Volvo- A Winter Paradise

Volvo Says It Has Equipped Its Cars to Tackle Any Terrain. We Drive Them on a Frozen Lake in Sweden to Know What That Really Means.

- Agasti Kaulgi

“Remember to turn in early. Use the throttle to steer, not the steering”, says Roger Wallgren from Volvo’s vehicle dynamics team as he rides shotgun with me in the XC90 T8. The setting outside the XC90 that we’re sitting in is actually extremely dramatic. The car’s thermometer shows its -14 degree C and what the XC90 is standing on, used to be a lake where the Swedes go fishing in the summer. But in the winters, the top 60cm of the water freezes and it becomes strong enough for vehicles to be driven on it.

As Roger explains, driving on ice is a different ballgame altogether. And for me, it’s the only surface I haven’t driven on before. “Whisper to the steering and the throttle, don’t shout”, he says. Well, what I’ve learnt until now about driving on slippery surfaces is all about to be put to test. Your general estimate of what the car will behave like is completely skewed, Roger reckons. Seconds later, I take off for a lap on a track made by Volvo on the frozen lake in the XC90 T8. The traction control has been switched off and the car has been put on the AWD mode. It’s like driving on a pool of oil; you really need to be gentle with the control.