This week we had an opportunity to review the 2007 Volvo XC90,, the crossover SUV for the hippest of modern soccer moms and dads. It's an interesting car, and it makes us feel uncommonly safe, even though the car itself has New Jersey license plates.
Volvo has forever been famous for building the safest cars on the market and this is no exception. With airbags aplenty (traditional as well as side-curtain, standard), traction control (Dynamic Stability Traction Control and Tire Pressure Monitoring System) and four-wheel anti-lock disk brakes -- both as Electronic Brake Distribution and Electronic Brake Assistance -- your grip on the road and ability to weather the unthinkable is as sound as you can find. The construction is solid, and there is more safety reinforcement than you're common to find, but the attention to safety actually goes a bit further.
Before I cover all the little things that make it a car worthy of recommendation, let me say the thing that's most important to me – it's cool. Yes, I know, it's a traditional "mom" kind of car, but it's still very cool. It's shiny, comfortable, quiet and visibility is exceptional, which is something I'm told is as important to the driver as it is to me.
With this out of the way, let's talk a bit more about what makes it special.
Ingress and egress are both quiet easy, despite it being an SUV-heighted vehicle. It's tall, but that doesn't mean you can't get in and out. The back windows roll all the way down – a rarity in modern cars – but the child-safety locks can prevent this with the tap of a driver's seat button.
Left - Even though it's a nimble, compact-ish vehicle, the seating in the third-row has enough room for little and big folks alike.
It has optional third-row seating, so if your gang numbers greater than five, you've got seating for all with equal safety and almost-equal comfort. The third row of seats doesn't have quite as much leg room, but an adult might not complain, and a child would just be whining. There is enough room back there, and that row of seating can still be taken out of the picture as needed to allow for more cargo space. You don't have to, you can still fit a full load of groceries even with it in, but if you're buying a new bicycle or something, you can make the room you need.
Even with just five passengers (without the optional third-row of seating,) you've got plenty of headroom, legroom and comfort.
An added bonus for parents is the optional booster seat. This built-in device sits in the center of the second row of seating, and with a simple yank and click, converts the standard seat into a boosted, safely belted booster seat. If you have a child between the forty and eighty pound range, this means you won't have to deal with the hassle of a booster seat.
Most parents don't bother to insert such booster seats, but that's not even remotely safe, so unless you have an option in the matter, you need to do it. In this particularly rare case, you do have a choice, so don't bother, just buck up the bucks, yank up the booster and buckle up the bigger-baby. Done and done.
While we're talking about child safety I should mention the fact that all of the back windows come tinted as a standard feature. I know it looks cool from the outside and the privacy is nice, but protecting children from glaringly direct sunlight is no laughing matter. Look at me, I'm not laughing. It's a small consideration, perhaps, but knowing you'll never need sunscreen to commute, nor dark shades to protect your children's eyes is peace of mind you can't put a price on. Literally, you can't put a price on it because it comes standard, which means basically free, with purchase.
Above - Dominic is supposed to have a carseat when he rides in any car, but in this case it's even worse because, and I'm only mostly sure on this point, I think he's supposed to have a driver's license before getting behind the wheel.
Anybody can build a tank, and let's be honest, such a tank would insure your kids will never be involved in a car accident harmful to them, the parents always have to find a balance between heft and economy. This Volvo does it, as all Volvos have since forever. It's a big car with plenty of power, but the fuel economy is still very reasonable. With 16mpg city, and 22mpg on the highway, you won't find better economy out of a vehicle this size.
To cover all the safety devices individually would take days, so I'll blast through the highlights right here:
Keyless entry for driver door, all other doors and trunk insure you can get in your car as quick as you want.
Keyless entry device also has buttons for "safety lights" and, come something bad, a panic alarm.
The security system has a separate battery backup, so if your battery dies or is cut, you've still got a security system.
Your mirrors are internally heated, so even in foggy or freezing weather, they'll be dry, which is nothing to scoff at.
Mirrors also have blinker lights built into them, so you and everyone else can most easily understand your desire to turn to the right or left.
Rollover protection with boron steel reinforced roof structure, inflatable curtain head protection system for all rows of seating, and roll stability control all lend uncommon degrees of safety to your drive.
Side impact protection system and Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS) all insure that a collision will roll off the duck like water off a man's back.
Independent front suspension with anti-roll bar and anti-dive geometry. I don't know what it means, but it sounds pretty important, and I like that.
But the best thing is that you get all this for the low base price of $36,135, which is less than most domestic SUVs. That means you get one of the safest cars, and one that's peppy and comfortable (right down to his & hers climate control) for less than a well-trimmed Chevy Malibu. Nothing against Chevy, nor its Malibu, but all things being equal (which they never are,) I'd just as soon take my chances in the safest make on the road.
And as far as the "New Jersey license plates" joke goes? Hey, I can't know everything I talk about all the time, but I've been assured by my focus group that it's in fact quite comical, so I'll take it at that, and so should you.
Above - It's not just sharp, it's also comfy and safe, which are two things even more important than the (also present) cool factor.
