Swedish-Chinese luxury carmaker Volvo is literally on a roll. Sales are up at around the 440,000 mark, there's a steady stream of all-new models on the way, and the new XC90 is doing so well; orders for the new SUV just keep coming and coming.
What Volvo is also recording, however, is a steady stream of complaints about the ride of the XC90. Customers are very satisfied with the big Volvo SUV, and it scores high marks in almost all areas, but they still want to know why their big SUV doesn't ride in a more luxurious manner. This is understandable. To begin with, Volvos have always been famous for their comfortable ride. And then there's the fact that the XC90 has all the right ingredients. It has plenty of wheel travel, the air suspension and dampers are adjustable and the cushioning provided by the tall tyres should be good too. But the ride on the XC90 at best, can be described as average. It's quite brittle, is often revealing and even crashes over sharp bumps at times.
However, Volvo seems keen to provide a solution. Vice President, Dr Thomas Muller, is pretty clear. "We are looking to retune the XC90 suspension to make it more comfortable as we are getting feedback from markets like China and the US".
Volvo engineers say they are likely work on an altered set-up for the SUV in 'Comfort' mode, as this is the mode most people use over bad roads. There are a few ways this can be achieved. The rate at which the air springs compress could be altered to help absorb large loads in a more supple manner, it could change the rate of flow inside the dampers to help cushion the shock better and, if needed, the company could also look at 'retuning' the rubber and metal bushes that help locate the suspension.
If implemented, the retuning is likely to bring the ride of the XC90 in line with other Volvos, many of which historically have been famous for their comfortable ride.
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
Lenny D'sa
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
