The Volvo S80 is the current flagship sedan produced by Volvo Cars (although it’s due to be replaced by the S90 in 2016), and is designed to compete with a range of large and full-sized luxury sedans in the United States, including luminaries such as the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Acura TLX, and Lexus GS. It’s not as well known as some of the competition, but when it comes to value, it’s definitely competitive. It also naturally competes with its smaller sibling, the S60.

The S80 features a range of top notch crash scores and safety features, including side airbags and ESC, as well as frontal crash protection in the latest models. As a result, it’s not just favored by executives and business-types, but by families interested in one of the safest sedans money can buy. As a result, I got up close and personal with both generations of the S80 to see just how car-seat friendly they’d be for interested families.

Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the S80 in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.

For me, the most basic and essential part of car seat safety involves rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Volvo S80 on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia.

The second (and final) generation S80 is 191 inches long (except in the S80L, which is 196.5 inches long) and just over 73 inches wide, which gives you a decent amount of interior room to work with for 3 across situations. Due to the substantial doors and padding in the Volvo interior (for safety and comfort), the back row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Because the S80 is rather short as far as luxury sedans go, you might easily find yourself compromised on front-to-back space, especially if you’ve got taller drivers or passengers. If you’re interested in which safe seats take up the least space, you’ll definitely want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

The first generation S80 is 190-191 inches long, depending on whether you bought it before 2004 or after, and just over 72 inches wide, which is about comparable to most mid-sized sedans on the road today. Due to the substantial doors and padding in the Volvo interior (for safety and comfort), the back row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.

Because the S80 is rather short as far as luxury sedans go, you might easily find yourself compromised on front-to-back space, especially if you’ve got taller drivers or passengers. If you’re interested in which safe seats take up the least space, you’ll definitely want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.