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Old 26th April 2018, 06:32 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Default Big Volvos - showroom view

As I had a bit of time to while away this afternoon in a Volvo dealership, and my reading material was getting boring, I had a good look round a couple of top-spec flagship cars in the showroom - an S90 and an XC90.
To quote Volvo: S90 - Sophisticated, intuitive and powerful. An executive saloon, without compromise.
and XC90 Twin Engine - Luxury performance without compromise.

Finishes and materials were pretty good, but things I noticed that weren't:
1. Front seat thigh supports were quite "lumpy" when not extended.
2. Manual adjustment of the steering wheel (unlock lever and "wrangle")!
3. Manual adjustment of seatbelt shoulder height.
4. No adjustment of front headrests.

The XC90, like IT's favourite Audi, has 3 rows of seats and is equally enormous.
And the S90 did at least have a space-saver spare wheel. The XC90 I don't think did, seats and batteries presumably get in the way.

Just first impressions, but they count.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #2  
Old 27th April 2018, 09:25 AM
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Conquistador Conquistador is offline
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Location: Essex
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
3. Manual adjustment of seatbelt shoulder height.
You've become desensitised to luxury with your S8

Volvo are churning out some really striking cars in the last couple of years with the S90 and XC90, but I can't tell the smaller SUVs apart. XC60? XC70? XC40?
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Currently '8-less
Previously:
- Aqua Blue Pearl D3 S8 - Kamut Beige leather, ACC, B&O, factory RSE, solar sunroof, electric blinds, ski bag, Homelink, comfort headrests.
- Aqua Blue D2 S8 - Grey leather/Alcantara
- D3 A8 3.0 CVT
- D3 3.7 V8
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  #3  
Old 27th April 2018, 10:12 AM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Originally Posted by Conquistador View Post
You've become desensitised to luxury with your S8
No just demanding of accuracy; "without compromise" does not mean "cheap manual adjustments because we couldn't be bothered to do it properly".
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #4  
Old 27th April 2018, 11:17 AM
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pete-p pete-p is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
No just demanding of accuracy; "without compromise" does not mean "cheap manual adjustments because we couldn't be bothered to do it properly".
Maybe it's to save weight so the "powerful" (ok the T8 helps) engine can haul the weighty barge along!
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Cars...
'93 Audi Coupe 2.0 Alpine White (sold)
'99 Audi S4 Merlin Purple - K04 upgrade to 412hp (sold)
'00 Audi S8 Agate Grey (Sold )
'11 Audi Q7 4.2tdi Unknown Red (Classic Red Pearl Effect - thanks MJ)

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  #5  
Old 29th April 2018, 02:14 AM
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27litres 27litres is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
3. Manual adjustment of seatbelt shoulder height.
Our XC90 "classic" has a J-shaped upper seatbelt slot that automatically adjusts to the correct height for your shoulder. Why they've strayed from that excellent design feature (and then didn't make it electric) is anyone's guess.
Quote:
4. No adjustment of front headrests.
They've had their own design here for quite some time. Fixed and unadjustable. As it's primary purpose is as a safety feature, they may be quite right in implying that if no adjustment is available, you can't adjust it to the wrong spot in case of an accident. I think their safety record speaks quite loudly here, especially in the case of the XC90 (no deaths (in the UK at least) in an XC90 since it's debut in 2003).
Quote:
And the S90 did at least have a space-saver spare wheel. The XC90 I don't think did, seats and batteries presumably get in the way.
I agree with that. I'm not a fan of not carrying an "insurance policy" in the boot. Though the one blow-out I've ever had was in the XC90 and the tyre inflation kit did do an excellent job!
Ours doesn't have one simply because it has the R-Design twin exhaust on it! The "classic" did have a space saver with the standard exhaust. I ended up finding a full sized alloy spare and we have that in the garage for carriage on long trips.
Melanie has orders to stay put and phone me if she has tyre problems driving locally.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Conquistador View Post
but I can't tell the smaller SUVs apart. XC60? XC70? XC40?
Yes, we've started getting the XC40 adds here and until they actually said "XC40" at the end, I thought it was an add for the XC60!
They're not the only ones to do it though... How about Aston's? Or closer to home: D3/C6 nose, B8.5/C7 front and rear, Q5/Q3!
They've brought out a new XC70 have they? It was always previously based on the V70 a'la Allroad.


Quote:
Originally Posted by pete-p View Post
Maybe it's to save weight so the "powerful" (ok the T8 helps) engine can haul the weighty barge along!
Yes, twin turbo 4 cyls are a bit on the small side for the big barges (and the XC90 is big - just try parking the bugger!) despite their claimed outputs!
Still VW did it with the Amarok for quite some time until they saw the light and realised their luxury arm had a very capable 3.0tdi staring at them!
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Cheers

Marty


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Current:
2001 Audi S8 - Brilliant Black with Black interior, C5 RS6 rims (whenever I actually put them on...), Solar Sunroof, Tinted side and rear glass, RNS-D, Grom, Bose, clunky old phone in arm rest!
2002 Audi S8 - Project
Replacement head coming arrived thanks to MJ
Silver with Black interior. All features as the '01, with the 'S' mode auto shifter. Dodgey rear tint (need to find a way to get rid of that).
Family:
2009 Volvo XC90 V8 R Design
- has a louder more obnoxious exhaust than the S8, sounds great! Love this thing - Q7 was double the price, and certainly not double the car!

Sold:
1997 Audi A4
- Hamilton's Club Sport, Achat Grey (will miss the old girl)

Last edited by 27litres; 29th April 2018 at 02:20 AM.
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