In the cold and harsh winter months, it's reassuring to know that the car you're driving has been rigorously tested to cope with everything that the conditions throw at you, and more. And with a Volvo, that's quite a lot more, thanks to facilities like its secret winter testing world north of the Arctic Circle.
At the secret development facility in Lapland, all new Volvo models are exposed to the harshest extremes of a Swedish winder, to ensure that all mechanical and safety systems, controls, and of course heating and ventilation systems, work effectively - and therefore cope easily with the worst that the UK can offer.
Volvo's facility encompasses a laboratory and a number of different locations in the field, where the company's skilled engineers and test drivers demand that new Volvo models work in the toughest of conditions. Cold starts as minus 30 degrees are an everyday occurence and, in such conditions, instruments react more slowly, oil is incredibly sticky, rubber is brittle and heating systems are taxed. Meanwhile, braking, traction control and four-wheel-drive systems are routinely pushed to their limits by slippery surfaces.
"We try to discover faults or shortcomings at the prototype stage so that we can rectify them before production starts," says Anders Polheimer, Volvo's project manager for Arctic field tests. "It is really important that the car functions under the extreme conditions here, as people expect a Swedish Volvo to be able to cope with the most severe winter conditions."
So, however bad winter weather conditions are in the UK, it's extremely gratifying to know that all Volvo models have been developed to cope with it - and much, much more.
