We drove the S90 Inscription this week which is the top of the range Volvo car courtesy of local dealership in Donegal McGinley Motors. As one of the many admirers remarked this week “thats what a real car should look like” – it was the perfect description for this range topping type car.
A 190bhp diesel automatic is driving at the top level. Sitting inside the car it’s not long before Volvo have made you feel very special. The car has dark soft Nappa leather everywhere with beautiful hand stitched finishing.
Around the dash and the centre console of our car had sections of what looked like lightly waxed walnut wood. And the seats were just something else.
It’s not very many seats that I can say I am perfectly comfortable in but this comes close to perfect. The base of the seat had an extending front section which I thought was just class for anyone with long legs and then the two sides of the back of the seat can adjust to suit all sizes of backs.
The key is not used to start the car but needs to be near hand. A switch in the middle console is turned to fire up the D4 engine. The starter switch and its position between the two fronts seats would remind me of another Swedish car the Saab now no longer in production.
One thing that this Volvo made me feel was connected to the car, something other cars seem to fail to achieve. The stop start system for example gave me the most confidence of sitting stopped in traffic as soon as you touch the throttle paddle the car restarts and you’re on the move right away.
When you get the S80 out on the open road, 8 seconds will take this car from a standing start to 100kmph. The 8 speed Geartronic as Volvo call it it a pleasure to drive, you have the option to change over to manually control the gear change which I tried for all of 10 seconds and I thought to myself what is the point? The automatic gearbox is far better than any human, it’s easy on the driver and its easy on the car.
Lurgy test
I always head up Lurgybrack hill outside Letterkenny to see how a car is pulling in gears, something I do with a lot of the cars that I drive. This car flew up the hill and I ended up having to slow it up a couple of time to keep it within the speed limit before I got to the top of the hill.
What I never done before was to put Volvo’s IntelliSafe Technology systems to the test which included avoidance technology, Lane Keeping aid and what I was interested in was Adaptive Cruise Control.
For the first time in my life I came the whole way down Lurgybrack Hill outside Letterkenny with out touching the brakes.
About a mile before the steep hill into Letterkenny I had the car on cruise control and as they car caught up with the lane of traffic ahead it adjusted it speed to keep me a safe distance behind the car in front of me. As we made our way down into Letterkenny, with my foot hovering over the brake paddle (for my own comfort) the car still maintained a safe distance behind the car in front, and came to a stop on its own at the foot of the hill as the traffic made its way on to the Dry Arch roundabout.
A view of the Volvo from its surround camera as it makes its way through the Box Junction at the Courthouse in Letterkenny. Photo Brian McDaid
This week we were out in the new Volvo S90 courtesy of Mc Ginley Motors in Letterkenny. A while back Noel reminded me that I never did a write up on the new Volvo range. I thought I did test a Volvo recently turns out he was right.
The last time I had a Volvo out for a test drive was in February, not February this year or last year but Februrary in 1990! It’s funny how it just seems like yesterday, but that was over a quarter of a century ago, 27 years to be exact, I even managed to find a photo of the Volvo I tested a 440 I think which was given to me courtesy of the late Liam Mc Glinchey who was the main Volvo dealer for Co. Donegal.
“Sure take the wee car with you”
That was a great saying of Big Liam’s at his garage in Convoy where he was selling more Volvos that anyone else in the country. My father gave me a look when I landed into the council estate where I lived in Glencar with a brand new Volvo car back in the 90s.
“Where in under God are you going with that car? Folk will think we won the pools!” He still didn’t refuse a spin in the new car and we ended up down at An Grianan Fort where I took this picture of him standing beside the car. Little did I know that day that it would be the last photo of my father I would take as he would pass away in the following months on the 18th of April 1990.
My late father Fred McDaid out with me on a test drive in 1990 in a brand new Volvo. Photo Brian McDaid
There is something very familiar about Volvos every time I sit in one. They were car makers that were always to the forefront in driver and passenger safety. You are reminded about this when you pull the seatbelt around you when you get into the car.
It’s nearly 60 years since Volvo which started working on the safety of its passengers in 1959 and these new Volvos are no different.
As I headed out for a run in this lovely S90 in a classy dark metallic blue, I ended up on the pier in Rathmullan where I think is just a beautiful setting to picture the car for our report.
The S80 Volvo on the pier in Rathmullan this week which we drove courtesy of Mc Ginleys Motors main Volvo Dealers for Co Donegal . Photo Brian McDaid
Spotting some fish boxes at the side of the frame of the picture I thought I would move the car up the pier a bit for a better picture.
I hopped in and as I went to move forward the car decided it wasn’t going to budge. I went through the procedure again and the car still would move. As I looked at the dash I could see that image of the four seats with the driver seat in red. I didn’t realise that I hadn’t my seat belt on and one of the many safety devices in the car was activated.
The driver of this Volvo has to have his/her seat belt on before this car will move an inch, which is only right.
In summing up this fine car, Volvo always made strong cars with the safety of its driver and passengers paramount. This new generation of Volvo which we included a photo of with one of my next generation, my son Niall, has continued with that mission in life.
The next generation NIall Mc Daid pictured along side the present generation of Volvo which we tested this week. Photo Brian McDaid
There’s a Volvo for everyone in the S90 range starting well under €50,000. The range includes very refined petrol and diesel and hybrids and with two wheel drive and four wheel drive.The cars are powerful but all use Volvos E-drive which minimises the emissions.
The Volvo always had a personality of its own and this S90 has it in both in style and most important in safety.
Happy Motoring Folks
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