Enough Is Not the Same It Was Before: Volvo XC90

It was particularly windy that morning with wind speeds reaching up to 35 km/h, and while it howled back at the hotel, it was muffled inside the car, but no less audible at highway speeds; which varied between 60 and 120 km/h. Interestingly enough, the systems on the car are not programmed to deal with crosswinds. So, after speaking with the development team later on, I confirmed my hunch: the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) works together with the gyro-equipped Roll Stability Control (RSC) to effectively counter the effect of high-speed crosswinds. Thus, when doing 120 km/h, the car would give a slight wiggle when hit by crosswinds, and, a split second later, would stabilise without any drama. A very interesting thing to experience.

The XC90 also handles the bends very well indeed and remains pointed in the right direction with little or no body-roll, depending on speed. It is a massive car, so we wouldn’t expect it to be as planted as an STCC S60 in any case. Stronger, more efficient brakes with typically Volvo safety braking aids add not just confidence, but more effective bite to the anchors. Another important addition: the new driver information display, which consists of the HUD on the windscreen, the info console behind the steering wheel and the tablet display on the centre console — respectively classified as ‘now’, ‘in a while’ and ‘whenever’ — gives you all the information you need. The sat-nav displays the entire map on the tablet, turn-by-turn on the info-console and immediate turn in the HUD — very useful that.

The XC90 D5 will be offered in two guises internationally — Urban Luxury and Rugged Luxury — to cater to both sides of the segment, the former being a more off-road focused model, complete with side-cladding. It seems that we might just get this option, though it may be offered as a body-kit for interested buyers. There will also be a base Momentum trim, with a top-end Inscription (the one we drove) with all the goodies, including the Active Four-C chassis, air suspension, Nappa leather upholstery and the exemplary Bowers & Wilkins 1400W, 19-speaker surround-sound audio system with an air-ventilated sub-woofer.

The prices are expected to be in the Rs 75 lakh (ex-showroom) range when it arrives in India in September this year. It is expected to take on the Audi Q7, Mercedes ML- and GL-Class (soon to be GLE- and GLS-Class), the BMW X5, and even the new incoming Discovery Sport. Volvo Auto India did mention that they intend to bring in just the diesel model first and have already begun taking orders for the car, and we look forward to driving it in India in final customer specification.

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