• In addition to the shape and design, a Volvo seat can be adjusted in all directions for the best possible support and comfort.
• The front seats can easily be adjusted for height at both the front and rear and they also feature an adjustable lumbar support. The fore-aft adjustment is even more generous than usual.
• In addition, the front seats feature the WHIPS system, which is described later on under a separate heading. The steering wheel must be comfortable to grip and hold for a long time. It must also be adjustable. In the Volvo S80, the steering wheel is adjustable for both rake and range in order to give every driver the best possible chance to find her or his ideal position to be able to be at one with the car. Add to this, gauges that are clear and easy to read, controls that are easy to reach and pleasant to handle, a cozy feeling in general and a pleasant smell, and the driving experience will be one of joy and pleasure.
• A rigid body is a prerequisite for stability, safety and comfort. The front and rear suspensions must be rigidly connected to one another through the body in order to achieve top-class road characteristics.
• Almost half the strong Volvo S80 body structure is made of high strength steel (HSS) The choice of HSS and the actual design of the body both help to make it extremely rigid. Therefore all the substructures have also been designed to be very strong.
• By working in an integrated way and consistently using computer-aided design engineering coupled with advanced calculation analyses (Finite Element Method), the body of the new Volvo S80 is the most torsionally-rigid Volvo to date. At the same time, it has also been possible to reduce the weight of the body.
• in figures, this results in torsional stiffness of 18.6 kNm/degree, or, in
layman's terms, the equivalent of this hypothesis:
> If another Volvo S80 (approx. 3,300 Ibs.) were suspended on a wire from one of the front wheels of a Volvo S80, the body would turn itself less than one degree around its own longitudinal axis. One degree, which is not visible to the naked eye or hardly noticeable when examining the car.
• The torsional stiffness of a four-door car body usually lies within the range of 6-14 kNm/degree; this clearly demonstrates the extreme rigidity of the Volvo S80. This is also an extraordinary figure, bearing in mind that the car features a split rear seat, since the rear seat frame plays an important role in this case.
• This very high degree of torsional stiffness makes an important contribution to the fine driving characteristics, especially when cornering, and provides benefits in terms of improved safety and lower noise.
• The chassis geometry of the Volvo S80 has been carefully developed using both new knowledge and old skills. The experience acquired from the high-performance versions of the Volvo 850 and subsequently the S70 and V70, has played a major role in the development of single suspension components and the tuning of the suspension.
• The S80 features a choice of two optional active chassis systems - STC and DSTC - both of which actively assist the driver by counteracting the laws of nature and increasing stability and traction.
• They cannot, however, fully do away with the laws of nature and should not be regarded as speed boosters, but they will most certainly help to give the car reliable, consistent behavior in situations in which many other cars abandon their drivers.
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