Volvo V90 Cross Country

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. Most of the dashboard is finished in squidgy-soft plastics and touch points such as the air-vent adjusters and inner door handles are made from cold-to-the-touch metal.

Forming the centrepiece of the interior is the V90’s nine-inch portrait infotainment screen. The large display features pretty graphics and operates very much like an Apple iPad – allowing you to scroll through submenus at the flick of a finger and pinch to zoom in on maps. It’s not quite as easy to use as the fixed scroll knobs you get in a BMW of Audi, but it is compatible with Apple CarPlay and comes with free lifetime map updates.

Up front, there’s loads of space for adults and the seats are immensely comfortable during long journeys. Even with tall adults in the front, there’s lots of space for people of a similar size in the back and the Cross Country estate doesn’t suffer from the same sloping roofline as the S90 saloon. There’s even room enough for a fifth passenger, although the transmission tunnel that runs down the centre of the car means they’ll need to share their compatriots’ footwells.

Interior storage is very generous indeed. All the door pockets are big enough for a two-litre bottle of water, and the glovebox will also swallow a two-litre bottle, next to the steering wheel you get a smaller lidded cubby big enough for a can of coke, there’s a larger cubby under the front centre armrest and, in all, you get four cupholders.

Despite having a space-eating four-wheel-drive system – the Cross Country’s boot is as big as any other V90’s, with a 560-litre space that grows to 1,526 litres with the rear seats down. It’s pretty big, then, but not quite as big as the Audi A6 Allroad (565/1,680 litres respectively). There are also plenty of useful features, so the back seats fold down electrically and reveal a completely flat load bay, and the boot lid also opens electrically – it can be operated by simply waggling your foot under the rear bumper.

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. As a result, it can feel a little unwieldy on tight country roads or in multi-storey car parks. That being said, the raised suspension gives you a decent view out and the Cross Country has larger wing mirrors than the rest of the V90 range for improved rearward visibility.

On road, the benefit of the raised suspension is a more comfortable ride that seems to float over road imperfections much like a Skoda Superb estate. It does mean the CC’s a car that prefers to be driven at a leisurely pace because anything quicker can leave the driving experience feeling a little remote as the big estate leans in corners and wallows over crests. It’s is the ultimate comfy cruiser, though, thanks to the quiet interior and extremely comfy seats.

Of course, the raised suspension means the Cross Country can tackle road conditions that a regular V90 cannot. Driven along a rough and muddy country track, the big Volvo soaks up bumps, cambers and deep mud with ease – the underside of the car refusing to bottom out and the four-wheel drive system seemingly having no problem finding traction. Even steep hills are easily tackled because the car’s hill descent control, which comes on automatically in the Off-Road Drive Mode, holds the car at a crawl with no input needed from the driver.

Decide to spec your V90 in Cross Country trim and you’ll be limited to a choice of D4 or D5 diesel engines. Although, as they are the pick of the range – that’s no bad thing.

The D4 is the most conventional of the two – and an engine we have grown fond of because it is one of the best 2.0-litre diesels on sale. With 190hp and maximum torque of 295Ib ft from just 1,750rpm – performance is effortless, the CC gliding from 0-62mph in 8.8 seconds courtesy of its smooth-shifting, standard eight-speed automatic gearbox. Fuel economy sits at 54.3mpg and it produces CO2 emissions of 138g/km.

Opting for the D5 model sees power increase to 235hp and torque swell to 354Ib ft at the same low engine speed. It also benefits from Power Pulse – Volvo-speak for a system that bursts compressed air into the turbocharger to cut lag at low speeds (when there isn’t enough exhaust gas to spin the turbo). The result is a 0-62mph of 7.2 seconds and responsive acceleration that makes overtakes quick and hassle free. Running costs are almost exactly the same as the D4.

Refinement from both engines is excellent – even under hard acceleration, diesel clatter is almost completely absent. Still, in this class of car, some buyers will lament the lack of a smooth, six-cylinder motor like that in the A6 Allroad.

For some the Cross Country’s chunky looks will be its biggest selling point – there can be no denying it’s a very handsome car. But there’s more to it than that – the raised suspension means it’s also more comfortable than a regular V90 and surprisingly capable off-road, too. If that sounds like a worthy trade off for handling finesse, then the Cross Country could be the V90 for you and Volvo expects one in four buyers to pay the £3,000 premium over the regular model.