2009 Volvo XC90

midsize luxury SUV / 4-door SUV

2009 Volvo XC90 4-door SUV
2006 Volvo XC90 shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2003-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Volvo XC90 3.2 4-door 4wd

The Volvo XC90 was introduced in the 2003 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to protect the head from injury in the crash test. Still, the curtain airbag should extend farther forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure and outside objects if crash circumstances were to differ slightly.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1336
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 7
Footrest (cm) 4
Left toepan (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 4
Parking brake (cm) 7
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 3
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 1
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 5
Upper dash (cm) 4
Lower instrument panel (cm) 4

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1336
Head
HIC-15 62
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8
Extension bending moment (Nm) 7
Maximum Nij 0.19
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Femur (kN)
Left 3.2
Right 0.1
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 7
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 1
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.44
Right 0.44
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.6
Right 0.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 42
Right 35

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2003-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2003 Volvo XC90 4-door 4wd

The Volvo XC90 was introduced in the 2003 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

The XC90's head restraints have good geometry, meaning they are high and close to the back of an occupant's head. Moreover, the seatback is specially designed to recline slightly in low-speed rear impacts to minimize the possibility of whiplash injuries.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0305
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 7
Left (cm) 10
Center (cm) 11
Right (cm) 11
Brake pedal (cm) 5
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 2
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -1
Rearward (cm) 0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0305
Head
HIC-15 135
Peak gs at hard contact 27
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.29
Chest maximum compression (mm) 38
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 6.3
Femur force - right (kN) 5.0
Knee displacement - left (mm) 3
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.34
Maximum tibia index - right 0.37
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 54
Right 93

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2005-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Volvo XC90 4-door 4wd with standard head curtain airbags for all three rows of seats and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Volvo XC90 was introduced in the 2003 model year. Beginning with 2005 models, the side torso airbags were enlarged to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0624
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -9.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0624
Head HIC-15 61
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 45
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.79
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.28
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 2.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 54
A-P moment (Nm) -24

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0624
Head HIC-15 28
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 25
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 21
Average deflection (mm) 17
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.74
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.28
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.4
Combined force (kN) 1.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.7
L-M moment (Nm) 137
A-P moment (Nm) -25

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2003-14 models

Tested vehicle: 2010 Volvo XC90 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 4,718 lbs
Peak force 21,274 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.51

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 25
Distance below top of head (mm) 25
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 9.0
Head contact time (ms) 87
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 13
Max neck tension (N) 433

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.