Motoring: Volvo – The right car for you

24 Aug, 2014 - 06:08 0 Views
Motoring: Volvo – The right car for you 2014 VOLVO S60

The Sunday Mail

2014 VOLVO S60

2014 VOLVO S60

IT’S really good to be back after two weeks of strict bed rest.

I am now back and I return with an instalment that some might find controversial.

But, hey, Jay Green once said: “If it matters, it produces controversy.”

I will take critics. I have developed airmatic shock absorbers to handle that well over the years. In a society where what you drive defines you, safety alone is a hard sell.

Well, I have said it before. And I will say it again today: Volvo is the car for you. Have you ever asked yourself how safe your kids are in a car?

Those who have watched Brad Pitt’s big box office hit “World War Z” will remember how a Volvo is battered from more than one side but all the occupants emerge unscathed. And all they do after the very serious crash is to ask each other, “Are you okay?”

Volvo has over eight decades of safety leadership. No doubt about that. I would volunteer to take a crash test at 100km/h in a Volvo rather than any other car. Not even a Mercedes-Benz. (Princess Diana died in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class in a tunnel in Paris, France, and some people say she would have survived had she been in a Volvo. May her soul rest in peace.)

Volvo is as much the definition of safety just like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the epitome of luxury and the Rolls-Royce Phantom is the granddaddy of ultra-luxury. Make no mistake; Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus are all wonderful machines and they are quite safe – they just do not reach the safety levels that Volvo provides. Volvo’s flagship sedan is the S80.

Volvo is a premium brand and its maintenance doesn’t come cheap. This is not the kind of car that you can risk getting serviced by a bush mechanic. I will tell you that it also ain’t easy to get Volvo parts in Harare apart from a Volvo dealership.

Some Volvo parts are not easy to come by – not even in South Africa – and you will have to order directly from Sweden through an authorised dealership.

Volvo does not compromise on any part that goes into their vehicles as safety is of paramount importance. I know Volvos don’t really appeal that much to most people in Zimbabwe or Africa. Without being racist, Volvo cars are very popular with the white community in this part of the world. It is also a very popular car in Europe and the United Kingdom is Volvo’s biggest market.

There is a reason why it is so: safety.

What is your number one consideration when looking for a car to buy? Most people consider how the car looks, what their friends will say about it, the horsepower and the fuel consumption. How often do we make safety a prime consideration? There is a reason why the Volvo is shaped the way it is, and it is for our own good. Volvo cars come standard with a Side Impact Protection System (SIPS).

The nightmare of every driver in the event of an accident is not really head-on frontal impact (depending on the speed you are driving at), but side impact.

Side impact will make you realise just how close you sit to death. No wonder why most serious car manufacturers have fitted side airbags on doors. Experts say there are about six to eight inches of space between your head and the car window in your vehicle. Think about that! Volvo argues that SIPS helps reduce injuries during side-impact collisions by approximately 40 percent.

Volvo is the first vehicle to develop seat-mounted airbags in cars, a safety feature that has been copied by most other manufacturers. Hate Volvo or like it, thanks to its SIPS, in the event of a collision, a Volvo vehicle will keep the passenger as intact as possible. Volvo’s front is patented and divided into zones made of different grades of steel and in the event of frontal impact, it is not easy for a Volvo engine to move backwards towards the front passengers because of the transverse mounting of the engine which results in a larger front crumple zone. Take a look under the hood at how BMW fits its engines and how Volvo does it and tell me which car you would rather be in, in the event of frontal impact.

Recently in the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal agency that crash-tests new cars and rates motor vehicle safety there, awarded Volvo’s 2014 S60 a five-star rating as the safest car for 2014 in rigorous frontal, side and crash tests. I quote from Autotrader.com: “Dig deep into the S60’s NHTSA ratings and you’ll find a nearly flawless safety report. Side crash ratings, for example, are based on three different results, and the S60 aced every one. Both front and all-wheel-drive versions received the top scores, so shoppers prioritising safety can confidently choose any S60 model.” Ever asked yourself why the Volvo is the official car of top officials of some United Nations agencies and the ministerial car of the Angolan government?

I know competition will rubbish my article and say Volvo cars are no longer the safest and that the claim is now just a marketing gimmick. Could the NHTSA ratings also be a marketing stunt for the Swedish brand? I don’t think so. What is in it for them?

In the US and Europe in general, safety ratings are taken seriously by consumers and they influence buying decisions.

I know some people say that because Volvo was acquired by a Chinese firm, it is now going to decline in standards. Wait a minute! Since the Chinese acquired Volvo they have poured a lot of money into research and development.

No one complained when Indian carmaker Tata acquired Jaguar Cars and Land Rover, which are veritable status symbols.

The best way to transport your family is a Volvo. The car you choose can be a life and death decision. Volvo introduced the three-point seat belt as we have come to know it today in 1959 and has never looked back as far as pioneering safety innovations is concerned.

Today the three-point seat belt is found in most modern cars and all other car manufacturers are using the Volvo innovation for free whereas Volvo could have made a fortune through patenting this innovation.

The highest mileage recorded to date that a Volvo has clocked is three million miles, not three million kilometres. And that was by a Volvo P1800 which the owner has owned since 1966. Today’s modern Volvos still go the extra mile but that can only be achieved through consistent service and proper maintenance. Volvo is generally very conservative when it comes to designs.

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