Volvo XC90 2016 Review

Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription
Road Test

Volvo spared little during the development of its second generation XC90. Benchmarking German luxury SUVs such as the BMW X5 and Audi Q7, the big new Volvo aims to match, or better, its competitors on every point. Does it, and will Volvo succeed in supplanting the class-leaders as the market becomes aware of the impressive new contender? Time will tell. Here we take a look at the $100,950 (plus on-road costs) petrol-powered T6 version of the XC90 Inscription.

Volvo’s new XC90 makes no bones about its intentions: It exists purely to take on the best of the full-size luxury SUVs, while racking up much-improved sales over its long-lived predecessor.

The original XC90 – which first saw the light of day in 2003 – might have ended up representing a significant percentage of Volvo’s sales, but it barely made a scratch on the luxury SUV segment and had dropped into virtual obscurity by the time the ambitious new model arrived in August 2015

Volvo’s stats for the second-generation XC90 show promise of change. The new SUV doesn’t hold back in any way among its peers: BMW X5, Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Land Rover Sport and Lexus RX.

The reasons for optimism are well founded: The XC90, though it is right in the thick of things in terms of pricing, has the ingredients to become a viable challenger. With impressive refinement and safety, and no shortage of technology, it also has the second-biggest footprint in its class behind the massive, much lauded Audi Q7.

About the only question mark is Volvo’s use of a relatively small 2.0-litre engine, in either turbo-diesel or petrol form, which is tasked with performing the same duties as the opposition’s (generally) forced-induction 3.0-litre sixes.

Once again, the specs present a credible argument. Via a combination of supercharging and turbocharging, the four-cylinder petrol engine makes a solid 235kW, actually out-grunting the X5’s 223kW turbo six while sharing its 400Nm torque output.

The figures might be overshadowed by the likes of Range Rover Sport (250kW/450Nm) and Mercedes-Benz GLE400 (245kW/480Nm) but you’d never say they weren’t competitive, especially when you compare fuel consumption and CO2 outputs. Both Volvo and BMW quote the same 8.5L/100km and 199g/km, better than Land Rover and Mercedes (10.8/L100km and 258g/km, and 9.3L/100km and 217g/km respectively).

This time around, after spending considerable time testing D5 turbo-diesel versions of the new XC90, we are looking at the T6 Inscription petrol model (strange and misleading nomenclature as applied by many car-makers today – originally T6 meant six cylinders and the D5 was a five-cylinder turbo-diesel).

At $100,950 (plus ORCs), the T6 Inscription sits near the top of the XC90 range, next to the $101,950 R-Design and below the $122,950 T8 hybrid variant.

The roll call of equipment is impressive, if not complete: Although the five-star ANCAP rated Inscription does come with Volvo’s City Safety collision-avoidance system, lane-departure warning, road sign information and “run-off road protection”, as well as sat-nav, hill descent control, “park assist pilot”, power tailgate, rearview camera, Nappa leather seats with memory settings on driver and passenger’s’ sides and four-zone climate-control, it is necessary to fork out more if you want more.

Extra-cost items include head-up display, heated seats, leather dash trim, power sunroof and Volvo’s $2600 “IntelliSafe Assist” system which brings adaptive cruise control, pilot assist, lane keeping aid, queue assist, distance alert and speed limiter functions – but you still have to pay an extra $1275 for “IntelliSafe Surround” technology which adds blind-spot monitoring, cross-traffic alert and rear collision warning.

The safety tech is there, but you have to ask (and pay) for a lot of it. Fortunately for Volvo, it’s not the only luxury car-maker to apply the same rules.

And if you’ve ever wondered if cars stopped getting bigger, a close encounter with the XC90 will convince you that’s not the case. Volvo’s flagship, from the looming, high-set bonnet to the towering roofline is unapologetically massive, and comes with the promise that the same super-sizing will be replicated inside the cabin.

Indeed that proves to be the case, with more legroom throughout than you might expect, even of a big, luxury SUV. Even way up back, adults are able to reside – albeit for relatively brief periods – without requiring subsequent chiropractic attention. The only surprise is that, despite the XC90’s massive beam dimensions, the middle-row seats, though comfortable enough; aren’t particularly wide and, into the bargain, lack some lateral support.

We’re not sure about the instrument panel.

Sure, there’s an almost-exquisite, fine-honed aura to the XC90, as well as a welcome cleanliness and a lack of fuss in the general dash architecture – but could it be Volvo has gone a step too far relegating so many of its control functions to the massive touch-screen residing at the centre of the dash?

It might be me – and probably partly is – but activating the Bluetooth, trip computer and navigation was a largely non-intuitive business and suggested recourse to the owner’s manual would be advisable for any XC90 newcomer older than eight years. My usual habit of parking at the side of the road while setting up for my own needs was abandoned after 10 minutes or so of thumbing the touch screen and failing to activate the functions I wanted.

After a week with the XC90 we were better friends, but reliance on touch-screens that are hard to navigate, even for simple functions, strikes me as a bit misguided. And it’s not faultless – there were times when sat-nav requests required repeated touch-pad fumbling before I got a response.

There was one thing about the XC90’s controls that might bother some drivers – but didn’t faze me at all – and that was the lack of paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Manual selection of the eight ratios within the slick-shifting Aisin-Warner gearbox is achieved intuitively via the shift lever which, unlike steering wheel mounted paddles, is always located in the same place regardless of where the car is being pointed.

Which brings us to the big Volvo’s interactions with the road.

Here, a couple of things seemed a little out of synch with the XC90’s aspirations: Although the SUV steered and handled in a way that denied it's close to 2000kg kerb weight and the small four-cylinder engine simply went about doing its job (it’s claimed to push the XC90 from zero to 100km/h in a quick 6.5 seconds). The actual ride quality was a definite nod towards the sporty spectrum – it was surprisingly and maybe uncomfortably firm for some tastes – while the powerplant’s aural qualities somehow didn’t quite gel. The petrol-powered XC90 sounds more like a sporty hatchback than a suave, luxury SUV.

But for overall dynamic competence the XC90 scores with distinction. The electric steering might feel a bit light and vague but, for general driving, its weighting and its quick, sure response to the helm is gratifying, once again belying the XC90’s bulk. It never feels like a handful.

And the real world fuel figures? Well, our test Inscription fell a little short of the official 8.5L/100km claim with a figure during a week’s driving of 10.5L/100km, which is nevertheless better than we’ve previously experienced in petrol XC90s and not bad for a bluff SUV with a swag of performance.

So, yes, the new generation XC90 is a big leap forward for Volvo. And, yes, it’s a worthy competitor in the luxury SUV segment. As for whether it will be able to dislodge the likes of BMW’s class-ruling X5 (Volvo believes it has the potential), or Audi’s superlative Q7, that’s another thing altogether.

2016 Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription pricing and specifications:
Price: $100,950 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-charged-petrol
Output: 235kW/400Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 199g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> Audi Q7 (from $96,300 plus ORCs)
>> BMW X5 (from $86,200 plus ORCs)
>> Range Rover Sport (from $91,800 plus ORCs)