Volvo made its big, beautiful wagon even more desirable this year
Against all
odds and sales sense, the 2021 Volvo V90 is still kicking and available to order
in the United States. Not only that, but Volvo gave
it a mini mid-cycle update this year, altering the styling and adding more
tech. It’s still disappointing that Volvo doesn’t keep any V90s in
stock at dealers, but it looks like the best way to sell a
wagon in this country is to make it order-only like the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S or Audi RS6 Avant.
Well, that,
or lift it and apply body cladding as in the case of the V90's Cross Country sibling. Dealers do carry
those. However, you’ll be glad that you took the time to special order the
non-lifted, uncladded V90. It's a design masterpiece; a full-size family
vehicle that forces you to look back at it every time you walk away. Volvo
hasn’t struck out with a single design over the past few years, and this V90 is
surely the brand’s crowning achievement. Proportions, stance, lighting and
wheels; all of it is pleasing to the eye. The hugely useful cargo area and big
back seat just raise the bar even higher. That a vehicle can be as practical as
this one is, handle like a car and still look this good just makes it even more
appealing.
This Volvo
goes from point A to point B like a member of the Swedish royal family sweeping
across a crowded ballroom centuries ago. Poised and elegant, the V90 silently
wafts down the road riding on a pillowy air suspension. There’s no rush.
Curious eyes turn to catch a glimpse of something they rarely see. Yet the V90
never demands anybody take notice with extravagant creases or a gaudy grille.
It just exists in this glamorous state of purist wagon nirvana.
Simplicity
tends to breed the most appealing car designs, but labeling the V90 as simplistic would be a
misnomer. This Inscription trim V90 is adorned with just the right amount of
shiny chrome, highlighting the sharp styling and drawing the eye downward.
Volvo’s updates serve to smooth out the front and rear fascias even further, going
so far as to delete the rear exhaust outlet in the bumper in favor of an
invisible under-car exit. It suits the wagon’s attitude and also serves to
prepare our eyes for an electric future. A new and much more intricate rear LED
taillight design animates a friendly “hello” from bottom-to-top at the press of
the unlock button, or top-to-bottom for “goodbye.” The new 20-inch wheel design
completes the picture with a striking bright and dark two-tone finish.
As in every
other Volvo, the Swedish design aesthetic continues to the leather-swathed and
wood-trimmed interior. The V90 isn’t special versus other Volvos here except
for its available space. A 6-foot-tall person could sit comfortably behind
themselves. Volvo’s built-in booster seats for the rear make it
family-friendly, and the rear even has its own set of climate controls to give
the kids their own temperature zone. There is sadly no rear-facing third row,
but cargo space is voluminous at 25.5 cubic feet behind the second row. Drop
the rear seatbacks, and that expands to a massive 53.9 cubes. It’s even
entertaining to open and close the rear hatch, as a shade whirs forward and
back electronically to cover or uncover your items in the cargo hold.
The new
tech inside the 2021 V90 consists of a wireless phone charger, a new and
improved air-filtration system (it lets you monitor air cleanliness through the
infotainment system), an even more banging optional Bowers & Wilkins audio
system and USB-C outlets to replace some USB-A outlets. Unfortunately, the
wireless phone charger is a bit of a joke, because Volvo didn’t redesign the
center console to fit it properly. Instead, Volvo has squeezed in a rubberized
mat that is far too small for many of today’s larger phones, and it allows them
to fly onto the floor when you hit the throttle or brake too hard. It’s
generally useless and we'd probably prefer to just plug our phones in the
old-fashioned way and take advantage of the small bin the wireless charger
eliminates.
Of course, this wagon doesn’t exactly goad you into driving in a way that'll make your phone go flying. The T6 model has the 2.0-liter twin-charged four-cylinder engine that makes 316 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. With it, this heavy full-size wagon spiritedly trots from 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. However, it looks quicker on paper than it feels from the driver seat. A muted whooshing of air and combustion noise sneaks into the cabin, but the four-cylinder does nothing to audibly excite. The six-cylinder Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain are both quicker and sound better.
Handling is
lightyears better than an XC90 or even an XC60, but the V90’s large size still can’t be
disguised. You can feel the extended rear end acting a little uncertain in long
sweepers, unsure of whether it wants to follow the front in perfect balance.
There’s still plenty of body roll with the $1,200 air suspension stiffened up,
but the low center of gravity and agility of this big wagon is commendable. It
bestows a level of confidence to take corners quicker than Volvo’s
similarly-sized crossovers, a key element that makes the V90
that much more appealing.
Even if the
V90 can put a small smile on an enthusiast’s face through corners, this wagon
is in its element when its soaking up highway miles in silence with the
massaging seats on and Volvo’s capable Pilot Assist
driver-assistance system guiding the way. It’s comfortable and easy to drive in
every sense of those words.
Plus, I
can’t help but be nostalgic about Volvo and its station wagon history while
sitting behind the wheel of the Swedes’ latest creation. Seeing an old Volvo
245, 700 Series or 900 Series wagon in pristine condition rolling down the
highway always causes my face to light up. People care about these cars, and
the V90’s boxy proportions bring about flashbacks of the grand longroofs from
decades past.
While there
will certainly be fewer V90s sold than the Volvo wagons of yesteryear, the
select few who pony up the $58,795 for a T6 Inscription will know they found
something special. The V90 is also distinct from the other non-performance
wagons. Audi slaps plastic cladding to the A6 Allroad,
and Mercedes has dropped the standard E 450 Wagon for
the E 450 All-Terrain with similar black cladding (and neither appreciably
increases ground clearance as the V90 Cross Country does). Jaguar has
killed the XF Sportbrake, and the Buick Regal TourX is long gone. That leaves the
V90 and the V60 as the last standing luxury wagons that
are not of the lifted/ruggedized or high-performance variety.
Volvo’s
commitment to this body style in the face of such miniscule sales volumes (500
V90s found homes last year) is a glimmer of longroof happiness we can all get
behind. And with the V90 competition disappearing or turning into V90 Cross
Country competitors, this wagon just got all the more desirable.
Source: Autoblog.com
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