Volvo V90 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design: Driven

Daft name, nice car - Volvo's big estate offers a pleasingly Swedish riposte to the German mainstream

Whichever of the German big three you're most familiar with the chances are you'll have a sense of continuity about those everyday interfaces, whether it's selecting your favourite radio station, switching driver modes or navigating the ... nav. Sure, the systems in your latest Audi/BMW/Mercedes are probably a little fancier than the previous one, the graphics snazzier and the range of options bigger. But if you've progressed through two or three generations of cars from the same brand it'll all feel familiar soon enough.

Feeling the need for something different? Been a while since you last sat in a Volvo? You're in for a surprise. A nice one at that.

That Volvo has stuck by the luxurious big estate car format while the world (and many of its customers, via the related XC90) went full SUV is something we rather like at PH. From the moment we first saw the V90 there was a collective 'oooh!' from around the office, the familiarity of a big, boxy Volvo estate car oddly refreshing in this day and age. Mainly because, although unmistakably 'premium' and pricey, it manages to present this without the pushiness we understand from the Germans. Which is a roundabout way of saying you can drive a flash car without rubbing anyone's nose in it. It's a big, flash Volvo. Yet at the same time just a big Volvo. Again, oddly refreshing. If you really want to go properly green wellies there's the Cross Country version too, oddly the only variant available in the UK with the 320hp T6 turbo/supercharged petrol engine.

Welcome to the jungle
Ultimately this is a big Volvo with a little engine, it has to be said. Taking in the headlines of the spec a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel against nearly two tonnes doesn't sound like a fair fight. OK, so we live in an age of three-cylinder 3 Series and all that. But even the clever PowerPulse system - a self-refilling air chamber that primes the turbo for instant spool-up - sounds like it'll be struggling against the V90's bulk. 235hp and 354lb ft of torque through a Haldex all-wheel drive and eight-speed automatic powertrain are respectable though and, for the V90's remit, plenty to make respectable progress. Whether that quite justifies carbon fibre trim and a Sports ESC setting are another matter. 'Dark Flame Birch' sounds a little more ... Swedish.

One of the V90's quirkier features is a transverse leaf-spring set-up for the rear suspension, the better for packaging apparently. Well, if it's good enough for Corvettes... Sadly on the international launch all the cars were on the optional Active Four-C Chassis, which features adaptive dampers all round and air springs on the rear. This is a burly £1,500 extra, self-levelling on the rear adding another £950 for those with REALLY fat Labradors. Or, perhaps, a pimped out caravan. We're a 'posh supermarket car park reference' away from full house on the Volvo stereotypes there aren't we. Stay alert...

From the launch PH man John Mahoney reported the air-sprung cars all felt a little teetery and underdamped, even with the supposedly sporty Dynamic setting engaged. Now for that essential 'we'll wait until we've driven it in the UK' verdict: yes, it still feels a little teetery and underdamped. R-Design may be at the sporty end of the Volvo spectrum and complete with a 'lowered sports chassis'. But it's clear the V90 is built for comfort, not speed.

Pulls like a (night)train
The four-cylinder clatter is well-contained but inescapable at lower speeds and not really becoming of the V90's sense of gravitas. The PowerPulse system at least means response is more enthusiastic than the cylinder count - and noise - would suggest, at least in first and second where it is available. From there the V90 adopts what old-school roadtesters would probably describe as a 'loping gait' that is both entirely relaxing and resolutely unlikely to encourage exploration of what lies beyond the V90's equally old-fashioned interpretation of body control. That's fine though. After all, it's arguably more foolish fitting a four-cylinder diesel estate with track-spec suspension settings than it is comfy ones. No names mentioned.

And it gives you time to enjoy the surroundings. Which are refreshingly different from the German offerings by virtue of being opulent and luxurious yet cool, modern and chintz-free. The nine-inch central touchscreen - vertically oriented like a Tesla - takes a little learning but has a logical interface, clean graphics and is packed with features. Sound from the Bowers & Wilkins hifi is spectacular too. Or at least it was until revisiting Appetite For Destruction at an unsociable volume on the M4 started left the door speaker rattling. Guns'n'Roses in a Volvo - the life of a roadtester really is that cool.

Paradise city
You'll be building a picture here of the V90 as the embodiment of sensible pants motoring, underscored by a suite of safety technology that'll illuminate the shadows cast by its own LED headlights, dodge round wildlife, steer you back onto the road if you nod off through Slash's solo in Sweet Child O'Mine and squawk at you if you fail to spot that pushy Audi trying to sneak by as you pull out of your parking space at Waitrose. It's all of those things, the Pilot Assist system able to nudge you between the white lines and maintain a safe distance to the car in front even if you can't be bothered with these most basic of driving tasks. Good thing it won't let you drive for extended periods hands free if you're stupid enough to try dangling things from the steering wheel to simulate the weight of your hand. Cough.

In short? Meet the new big Volvo estate car, very much the same as the old big Volvo estate car. With added luxury. And the added benefit of not being German. That and a Caterham (other track cars are available) on a trailer behind it and your PH motoring needs are pretty much covered.

VOLVO V90 D5 POWERPULSE AWD R-DESIGN
Engine: 1,969cc, inline-four turbocharged diesel
Transmission: eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 235@4,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 354@1,750rpm
0-62mph: 7.2sec
Top speed: 149mph
Weight: 1,927kg (kerb)
MPG: 57.6
CO2: 129g/km
Price: £44,865 (As tested £56,085 comprising £2,000 for Xenium pack [power glass tilt and slide sunroof, parking camera 360 degree view and park assist pilot], £775 for Winter plus pack [active bending lights with adaptive shadow technology, front LED fog lights with cornering function, heated front windscreen, heated washer nozzles, headlight cleaning system], £300 for Smartphone integration with 2xUSB 1xAUX input, £3,000 for Sensus connect with premium sound by Bowers & Wilkins, £500 for Volvo on call with app, £100 for CD player, £750 for laminated side windows, £600 for Blind spot information system with cross traffic alert and rear collision mitigations plus auto dimming exterior mirrors, £575 for keyless drive with remote tag plus handsfree tailgate opening/closing, £620 for r-Design carbon fibre inlays, £600 for Power driver seat with memory, £400 for power passenger seat and £1,000 for premium metallic)

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tankplanker

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