VOLVO XC60 test drive since 2008 SUV

Follow the distance

A new Volvo XC60 fell on the test for the wheels. There was no time to test the car, but we managed to get acquainted with its new City Safety system. Thanks to this device, a new crossover can independently slow down in front of an unexpected obstacle. That is, the driver is no longer needed?!
According to Volvo, three quarters of all accidents occur at a speed of less than 30 km/h. Moreover, in half the cases of collision from the back, drivers do not slow down at all, which means that they simply do not have time to notice the danger. The Swedish automaker was puzzled by the solution to this problem and began to train his own cars to stop when the driver forgot or cannot do it.
The journalistic test drive turned out to be very short-term: on the new crossover managed to drive no longer than 10 minutes. At the same time, the only device that was tested in the case was the City Safety system. It is included in the standard equipment of the XC60 and operates when the car moves at speeds up to 30 km/h.
If the car, moving in front, abruptly stopped, the computer determines the probability of a collision and prepares the brake system. If the driver does not respond to danger, the system will fully stop the crossover. If the relative speed between cars is less than 15 km/h, City Safety does not slow down on the maximum of its capabilities, helping to avoid a collision. And in the case when the relative speed is in the range of 15-30 km/h, the system will reduce the speed as much as possible to avoid an accident.
City Safety constantly monitors the movement in front with a laser sensor built into the upper part of the windshield at the height of the inner mirror of the rear view. The sensor monitors the movement of cars and other objects located ahead at a distance of up to 10 m from the front bumper of the car. The system is programmed in such a way as to note whether the car is in front at rest or moves in the same direction.
Using the data on the distance to the object in front and the speed parameters of the car itself, City Safety calculates 50 times per second, determining what the braking speed is required to prevent collision. If the parameters of the calculated braking rate are exceeded, and the driver does not respond to danger, the system instantly determines the probability of a collision.
The test implied an imitation of a collision for an obstacle. At a speed of about 20 km/h, the car came closer to the obstacle, and the system regularly stopped it a few centimeters to an obstacle. Nevertheless, if the driver did not have time to return the steering wheel to a neutral position, the system did not work, thinking that the driver sees danger and tries to avoid a collision. In this case, contact took place.
The City Safety system is involved in the XC60 management only up to 30 km/h. After this high-speed mark, the distance is ahead of the coming one in front of the active cruise control, which acts up to 200 km/h.
Perhaps the only controversial moment in City Safety is that it does not work when the steering wheel is deviated: sometimes the driver can be distracted in a skewer, with a long turn. At the same time, accidents with cars equipped with City Safety will definitely be much less than without it. Another thing is that weaning from the abnormal system can also take time
 
Text: Alexander Korobchenko
Photo: author

Source: Wheel magazine [November 2008]