Volvo XC 90 makes u feel king of luxury
THE Volvo XC90 is not so much a large SUV as an extension to your home on wheels – your very own portable castle.
It is a big beast – a magnificent knight of the road – bold and broad with Volvo’s signature grille, skid plates at the front and rear and bold chrome roof bars.
Not a vehicle I would mess with and the little city car overtaking coming the other way was very lucky. Any tighter and this guy would have made mincemeat of it.
How big is it? It has seven full-sized seats and still has decent boot space. The two rear seats, boasts Volvo , accommodate adults up to 5ft 7in and they are right.
The interior of the top of the range Inscription trim is charcoal Nappa soft leather with brushed aluminium and high gloss black. It even smells expensive.
But at the heart of this car is a 9in touch screen, one of the biggest yet, set in the black and chrome centre console.
And it is this screen that opens out to reveal all that this car can do.
Radio, sat nav, sound experience are all there quite intuitively in front of you. You can pinch and open the screen out just as you do on your smart phone and alter the mapping to 3-D or just 2-D, enlarge or minimise.
The sound experience is a joy. I chose the full-on Gothenburg Great Hall sound for my music that swooped through the car but there is also the more intimate studio sound for front seat only and the driver’s choice if you are along in the car.
And, say Volvo, the volume is so intense that you can sing at the top of your lungs and the music will still drown you out. That is one for me.
Swipe the screen left to get the apps as well as all radio including DAB, Bluetooth, messaging and driver performance updates.
Swipe it right for the safety features and systems and, this being a Volvo , there are many of them – so many in fact that this car is just a hair’s breadth away from being autonomous.
The super-duper adaptive cruise control with distance alert acts with the lane keeping and means you only have to keep a hand on the wheel and the car will keep you in your lane and monitor your speed so that you can singalong to the music.
The park assist will not only get you in to tight parallel and perpendicular spaces, but it will get you out again.
There is a front collision warning, full auto brake and pedestrian and cyclist detection. Throw it into reverse gear and you get a bird’s eye 360 degree view of just what you are doing.
And most of the packages can be customised to your preferences. Moreover as soon as another comes out you can download it to the collection.
All this and the comfort and luxury of the drive.
The XC90 comes with Volvo ’s D5 engine – that’s a 2-litre job with 225hp – and having said what a big boy of a car this is, let me now add that it is very easy to drive.
Of course, this is helped by the eight-speed automatic transmission which slips it so easily up and down the gears.
The engine is quiet, an absolute gentleman, and all you get from this car is unerring performance and the feeling of complete safety.
It really does cruise along the road, with agility and muscle. There are four driving modes – Eco, comfort, dynamic and of course, off-road. This car is so much more than a big handsome hunk.
Safety and performance – it is Volvo.
Factfile
- Model Volvo XC90 AWD Inscription
- Engine D5 2 litre diesel auto
- Power 225hp
- Max speed 137 mph
- 0-62 7.8 secs
- Average mpg 48.7
- CO2 152g/km
- Warranty 36 months/60,000 miles
- Price from £50,185
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