The first roundabout I came to in the XC90 made it clear, not that I was in any doubt, that this is a big car. A little red 1960s bubble car (what are the odds?) came whizzing down the road behind me, shot into the left hand lane and quickly vanished beneath my left wing mirror. I sat waiting for the lights to change, knowing that if I entered the roundabout too soon I could easily end up driving over the hippy in my blind spot.
Sure enough, as the lights changed, he buzzed off crossing the lane in front of me. Good job I paused, because if you stamp on the accelerator, the XC90– after a frustrating automatic gearbox pause – will lunge forward surprisingly aggressively. The sensation you get moving this car off the line, even if just slowly backing off the driveway, is that it can crush anything in it’s way.
But the combination of weighty (not heavy, but not light) steering and sophisticated interior deter you from wanting to drive quickly. You find yourself really tootling around in this big beast.
Going into a multi-storey car park is fun, or stressful, depending on your disposition. It was never impossible, but each turn required a very careful wide approach and steady turn in. On one very tight corner in a car park I use often, I clipped the kerb. In anything else I would think, ‘I hope I haven’t damaged the alloy wheels.’ In this I thought, ‘Stuff the alloys, I hope I don’t hit the ceiling as I go up this kerb.’
That incredibly high driving position is one of the reasons this car has become a favourite with bigger families. You almost take it for granted, but on a tiny country road, late at night, I realised I had not had to squint or worry about what might be ahead once. That is down to the imperious driving position and fabulous headlights. There are very few cars where you have excellent night-time visibility at all times.
The other reason the XC90 has become a family favourite is its ability to accommodate 5 adults, 2 children and their luggage. Or combinations thereof. I say accommodate, that doesn’t really express the luxury feel of the cabin. The carpets are thick and the leather on the seats feels expensive. The seats are extremely comfortable, offering firm but not hard support. Everything in the cabin suggests the car has been built with the objective of lasting 250,000 miles.
The sat nav slides up out of the dash, which is novel. As is operating it with a remote control. Is it legal to drive whilst operating a sat nav remote control, I wondered?
The radio and ventilation controls are all easy to use, but the XC90 has been around a few years now. So the controls are not quite as nice to use as the exceptional systems on the newest Volvos.
The diesel automatic we tested is the most popular seller, but I would go for the manual if you live in town. When trying to get out of busy junctions into small rush hour traffic gaps, the auto delay borders on frightening. Whilst you won’t be hurt in the ‘Volvo Tank,’ as I came to call it, spare a thought for those in bubble cars.
Out on motorways, the XC90 confuses me. The ride feels almost choppy at top motorway speeds. I expected to feel planted to the floor, but never did. I expected this sensation to become unbearable in cross winds. But in quite heavy cross winds, it felt exactly the same as when there was no wind. Psychologically therefore, it felt more stable…
Coming off the motorway and looking for some sweeping a-road corners, I was expecting the ride to become unpredictable and really slow me down. But, the XC90 will handle as well as an estate car on A-road corners. It will happily charge through them at brisk speed. Which in such a big, tall car, is very impressive. It is only when you get down to b-roads that the heavy steering makes an estate car feel a tiny bit more appealing.
Summary
A The XC90 is a luxury 4x4 of gigantic proportions. Despite its size you can live with it happily everyday. It has been a popular seller, so is now affordable family transport for lots of people. Designed and built to last, it will crunch motorway miles or take the stress out of a busy school run.
Road test car details:
Volvo XC90 D5 SE
OTR: £35,345
MPG: 34.0
0-60: 11 secs
Co2: 239g/KM
Words: Matthew Tumbridge