Lead Times & Air Suspension

[gaby]

Originally Posted by neon

Will not be towing and only occasionally fully loaded.

You probably won't be able to feel the difference, but driving a fully loaded car with
auto-leveling is far better than without it, but (perhaps) unfortunately air suspension
is the only way to have auto-leveling in the XC90.
I don't want to buy a new car without auto-leveling anymore.
It could even be described as a safety feature, certainly at higher speeds.

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by neon

Very good question, as I thought the drive mode settings also had an impact on the standard suspension. Will have to investigate further.

There is definitely no adjustability to standard suspension. If there was it would be highly publicised as it would be a big deal. I very much doubt s90/v90 do either.

[neon]

Originally Posted by Deman77

There is definitely no adjustability to standard suspension. If there was it would be highly publicised as it would be a big deal. I very much doubt s90/v90 do either.

That is a shame, so the drive mode setting will impact, throttle response, gearing and steering?

[tem]

Page 4 mentions Drive Mode settings.
The online manual mentions Comfort, Eco, Dynamic and Individual settings.

Will just have to wait and see, when I get the V90

http://assets.volvocars.com/uk/~/med...-pricelist.pdf

tem.

[gaby]

Originally Posted by neon

That is a shame, so the drive mode setting will impact, throttle response, gearing and steering?

Suspension as well, eg. from the manual::
"
Drive Mode
level control function*
"
The asterisk is important: "* Option/accessory", it probably refers to air suspension.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by gaby

Suspension as well, eg. from the manual::
"
Drive Mode
level control function*
"
The asterisk is important: "* Option/accessory", it probably refers to air suspension.

I really like the ride in our car on air, though I have to confess I haven't ridden in a car on standard suspension. However, I chose air suspension primarily for self levelling and the ability to raise the ride height at low speeds.

Our previous car was an Audi A6 Avant which I couldn't load 2 weeks camping equipment into without the rear end getting seriously compressed to the point that mud flats would often catch the ground and you could see marks on the tyres where the wheel arch had rubbed!! I remember my father specifying self levelling suspension on 740's in the 80's, well worth it!

If/when we get heavy snowfall in the winter, the very small lanes we have to drive near our home can get a lot of snow on the ground. Once a few 4x4 and tractors have driven these you get a large build up of snow down the centre, which have previously stripped the underbody protection off our vehicles. The Volvo has a higher ground clearance than many already, but the ability to increase this further is also appealing.

In addition, one other benefit I've found with air over the last few weeks has been the ability to lower the car from button in the boot when its parked. So when we go out walking for example, we get back to the car, lower the suspension and have a perfect seat then for everyone to change out of mucky boots etc.. Obviously, not a good enough reason to spend £2k, but an additional benefit if you do have it.

In terms of auto lowering the car when the engine, this doesn't happen immediately when the engine is switched off and is cancelled by a door opening, so an option that I've tried and then switched off again. In reality, the engine is stopped, you're out and the doors are locked before it happens!

:wq

[Deman77]

It will finish lowering after you locked the door so it is still low for entry and loading. I keep mine on even though for exit it's too slow and usually gets interrupted.

[gaby]

A very important thing about a car that is level (and not often thought about)
is that the full suspension range is available whereas this can be reduced to almost
nothing with a fully loaded car without leveling. This can lead to very dangerous
situations since the car then drives (almost) without rear suspension!

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by neon

Will not be towing and only occasionally fully loaded.

I tow quite a heavy caravan with my XC90 D5 with air suspension and find that it is not quite as stable as my old 2013 XC90 on motorways and dual carriageways, you feel side winds and sideways movement when overtaking or being overtaken by large vehicles more that I ever experienced with my old XC90 which was really stable but the power of the new volvo is far better to tow with and you hardly know you are towing, I think the air suspension may be the cause of the slight movement, but the new car is a dream to tow with regarding the pulling power, far better than the old one that way. (The car and caravan are both equiped with electronic trailer stability control systems and caravan has Alko hitch stabiliser and always loaded correctly for correct nose weight and trim)

Warning, for anyone who is going to tow with their new XC90, dont tow in Dynamic mode as this disables the cars towing stability system. It pulls really well in comfort and eco modes.