When asked what comes to mind with Volvo, undoubtedly safety springs to mind. The Swedish manufacturer is synonymous with safety and takes pride in it.

Recently, Volvo Car Malaysia organized their first Volvo Safety Driving Experience at the country’s first air base (former) in Bandar Malaysia, Sungai Besi.

The event, held on a Saturday a few weeks ago, saw over 240 Volvo owners and enthusiasts learning driving skills through exercises such as braking, steering, and quick lane changes.

For us in the media industry, such activities are not entirely unfamiliar, but it was the first time with Volvo, making it still something interesting to observe.

The first driving activity involved changing lanes to the left or right followed by maximum braking until the vehicle stopped. Using the Volvo C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge, this activity was performed at speeds of 60 or 70 km/h.

Even at this speed, it was evident that it could feel aggressive for passengers despite the car remaining stable. Imagine having to perform this emergency maneuver while driving at 110 km/h on the highway…

Next, we were taken to the braking activity on a straight road while avoiding obstacles. Here, it could be seen that the ABS allowed the car to remain controllable even when braking hard.

Most importantly, the driver’s ability to react and focus during driving to reduce the risk of collisions in emergency situations is crucial.

Next, we were shown demonstrations of the safety systems present in the latest Volvo models.

Among them was the Cross Traffic Alert, which warns the driver of traffic behind when attempting to reverse out of a parking spot. The warning provided is accurate depending on the direction and distance of the traffic.

We also had the opportunity to try the Pilot Assist system with the Volvo V60, which helps the driver control speed in traffic along with steering assistance.

Crucially, Pilot Assist is also capable of braking automatically if the traffic ahead slows down, and it does so smoothly and naturally, like a real driver. This can undoubtedly reduce the burden and fatigue on the driver in everyday situations.

The last activity included a slalom course and high-speed acceleration. During the slalom, we could feel the agility of the Volvo S90, V60, XC60, and XC90 being driven through narrow routes adeptly, but in a safe manner.

Despite most of these models weighing around two tons, they were still stable and agile and had very convincing braking performance.

Lastly, for the high-speed driving activity, we were given the opportunity to accelerate on the Sungai Besi Airfield runway, which is 1.8 km long, although we were not pilots wanting to take off.

Instead, we pushed these Volvo plug-in hybrid models to their maximum speed of 180 km/h and demonstrated the stability of these models when braking from high speeds. This maximum speed could also be achieved very quickly, in about 20 seconds.

Overall, the Volvo Safety Driving Experience provides participants the chance to experience and test the capabilities of Volvo models in safety-related situations.

Moreover, in the hangar, there was an exhibition of all Volvo models, sponsored by Pirelli, the main tire sponsor, and family activities such as Småland for children, as well as an exhibition by PURAS.