Dolby Surround Sound

Once out of the city, the road twisted and turned like a drunken moray eel, and I handed the XC90 over to my co-driver. Climbing into the middle row of seats was easy, even for a shorty like me. You don't feel like you're climbing into a dive boat with full tanks. There's more than ample room in back, but what Volvo does so well is consider all the occupants in the XC90. The "stadium" seating lets the passengers see over the seats and heads of those in front, and the vast greenhouse gives everyone of good view of what's happening outside.

In the five-passenger configuration, the center seat can be equipped with an integral child booster seat, and in the seven-seater vehicle the child seat can slide forward so it's positioned just behind the front passenger seat. It's unofficially known as the "Don't make me come back there!" seat. The middle row of seats have folding backrests for more luggage capacity, and even with the seven-passenger layout there's still adequate luggage space behind the third row.

A new Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound system is especially tailored for the interior environment. The standard system features AM/FM with in-dash CD player, 160W and eight speakers; audiophiles can also order an in-dash six-disc charger and 13 loudspeakers, one of which is an 8-in. 140-watt active subwoofer for great bass quality.

Climbing back into the front seat, I studied the clean and uncluttered dashboard. The displays are easy to read, the radio easy to reach and adjust. The power-assisted seats are very comfortable and provide good lumbar support.

After the test drive, I stood back to admire the XC90. Peter Horbury, now design chief at Ford's Premier Automotive Group, agreed: "I'm very, very pleased with it," he beamed. Geza Loczi, design director at Volvo's Monitoring and Concept Center in California, elaborated: "It's compact in design with a lot of utility and functions. It has a fast-profile windshield, and in combination with the raised rear part of the vehicle gives it a lot of forward direction as well as functional utility. Of course, this vehicle can go off road. But the emphasis is to play up and empower the urban aspect."

Doug Frasher, the strategic design chief at VMCC, drew the concept that would become the XC90. He wanted to create "a truly different, truly sport vehicle that was aesthetic, agile, powerful and athletic. I wanted it to be credible as a Volvo, to have all the safety advantages, to be exciting, to have those visceral properties that tug on you. Some people look at the XC90 and feel they can have fun, some feel more secure, some feel more testosterone. It's an emotional product with everyday utility."

One of the main goals at Volvo was to make the XC90 fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. As of this writing, no mileage average had been set, but the goal is to reach 22 or 23 mpg. Aerodynamics was crucial to achieving this goal. A team led by Ichiro Sugioka worked with the design and engineering team at the VMCC to create a more aerodynamic XC90. When the XC90 was originally designed, it was called the P28. Sugioka said that after the basic engineering and safety parameters were completed, the vehicle's design proceeded very rapidly, beginning with three design proposals. The first proposal, he said, "adopted a long sloping roof with an upright rear window, which we developed aerodynamically for the V70 and XC70. The second design visually shortened the long vehicle length by sloping the rear window, thus shortening a relatively flat roof. The third design had proportions that aerodynamically fell roughly halfway between the other two."