If you’re a diplomat, important politician, businessman/woman, or an oligarch and are looking for extra protection for yourself during your commutes, Volvo has a four and a half tonne answer to your needs.
Say hello to the bulletproof Volvo XC90 Armoured, an SUV that blends in as a normal XC90 from the outside, but is far tougher than it puts out to be. It has been two years in the making and Volvo has been aiming for the second highest VPAM protection rating of VR8. Certified as VR8, the XC90 Armoured is confirmed to offer 360-degree ballistic resistance and explosive resistance.
The XC90 Armoured comes as a T6 AWD Inscription trim and is built at the company’s’ Torslanda plant in Sweden. Which is then sent to TRASCO in Bremen, Germany to be armoured. The high-strength steel used on the SUV measured 10mm thick while the glass on the windows and windscreens are 50mm thick. The reinforcements alone weight 1,400 kilogrammes making the total weight of the XC90 to 4,490kgs.
To be able to come with the extra weight, the XC90 Armoured gets an uprated suspension and larger brakes, as for the armouring details of the vehicle, that information is classified. The XC90 is not the only armoured vehicle in Volvo’s line-up. The Swedish manufacturer also offers semi-armoured versions of the XC60 T6 AWD and the XC90 T6 AWD Inscription in addition to the heavily armoured model.
Deliveries for the XC90 Armoured will begin by the end of the year, while the semi-armoured versions will reach customers by next year.
