The Volvo XC60: A New Revolution in Safety
This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Volvo.
Eight years in the making, the Volvo XC60 is the launch of a new crossover category for the Swedish automaker. Everything from the muscular body, the coupe-like, sleek top with a panoramic moonroof (a free option, by the way), and the redesigned grill are symbolic of Volvo’s future: power and boldness of design. This is not your mom’s mini-van; rather, it is a new car for a new type of soccer mom.
The Volvo XC60 is for a woman who wants a car that can handle the functionality of hauling kids to school, practice, and play dates and all the gear and groceries that are needed to keep the day to day running. With an electric trunk and a 20-40-20 split for storage there are enough options for whatever the day brings. As a standard feature Volvo also included dual stage booster seats in the second row seats. The seatbelts and airbags will automatically activate according to the weight and height of the child. No more switching booster seats in and out of cars or not being able to drive kids around because of a lack of a safety seat. With the VC60, Volvo has really anticipated everything a driver would want if she could custom design her own car.
The Volvo XC60 is for a woman who may need her car to be part taxi service but also still appreciates the finer things in life. The all leather interior, including an ultramodern limegrass green and black option, automatically lend a sophisticated feel to the XC60 and, in turn, the driver. There is even a floating console that is angled towards the driver, which allows the driver to place an item, or items, in the open space. Good-bye spilled purses and crawling around for misplaced lip glosses and cell phones!
The Volvo XC60 is for a woman who cares about the environment. Volvo operates its manufacturing plants with stringent environmental guidelines. The XC60’s engine eliminates 95-99% of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides that would normally be emitted through the exhaust. The car itself is 85% recyclable, so many, many years from now, if you can bare to part with it, rest assured that the XC60 will not end up in a junk heap to rot away and further pollute the environment.
The Volvo XC60 is for a woman who, above and beyond everything else, is concerned with the safety of her loved ones. The XC60 far exceeds federal safety mandates, which comes as no surprise since Volvo has been an industry leader in safety systems since it invented the three points harness system. Sleek design and luxurious standards aside, Volvo is a company that believes the safety of the driver and the car’s occupants are the number one priority. In fact, Gustaf Larson, co-founder of Volvo, said this with regards to the company’s obsession with safety: “Cars are driven by people. The guiding principles behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain safety.”
It would be easy to read that quote and be quite cynical; automakers are all about making money, right? Perhaps so, but after looking over the XC60 and its safety features, talking with the Volvo demonstrators, and then actually getting to test drive the safety features myself, I believe that Volvo really means what it says: safety matters.
Safety matters so much to Volvo that for the past eight years they have developed a safety system called City Safety, which comes as a standard feature in all XC60s. City Safety allows the car to apply 100% of the brake to avoid low speed collisions. Statistics show that 70% of all car accidents occur below 20 mph, so Volvo invented City Safety to completely stop the car if an accident is imminent between 2-9 mph and to mitigate the impact if an accident is imminent between 10-19 mph. A front windshield mounted laser projects 20’ ahead of the car and is always scanning for potential accidents. The City Safety system runs a calculation 50x/second to determine exactly what braking speed is needed to avoid a potential collision. The system is always waiting for the driver to apply the brake, but if its calculation show that he/she will be unable to apply enough braking power it will alert the braking system to brake for the driver; thus, avoiding a collision. Watch video of the Volvo XC60 in action
Think about how many times you’ve reached for something in the other seat, on the floor, in a bag, in the back seat, changed the music, or applied makeup while driving only to look up and realize you are about to slam into another car. Those annoying little fender benders that still end up costing thousands of dollars would virtually be eliminated through Volvo’s City Safety technology.
I was curious to know how easy it would be to allow a car to take over and to squash my own instinct to brake when about to collide into another object. The demonstrators at the Volvo event I attended happily allowed me to test out the XC60’s City Safety feature. After getting the car to about 10 mph I was told to take my foot off the gas and do absolutely nothing else as we headed towards a barrier at the end of a driveway. As we got closer and closer I was positive that at the last second I was going to have to do something to help the car stop, but just as it looked like we were going to crash into the barrier the car stopped on its own. The force was no greater than when you hit the brakes because of a sudden change in driving conditions and just like that we had avoided a crash.
If first impressions really do mean everything then Volvo got it right with the new XC60. Its sleek design features, advanced safety systems, and luxury standards are drool worthy in any soccer mom’s book.
Check out other reviews of the Volvo XC60. Link to the sponsor.
