Volvo’s Stunning New S90.

Volvo is going from strength to strength at the moment. The XC90 and XC60 SUV’s are both enjoying world-wide sales success, and there’s even the prospect of a new baby XC40 SUV arriving before the end of 2017. The Swedish brand needed to reinvent its big saloon and estate car lineup by replacing the aged S80 and V70 – hence the introduction of the stunning new S90 and V90.

The S90 replaces the old S80, but there are no similarities at all between the two models. The new S90 gets Volvo’s latest Scalable Platform Architecture chassis (SPA) – which is, in effect, the same set of underpinnings as the XC90. This means the S90 can share all of the big SUV’s safety tech, as well as building upon its cabin quality.

The new Volvo S90 puts the driver and passengers at the heart of a truly luxurious experience. Swedish luxury is about the beauty of simplicity, using natural and simple details to express the Scandinavian heritage enjoyed and celebrated at Volvo Cars since its creation in 1927. The exterior design defines the cars character, communicating solidity and confidence. The cabin creates a sanctuary, offering an uncluttered and spacious interior with Volvo’s world famous sculpted seats for maximum comfort and support.

When it comes to intuitive technology, Volvo’s new S90 takes pride of place. Thanks to Volvo’s in-car infotainment control system, Sensus, the majority of the functions inside the car are controlled via a 9” touch screen, thereby removing the need for physical buttons, which allows for a cleaner and simpler user interface.

My test car was the new Volvo S90 D5 Inscription Power-Pulse All-Wheel-Drive Geartronic (Automatic) finished in Onyx Black metallic paint and fitted with optional 20” 8-spoke diamond-cut alloy wheels. I have to say that the car looked amazing from every angle and drew admiring glances from other motorists and pedestrians alike. The interior of the car looked every bit as impressive as the exterior and the delightful leather scent from the standard Nappa Soft Leather in Amber provided a real ‘sense of occasion’ to every journey I made.

All new Volvo S90’s come with diesel-only engines with power outputs ranging from 150bhp (D3) to 190bhp (D4) and on to 235bhp (D5) in the car I drove. Mated to Volvo’s super-smooth automatic gearbox, the D5 engine is capable of thrilling performance, with a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 7 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h (where permitted). Volvo claim a combined fuel economy figure of 65.6mpg and emissions of just 127g/km – leading to annual road tax of just €270. When you consider that the new Volvo S90 is almost 5-metres long and weighs 1.76-tonne (unladen) you can really appreciate how impressive these figures are.

Prices for the new Volvo S90 start at a very reasonable €43,900 (ex-works). I was completely won over by the new Volvo S90 and I can see this car being another big success for Volvo.