When it comes to occupant protection, there are few sport-utility vehicles that can match the XC90 V8's long list of safety features. For starters, there's a full complement of airbags including multistage front units that adjust their deployment to match the force of the impact, torso-protecting side-impact airbags for driver and front passenger, and head-protecting side-curtain airbags that cover all three rows of seats.

Anyone who's ever seen the havoc rear-end collisions can wreak on the human body will appreciate Volvo's attention to whiplash prevention. In addition to head restraints at all seating positions, the driver and front passenger seats get Volvo's WHIPS technology that helps support the head and neck to minimize the potential for injury.

For greater peace-of-mind, the XC90 V8 also gets electronic stability and traction control as standard equipment. The system, which uses a number of sensors to compare the driver's intended course with the vehicle's actual path, can detect an impending skid in fractions of a second and activate the brakes on individual wheels to bring things back under control just as quickly.

Anyone concerned with an SUV's propensity to tip over during extreme maneuvers will welcome an offshoot of this stability technology known as Roll Stability Control, which uses the same basic components to sense and try to correct an impending rollover. If the worst-case scenario should come to pass, Volvo's use of super-strong Boron steel to reinforce the XC90's roof and passenger compartment provides a reassuring backup.

While all these safety features are designed to protect the XC90 V8's occupants, Volvo has taken a broader view of what it means to build a safe vehicle. In order to help protect those outside the vehicle as well as those inside, engineers have included a special lower crossmember to help make the XC90 more compatible with smaller cars in a crash, and have designed a special human-friendly front-end that's meant to help minimize injury to pedestrians.