FIRST UNVEILED AT at the Paris Auto Show in September, Volvo's refined V8-powered XC90 has undergone a radical transformation for the 2004 SEMA show. Boasting a lowered stance, an aggressive body styling treatment and high performance wheels and tires, the XC90 Power Utility Vehicle (PUV) takes Volvo's hottest selling vehicle to the next level. But the transformation is more then skin deep. Still a work in progress, the V8 is slated to eventually produce 650 horsepower through its six-speed automatic "Geartronic" transmission and standard electronically controlled all-wheel-drive system.

The XC90 PUV, however, is still a Volvo. Meaning that wrapped within its eye-popping new looks are a number of state-of-the-art safety systems. Introduced with no fewer than five automotive world's firsts when it debuted two years ago, the Volvo XC90 was the first SUV to the market with standard Roll Stability Control (RSC), head curtain airbags for all three rows of seats, pyrotechnically charged pretensioning seatbelts in all seating positions and an incredible Dolby Pro Logic surround sound stereo system.