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ROAD TEST
2003 Volvo-XC90
They'll consider it for the styling. They'll buy it for its safety. But they'll love if for its versatility. Soccer moms, your SUV is here.
Fashionably late to the sport utility scene, Volvo admits it's been under pressure from its customers to build an SUV. One that'll marry the company's strengths of safety and practicality with a little off-road hipness.
On almost all fronts, the XC90 succeeds. Volvo obviously looked to BMW's X5 for inspiration for its first SUV. Not only is its silhouette strikingly similar, but so is the performance of its chassis. Not quite as firm as the BMW's, the XC90's suspension is still much better controlled than most SUVs. The all-wheel independent suspension does offer a morethan-decent ride, but Volvo is definitely committed to handling, if for a different reason than BMW (for active safety in avoiding accidents).
The company credits the electronically-controlled Haldex...