Review: Volvo V90 Cross Country T6
Petrol power comes to the Volvo V90 Cross Country – but how does it stack up from a costs perspective?
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Your support makes all the difference.There’s been a craggy off-road estate car in the Volvo range for a couple of decades now. For a good while these Cross Country estates (or relatives thereof) had things pretty much their own way. Subaru had its Legacy Outback, but their success was limited by a longstanding absence of diesel-powered options.
Now that diesels are getting a bit of a shellacking in the media, Volvo is moving its roulette chips off black and offering a petrol alternative to its dearest estate. That gives it a breadth of choice advantage over the competition from Audi (A6 Allroad) and Mercedes (E-Class All-Terrain).
A few other things have changed since the first off-road Volvo estate – and we don’t just mean the rise of the full-size SUV. Still, Volvo has clung onto its market position by building Cross Country (XC) versions of its V70 estate.
Now we have the V70’s replacement, the V90, and the Cross Country model to go with it. You get the usual signature elements of an elevated ride height, a new off-road mode, and body cladding in black plastic or (at extra cost) body-coloured.
Diesel would certainly be the expected power source for this type of vehicle, but here Volvo has put its most powerful 2.0 four-cylinder petrol into the dearest V90 Cross Country. The resultant T6 has 316bhp and a 0-62mph time of 6.3sec, which is a lot faster on paper than the D5 Powerpulse.
As with the diesel model, this new T6 has more compliant suspension than the ‘straight’ V90. It easily absorbs sudden ridges like dropped or raised drain covers and is a relaxing steer. Pushing it inevitably produces roll, but it’s an acceptable price for the extra comfort.
So, what about the new engine? Volvo now uses the same engine size for all models in the V90 range, varying the power outputs by using different forced-induction systems. In the case of the T6, there’s a supercharger for low revs and a turbocharger for higher revs.
The system works, delivering incredibly strong engine performance that’s especially impressive during overtakes or motorway merges. Unfortunately the sluggish eight-speed automatic drops the ball somewhat. In town, the initial hesitancy makes you think there’s something wrong with the throttle pedal. If you try to compensate by shoving the pedal harder you can end up with too much acceleration.
The petrol model whips the diesel engine on cold-running refinement, being all-but silent at idle, but the typical four-pot turbo exhaust rasp sounds a bit out of place given this car’s standing in the luxury segment.
There’s no question that the T6 has an imposing engine, with the same amount of torque as the lower-powered diesel D4 version (albeit at a 550rpm higher point), but when you experience the auto box’s awkward shuffling through the ratios to get the engine into optimum power range, and then look at the hard facts of fuel costs, road tax and purchase price, it’s a tough one to recommend.
Officially, the T6 has a headline average mpg figure of 36.7mpg, but we had difficulty getting anywhere near that even after an extended motorway cruise. Given that you can only get a T6 in top-spec Cross-Country Pro trim, making it more expensive than the diesel, the financial numbers don't add up.
If you forget those inconvenient truths and simply compare it to the Audi A6 Allroad and the Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain, the Volvo starts make a bit more sense. The Merc has more boot space, but it also has a considerably higher price tag. The Audi is decent enough, but it’s not as modern as the Volvo.
All things considered, the V90 Cross-Country tops this niche group, but not with this petrol engine under the bonnet.
Volvo V90 T6 Cross Country Pro
Price £50,555 Engine 4cyls, 1969cc, turbocharged and supercharged petrol
Power 316bhp at 5700rpm
Torque 295lb ft at 2200rpm
Gearbox 8-speed automatic
Kerb weight 1834kg
Top speed 143mph
0-62mph 6.3sec
Fuel economy 36.7mpg
CO2 rating 176g/km
Rivals Audi A6 Allroad, Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain
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