability Control was first introduced in XC90 in 2003.
Reliability
Many owners of the T6 variant reported very early transmission failures, many before 60000 miles (96,560.4 km). Some owners reportedly went through two transmissions in that time. The GM-sourced 4T65EV/GT transmissions usually show symptoms of failure by suddenly slipping while in gear. There was not a recall for this issue, but the faults are widely known and documented. Various causes have been said, ranging from engine coolant entering the transmission fluid to problems arising from Volvo's modification of the original GM valve body unit inside the transmission, but none have been substantiated. Non-GM sourced transmissions have not suffered unusual failings of this type.
2007 battery recall
At the end of July 2007, Volvo Car Corp. announced the recall of 42,211 2005 model year XC90s in order to check their batteries to avoid the risk of an internal short circuit and fire. The vehicles were manufactured in the Swedish
TorslandaverkenThe Torslanda Plant , is one of the largest production facilities of Volvo Cars and is located in Torslanda on the island of Hisingen, about 12 km north west of Gothenburg city centre. The plant turned 40 on April 24, 2004...
between June 7, 2004 and May 13, 2005. The recall only applies to cars in the U.S. and Canada. There have been no reports of short circuiting in the vehicles.
Second generation
As of May 2011, Volvo plans to bring an all-new XC90 model to the market in the medium term. The model year 2012 XC90 is still first generation.Volvo says 3rd generation mostly will be here in 2013.
External links
2012 Volvo XC90