When it comes to luxury, most of us know the drill: acres of supple leather seating paired with warm, inviting wood. Call it the rolling equivalent of a winter cabin–minus the roaring fireplace, of course.
Not this $90,000 Volvo XC90, however: woven seats along with cold, harsh aluminum accents. Maybe this is a brutalist take on luxury.
Our Volvo XC90 T8 AWD Plug-In Hybrid still delivered luxury, though. It’s quiet. Way quiet. No wind noise, no tire howl.
Volvo switches deliver a solid click. And they make sense, too.
Is the crystal shifter trying too hard, though? It is a Volvo Thing, and at least you don’t have to remove your eyes from the road to work it. No knob, no buttons. Just south of the shifter sits something else uniquely Volvo: a starter knob that you twist to engage. Twist to start, twist to stop.
Surprised to see that the Volvo XC90 T8 AWD Plug-In Hybrid–yes, working that SEO–is powered by a 2.0-liter four. It’s quick. Way quick. The specs tell the story, though: 312 horsepower for the gas engine plus another 143 for the electric motor. Total torque is 523 lb.-ft. It just pulls.
And it’s paired with an eight-speed automatic that never left me wondering. Quiet, quick shifts, no waiting.
For a three-row, seven-passenger luxury SUV, it still feels tidy. Easy to park, pretty open around the A-pillars. It’s relaxing to drive.
Not too bad getting in and out. Very roomy back seat with all the expected HVAC and audio controls. The window sticker notes that it has four-zone climate control.
The big thing might be the price: $89,695 as delivered, with $3200 of that for the Bowers & Wilkins audio. That sounds steep–and for many of us it is–but it’s less than some of the big Infinitis that we’re recently sampled.
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