4/29/2023 0 Comments 2016 volvo crossover suv![]() The powertrain boasts a version of the T6 twin-charged engine driving the front wheels, with an electric motor mounted on the rear axle to create hybrid all-wheel drive. The T8 is an impressive technical achievement. Touching and feeling these pieces gives drivers a sense of calm, thoughtful luxury that is unique in the segment. Both of these choices deliver a surprising amount of pop, with the T6 making the 0-to-60 sprint in 6.1 seconds and the T8 managing it in 5.8 - both numbers faster than a BMW X5 35i, I should mention. All Volvos going forward will be powered by 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engines with a dazzling array of extras bolted to them.Īmerican XC90 buyers will be able to choose between the 316-horsepower turbo and supercharged T6, and the 400-hp T8 plug-in hybrid. Just as the XC90 is built around the SPA platform, it is also built around Volvo’s new Drive-E engine family. On broad American streets I suspect this won’t be as much of a problem, but it still less than ideal. On tight urban streets, I spent a lot of time sawing at the wheel to maneuver around corners. For an electric system, it offers great feedback and connection to the wheels, but it is also too light for my taste and also too slow. In fact my only dynamic quibble - it’s my job to find at least one thing wrong - is the steering. There is nothing dynamically that the XC90 doesn’t do well, and there is nothing that feels compromised. The result is a study in how compromise can be a good thing. At least until faced with oncoming traffic that reminded me that the narrow Spanish roads are approximately 1.8 XC90s wide. Driving on highways and mountain roads outside of Barcelona, Spain, I was shocked at how light and poised the big Swede felt. The new XC90 might be a big, seven-seater, but it handles and rides like a much smaller vehicle. Fortunately for Volvo, the brand seems to have gotten it right. The 2016 XC90 marks the debut of Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), a new chassis that will underpin an entire generation of Volvo models. And all this for a starting price of just $48,900. The new XC90 isn’t just an exquisitely comfortable and unimaginably safe Scandinavian family hauler, it has an interior fit to make Audi blush, and performance that should have a few Bavarians sweating. Now, after long wait, we have finally driven the result, and we can say that it has paid off. We have been hearing for the past year how Volvo has poured its heart, soul - and an awful lot of Chinese dollars - into creating its truly revolutionary new SUV. It might be hard to believe that the source of this Teutonic terror could be a Swedish seven-seater, but the new XC90 is anything but typical. If that’s the case BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and even Land Rover should be worried, because the Swedes - in their own quiet way - have just put them on notice. Volvo has clearly stated that the new XC90 represents the future of the company. The 2016 Volvo XC90 isn’t just another luxury crossover with Audi performance, Range Rover luxury, and an Acura price tag, it is putting the competition on notice.
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