Top 4 Volvo S90 features that stand out from the competition
Volvo has been a long-term player in the premium executive saloon market, but is still trying to capture a significant slice of this elusive pie from their established opponents. There’s no reason for this, though: as this list of stand-out features shows, the Volvo S90 has everything it needs to grab plenty of sales in this very brand-oriented segment.
For decades, Volvo’s main selling points were durability and safety credentials. After all, their cars used to be designed around very specific Swedish requirements, which apparently means that their cars could cope with adverse weather conditions, slippery roads, and suicidal wildlife. As a result, their offerings were always built like tanks, sure-footed and extremely crashworthy.
However, Volvo has been re-inventing themselves for the better part of a decade now, and they’ve adapted their products to meet modern global demands much more effectively than before. Today’s Volvo is all about striking, sleek styling, and forward-thinking and up-to-date technology, on top of their traditional safety credentials and solid construction. And, to compete with its premium-branded opponents, the top-line Volvo S90 also incorporates a number of features to set it apart from the crowd. Let’s highlight four of the current Volvo S90’s features that stand out from the competition.
1. IntelliSafe
Volvo’s traditional emphasis on safety is encapsulated in the standard inclusion of their IntelliSafe suite, which includes many features that cost extra in its competitors. There’s quite an impressive collection of safety- and driver’s assistants at work here, including Pilot Assist (Volvo’s adaptive cruise control/lane-keeping assist system) and lane departure warning. City Safety is also part of this standard package, which scans the road for pedestrians, large animals, cyclists, other vehicles and so on, warns the driver audibly and visually, and automatically applies the brakes to mitigate a collision’s severity.
Further upgrades are possible by ticking the IntelliSafe Surround option, which adds blind-spot monitoring, rear collision warning (with automatic brake application at a standstill), and cross-traffic alert. In short, the Volvo S90 can be had with all the latest bells and whistles, and most of the driver assistants are included as standard.
2. Front- or all-wheel drive, but only 2.0-litre engines
The Volvo S90 is only available with an 8-speed automatic gearbox, but can be had with either front- or all-wheel drive. Only the entry-level powertrain is FWD, however, and the remaining three engine options are all equipped with electronically-controlled on-demand AWD as standard.
All four engine choices form part of Volvo’s Drive-E family, which revolves around a common 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder layout. To this basic configuration, varying forms of forced induction and a choice between petrol and diesel are applied, giving outputs varying between 140 kW and 235 kW.
The local range comprises two diesels and two petrols. At the entry-level is the D4 FWD, with 140 kW and 400 Nm on tap from the lower-output turbodiesel. One step up the diesel ladder sees the D5 variant adopt AWD, along with an output boost to 173 kW and 480 Nm. Petrol versions have either 187 kW and 350 Nm (in T5 AWD trim), or 235 kW and 400 Nm (with a T6 AWD badge).
Related: What is covered by the Volvo S90's factory warranty?
3. Drive-E and SPA
The “E” in “Drive-E” indicates that this basic drivetrain architecture is also futureproof, with easy integration of electric motors designed into the drive systems from the beginning. The only current application of electrification in Volvo’s local range can be found in the top-spec XC90 T8 Twin Engine, but the company is committed to implement EV technology across its entire model range.
Assisting this move towards electrification is the SPA – Volvo-speak for Scalable Product Architecture, the platform which underpins all Volvo models from the 60-series upwards (currently including XC60, XC90, S90 and V90, but with the S60 and V60 mid-sizers not yet available in SA).
Related: Top 5 things you need to know about the Volvo S90.
4. Those infotainment systems
Even the entry-level infotainment system is a thing of wonder. Fronted by Volvo’s Sensus Connect with its 9-inch colour touchscreen display, this system deploys 330 W between 10 speakers with a subwoofer and a 6-channel amplifier. Serious stuff, and a good explanation why Volvo is getting a reputation for top-notch standard infotainment systems.
All of this can be cranked up another few levels with the optional Bowers & Wilkens audio system upgrade. This ups the power output to 1400 W, the amplifier channels to 12, and the speaker count to 19. Full digital signal processing can create different sound stages, emulating anything from a studio to a concert hall, and beautiful machined stainless steel speaker covers ramp up the cabin’s aesthetic appeal. It sounds as good in real life as it seems on paper, and is definitely an option worth adding if budget allows.
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