Review and Test Drive: 2018 Volvo XC60 T8 E-AWD and T6 R-Design
Volvo XC60 TC R Design
Those not in the know might assume that the typical Volvo wagon driver is a retired college professor, or perhaps a dentist somewhere in New England. Starting with the introduction of the storied automaker’s Scalable Product Architecture and the S90 sedan, Volvo is the epitome of Scandinavian cool, that image has become obsolete.
The new XC60 exemplifies this trend and we spent several weeks with two different XC60 models – the X and the Y – to get to know them better.
What hasn’t changed with Volvo is its commitment to safety. The company that, in 1959, invented the three-point safety belt and, in 2007, introduced the first blind-spot monitoring system, has upped the ante.
Volvo XC60 T6 R-Design
DRIVING THE 2018 VOLVO XC60
The XC60 introduces several new key safety features that include Steer Assist, which makes emergency turns as effective as possible by braking the inner wheels, adding steering input, and then braking the outside wheels after the evasive maneuver; Oncoming Lane Mitigation, which can detect car drift onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of an oncoming vehicle using forward facing cameras; and new blind-spot monitoring technology that acts whenever the driver does not heed the system’s warning by gently steering itself back into the correct lane.
What really impresses is Volvo’s new Pilot Assist II, the automaker’s semi-autonomous driving system. Driving with Pilot Assist II is perhaps the closest one can come to driving a fully autonomous vehicle without actually operating one. It works in conjunction with the car’s adaptive cruise control and provides steering assistance to keep the vehicle in its lane as long as there are clear markings on the road.
Click here to continue to Page 2 – Inside the Volvo XC60
