Volvo V90 Cross Country Road Test Review

The car sits on very handsome 20 inches 10-spoke black and diamond cut wheels. The 245/45 R20 Pirelli P Zero tyres give it a confident look, as though the car can take on any terrain. And surprisingly it does too with great elan. 

As smart as the front is the rear of the vehicle with those almost L shaped LED tail lamps, the high gloss black decor side windows, black wheel arches, bright integrated roof rails, panoramic sunroof  and dual integrated tail pipes. It has a length of 4936 mm, a width of 1879 mm (it increases to 2019 mm when you take into account the mirrors), a wheelbase of 2941 mm and a height of 1475 mm. The car has a turning radius of 11.4 metres. The car comes with a lower profile spare tyre, as compared to the regular four tyres fitted on to the vehicle. That could be a tad disconcerting for many drivers, especially in India, if they were to ever have a puncture. 

Internal Design and Features of Volvo V90 Cross Country

Step inside, and the magic begins. The car has Nappa leather seats with amber in charcoal interior. It’s then you realise, this car has all the finer features of the popular XC90 SUV and the elegant S90 sedan.

There are not too many confusing control buttons in the car, only a 12 inch tab on the centre console area that has almost all the functions to change settings from that of the radio to navigation to the air conditioner and to the car’s other functional settings. Now beyond the touch of the finger  are the real buttons that include the engine start stop button, a scroll button to change the drive mode and two electronic buttons “A” and “P” for auto holding the vehicle in the Drive mode and for Parking respectively.  There are four different drive modes to select from: Eco, Comfort, Off Road and Dynamic.

The car comes with 4-zone electronic climate control, cooled glove box and heated steering wheel.

Even though the tab gives the car a very upmarket look and feel, the only flip side is when you are driving, you really cannot operate it as you need to place you finger on each command on the screen to activate it. Obviously you cannot do this without taking your eyes off the road ahead. That could be dangerous. I personally feel that more manual buttons are much easier to operate when you are on the move. But then I must also confess that the new generation of buyers prefer modern technology like the tab settings. 

Though the seats are immensely comfortable, both in the front and the rear, the front seats get electric adjustments with memory settings and massage functions.  The seats in front are ventilated and they also get power adjustable side and lumbar support, power cushion extensions, etc. There is ample use of leather inside from the seats, to the dashboard and even the steering.

The inside of the car has decent amount of storage space for your bottles and the centre console arm rest has outlets for USB and aux in. The car comes with power folding rear headrests.

The car has a huge boot space which can be increased dramatically by pushing down the rear seats with a touch of buttons placed in the boot space. So from 560 litres of space you get 1,526 litres. The boot lid is power operated and inside there is a grocery bag holder and luggage net and back rest. There is also a 12V outlet in the luggage area. From the inside of the boot space you can also open a small window to the rear seating space. This is primarily to squeeze in something long like your skis that cannot fit inside the boot space. This feature is quite interesting.

But one of those days when you are being chauffeured around, and you are seated at the back, which is the scenario with expensive cars, you will miss the massage functions terribly. The only controls at the back are that for the AC vents and the temperature setting. Well, there is an arm rest with two cup holders, if that is any consolation. You can listen to the beautiful music streaming out from the 19 speakers of Bowers and Wilkins upmarket audio system.

Engine & Performance of Volvo V90 Cross Country

Hey, but who is going to sit at the back? The car is powered by a 1969 cc diesel engine which delivers a 235hp and a peak torque of 480Nm. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic all wheel drive transmission.

The D5 diesel motor surprises you with its extreme refinement. As for the turbo lag expected from diesel mills, this one has none. Yes, almost none, because of the Power Pulse system which the car comes with. An electrically operated air compressor feeds air into a storage tank by sucking air from the air intake. The tank in turn diverts the entire compressed air to spool the turbo, so every time you step on the throttle you get an almost instant response. Yes, it’s almost like magic.

For city driving, it’s the Eco and Comfort modes which are ideal and when you want to be a little more aggressive on the roads, you can move the drive mode to Dynamic. For the rough roads you can opt for the Off Road mode. Each mode automatically alters steering and engine response as well as the rear air suspension. The off road mode can only be activated if you drive below 20kms per hour speed. It basically increases the ride height by a few centimetres. With air suspension at the back, and double wishbones in front, the ride quality is top notch.

Safety Features

Volvo cars have always been built perfect on the safety front. I am not just talking about the airbags and inflatable curtains, EBAs, etc or support systems like hill descent control, hill start assists, head up display, park assist camera, etc. It’s the radar based safety system which sees adaptive cruise control at its best. You can maintain a safe distance behind a moving vehicle and in case the vehicle in front stops abruptly, your car too screeches to a halt.

Verdict

All in all, the Volvo V90 Cross Country is like a Magic Box on four wheels.  The more you dig inside, the more you drive it, the more it has to offer, and the more joyful you get. Be it its plush interiors, its overall features and the way it drives and handles, this car could very well redefine the way estates have been  looked upon in India. This could be the real estate for many a smart and matured driver.