Volvo V90 Cross Country Review
The Volvo V90 Cross Country is a more rugged version of the Swedish company’s swish estate car. Like its rivals – the Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain – its gets a raised ride height and four-wheel drive to help it cope with rough roads and slippery conditions.
This score is awarded by our team of expert reviewers after extensive testing of the car
What's good
- Luxurious interior
- Rough-road ability
- Practical
What's not so good
- Standard car better in corners
- Ride can be floaty
- Diesel only
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Overall verdict
The Volvo V90 Cross Country is a more rugged version of the Swedish company’s swish estate car. Like its rivals – the Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain – its gets a raised ride height and four-wheel drive to help it cope with rough roads and slippery conditions.
Visually, the V90 Cross Country can be spotted by its charcoal plastic cladding for the wheel arches, side mouldings, and bumpers – and its glossy chrome-black grille. Inside, each door gets silver skid plates, and there are unique leather seats and black walnut trim pieces.
Although it’ll never be mistaken for an out-and-out off-roader, the CC’s 65mm increase in ride height, four-wheel drive and underbody-protecting skid plates mean it can cope with seriously rough roads. And the Off-Road Drive Mode makes doing so easy – it calibrates the engine and gearbox for ultimate traction, makes the steering light and automatically engages the hill-descent control, so even those with zero mud-plugging talent can safely glide down steep inclines.
Back on road, the Cross Country feels just like any other V90, which must be some of its appeal to buyers. It suffers from a little more roll in corners than the regular V90 but the tradeoff is a more cosseting ride. The raised suspension and the CC’s larger-than-standard door mirrors mean that visibility is excellent.
The Volvo V90 Cross Country is so comfortable it can make stress levels drop like no other car
The engine lineup is diesel-only, comprising the D4 (Volvo’s predicted bestseller) and the clever (and more powerful) D5 PowerPulse. Both return fuel economy of more than 50mpg and come as standard with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
Based on Momentum trim, Cross Country models come as standard with a nine-inch portrait display for the infotainment screen, heated front seats, two-zone climate control and a power-operated tailgate.
What's it like inside?

The Volvo V90 has got to have one of the nicest interiors of any car on sale today and the CC simply amplifies this with its bare wood trim and unique leather upholstery.
The Cross Country feels as brilliant as any other V90 inside, but you get even better visibility
How practical is it?

Like the regular V90, the Cross Country will take four adults in complete comfort and the boot is decent, but alternatives from Audi and Mercedes are bigger
The V90 Cross Country is a halfway house between the V90 and XC90, but it's not half-hearted in the amount of room it has for passengers
What's it like to drive?

Off-road ability comes at the expense of an engaging drive
The V90 Cross Country drives like any other V90 – just one that’s taller. The raised suspension makes it feel larger than the regular model – like an SUV that has been lowered rather than an estate that has been raised.
The D5 Power Pulse has a 2-litre tank of compressed air that can spin the turbo up to speed almost instantly