Mileage: 3,173
Economy: 42.1mpg
Volvo has been on a bit of a roll recently, with its SUV stars the XC90 and new XC60 picking up significant prizes in the Auto Express New Car Awards.
Their blend of clean Scandinavian design and cutting-edge interiors wowed our judges and clearly have strong appeal to SUV buyers. But can this formula be successfully applied to the traditionally more conservative executive saloon class, too? That’s what we’ll be aiming to find out living with Volvo’s striking new S90.
It certainly gets off to a decent start, because to these eyes at least it’s among the more handsome contenders in an area of the market where derivative design has become all too common.
At the front, the Thor’s Hammer daytime running light and indicator design endows it with one of the most attractive lighting signatures on the road. It’s a simple but classy way of giving the car a face that really looks the part, while the defiantly upright grille adds to the distinctive appearance.
There’s a real sense of purpose to the car in profile, with a broad shoulder line and low roofline, but it’s at the rear where the S90 really stands out in my eyes.
Not everyone agrees, but I think the large C-shaped lights and simple Volvo lettering give it a certain appeal that compares favourably with some of its closest rivals. And while initially I was unconvinced by the Mussel Blue paint of our D4 Momentum model, the shade has grown on me. It’s sober enough to complement the restrained character of the saloon, but sufficiently different to mark it out from the hordes of silver and black cars on the road.
Inside, too, the S90 demonstrates a real sense of occasion, with a comfortable and classy cabin that, again, is extremely clean in its design. Key to this is a lack of switchgear, because pretty much everything is controlled by a nine-inch portrait-style touchscreen on the centre console.
To get a better idea of what it’s capable of, I had a session with Volvo West London’s Product and Handover Specialist Stephen Ibbotson at my local Volvo Cars North London dealer in Colindale.
This kind of briefing is available to all buyers and I’d thoroughly recommend it, because although many of the functions are intuitive, I found it a great help being talked through the various menus and sub-menus on offer.
Our Momentum car comes pretty well equipped as standard, but among the options we’ve specified is Volvo On Call, so Stephen’s first job was to get my account set up and explain the benefits.
Once I’d downloaded the complementary app and set up my Volvo ID, he showed me how I could access key data on the S90 on my smartphone – including journey logs, fuel levels and whether maintenance checks were due – as well as control elements of it. I’m sure the ability to lock it remotely and sound the horn to track it down in a crowded car park will come in useful at some stage.
The £550 option – which comes as a three-year subscription – also provides access to an emergency and roadside assistance service which can be accessed at the touch of a button and is ready to help in the event of a flat tyre or accident.
Hopefully I won’t get the opportunity to try that out, but I’m certain that On Call’s Internet connection, which turns the car into a mobile hotspot, will be put to good use. We’ll talk you through some of the other options and equipment in our future reports, but for the time being I’m simply enjoying settling down in the S90’s unfeasibly comfortable driver’s seat and enjoying the upmarket ambience of this most stylish of saloons.
Truth be told I’ve only done limited miles so far, but in that time the S90 has shown that it’s neither especially sporty nor particularly keen for its 187bhp D4 diesel engine to be worked too hard. However, the assured, composed driving experience suits the car’s character well.
*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.
- Model: Volvo S90 D4 Momentum
- On fleet since: June 2017
- Price new: £33,865
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl twin-turbodiesel,187bhp
- CO2/tax: 116g/km/£140
- Options: Xenium pack (£1,800), Winter pack (£525), Intellisafe Surround pack (£600), Smartphone integration (£300), Volvo On Call (£550), CD player (£100), 12.3-inch Active TFT Crystal Driver’s Display (£400), three-pin socket in centre console (£100)
- Options cont.: Keyless Drive (£575), Power Driver Seat (£600), Power Passenger Seat (£400), 18-inch double spoke alloys (£700), metallic paint (£700)
- Insurance*/Quote: Group 27/£1,032
- Mileage: 3,173
- Economy: 42.1mpg
- Any problems?: None so far
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