The all-new Volvo S90 has been revealed, and it isn’t a scale model leak. Here are all the details and specs from the Swedish giant’s latest offering.
Volvo Car Corporation previewed the fruit of their US $11 billion investment in the form of the all-new S90 luxury saloon. The new S90 replaces the S80 and steps in as the flagship saloon. It will be officially unveiled at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Not only is it larger, more modern and even more luxurious, with a focus on giving customers the luxury of time, it also features many first-for-Volvo technologies, including PilotAssist, a semi-autonomous drive mode that keeps the car aligned on the highway at speeds of up to 130 km/h, giving slight steering inputs autonomously. It no longer needs a car in front to follow.
The new S90 features the striking new Thor’s hammer (Mjölner) LED headlamps, all-new LED tail-lamps, and a slightly tapered roof profile that looks to belie its proportions. The car is longer, almost as much as the S80L (long wheelbase model) exclusively sold in China, with a length of 4,963 mm, width of 1,890 mm, and height of 1,443 mm with a 2,941 mm wheelbase. Important for us here is the 152 mm of ground clearance.
Volvo are sparing no spoils inside too. The seats are familiar, with the supple leather-wrapped ergonomically-gifted arm chairs at the front and slightly tweaked rear seat, with a centre-folding armrest all part of the standard package. Optional air-suspension is also on offer. There’s also a cloud-connected infotainment system with a high-end speaker set-up, and updated City Safety autonomous braking, that can now detect large animals such as elks (of course!), horses, or moose, day or night. We expect this feature to come in handy in India with large deer and cattle being alternative road-users from time to time.
The drivelines at present are similar to the XC90 globally, with a few updates. The D4 turbo-diesel and updated D5 twin-turbo diesel Drive-E motors offer 190 PS and 400 Nm and 235 PS and 480 Nm respectively. The D4 will be offered with front-wheel-drive and the D5 with all-wheel-drive. The T6 turbo-supercharged petrol with 320 PS and 400 Nm is the petrol-powered option with all-wheel-drive as standard, with a T5 version packing 250-odd PS set for later. The T8 Twin Engine is the plug-in hybrid with a combined 408 PS and 640 Nm, delivering as much as 49 km/litre in Hybrid mode. All four engines feature the new eight-speed automatic transmission, with the all-wheel-drive models now using a Borg Warner gen 5 coupling, instead of the Haldex.
The updated D5 AWD (with 235 PS at 4,000 RPM with 480 Nm of torque peaking between 1,750 and 2,250 RPM) uses PowerPulse technology, a first in the passenger-car industry. PowerPulse works by drawing air from the air filter via a compressor to a pressurised two-litre air tank. When the driver wishes to accelerate quickly during launch and during low-speed driving, the air is fed by a valve into the exhaust manifold to feed the turbo. This has the effect of delivering a quick and responsive pulse of power. The air in the tank is topped-up automatically, making sure that PowerPulse is always ready to deliver a new boost. Volvo Cars is the only car maker currently using such technology in production cars. The intelligent Accuracy Refinement Technology (i-ART) injection system also runs a much higher injection pressure of 2,500 bar and can deliver as many as nine injections per cycle. The D5 AWD looks set to be the first launch in India, slated for the middle of next year.
The Volvo S90 will lock horns with the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Jaguar XF, Lexus GS, Infiniti Q50, and Mercedes E-Class globally; most of which are already in India.
It’s an exciting year ahead for Volvo, with November 2015 being their most successful year ever, recording a global sales figure of 49,055 cars, translating to 26 per cent growth. Clearly, with the new look of safety, Volvo is properly back in business!
Story: Jim Gorde
