2018 Volvo V90 T6 AWD

Exclusivity—or at least the appearance of it—is one of the basic tenets of our luxury-obsessed culture. In the car world, this translates into everything from limited-edition supercars built in single-digit quantities to special one-and-done color and trim options. And then there is the 2018 Volvo V90, a car so precious that you have to special-order it at your Volvo dealer.

Not because there’s anything unique about this mid-size station wagon but because its sibling, the V90 Cross Country, is the family favorite. Taller, more rugged looking, and born first, the Cross Country was selected by Volvo corporate to be the one to flash its winning grille in showrooms coast to coast. The Cross Country’s worst month of sales still tops the total number of unclad and unlifted V90 wagons delivered through September of this year, a mere 120 since the first one rolled into port in May. (In the same time period, Volvo has sold 910 V90 Cross Country models, almost eight times the number of normal V90s.)

Whether they realize it or not, all those Cross Country buyers are making some de facto sacrifices for the gratification of driving their new car home immediately rather than waiting for it to arrive on the slow boat from Sweden. To start, the Cross Country is offered solely with all-wheel drive, so even the T5 models with just 250 horsepower from a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four start at $53,295. Ditch the second driven axle and order a front-drive V90 T5 and you can save $2350. Move up the ladder to the T6, which adds a supercharger to the engine and makes all-wheel drive standard, and the price gap almost disappears. A V90 T6 AWD starts at $56,945, only $150 less than the T6 Cross Country.

But the V90 T6 is EPA-rated at 31 mpg on the highway, an advantage of 2 mpg over the T6 Cross Country. (We achieved 30 mpg in our 75-mph highway test of the V90, but we saw only 20 mpg overall, 5 mpg below its EPA combined estimate.) The V90’s advantage here is entirely a component of its 2.6-inch-lower height and 2.3 fewer inches of ground clearance, as there’s only a nominal weight penalty for all the Cross Country’s butch gear. When we put both T6 models on our scales, the V90’s 4247-pound tally was only 19 lighter than the Cross Country’s curb weight.

The V90 turned in much better braking and skidpad performance than the last Cross Country we tested, although we have to give most of the credit to the tires. Our R-Design test example’s optional 20-inch wheels ($800) were shod with Pirelli P Zeros, performance rubber that’s wider and has shorter sidewalls than the all-season Pirelli Scorpion Zeros fitted to the Cross Country. That said, the 0.92-g roadholding of the V90 is outstanding, and its 157-foot stop from 70 mph would have tied the Cadillac CTS V-Sport for the shortest in our most recent comparison test of sports sedans.

Alas, there is a price to be paid in the V90 for all that grip, and it’s a complaint similar to the one we’ve registered with other recent Volvos. Even with the optional rear air springs ($1200), the ride is just too stiff for a luxury car. It’s an impression that is exacerbated by the road noise that filters up through the floor. There’s not enough isolation in the V90, and the high-revving drone of its little engine serves as a constant reminder that this isn’t a German luxury car.

We’ve not been fans of Volvo’s four-cylinder-only engine strategy, and this V90 only reinforces our desire for a T6 that makes its 316 horsepower by using fewer blowers and more cylinders. We had a hard time launching our test car, and it seemed to shift slower than the last Cross Country we drove; we managed a 6.5-second zero-to-60-mph run in the V90, 0.6 second off the Cross Country’s pace. Through the quarter-mile that gap tightened by only a tenth, with the V90 crossing the finish line in 14.9 seconds.

Once we left the track, the best qualities of this Volvo wagon made its middling acceleration quickly fade from our minds. With the rear seats flipped down, the V90’s cargo hold proved large enough to swallow a bicycle laid on its side without any of the front-fork wrangling or tire removal that’s often necessary in hatchbacks. Plus, there’s a panel on the load floor that flips up to keep smaller loads secure. The interior is just as beautiful and—dare we say it—artistic as the S90 on which it is based, although we did miss the pretty wood trim. Even if we wouldn’t have chosen to spend the $800 on carbon-fiber inlays on the dash and door panels that our test car had, there is no vehicle on the market at this price with such a nice cockpit. And, parked in front of the office, even amid some of the more outrageous sports cars that tend to congregate, the V90’s long, low stance demanded attention. Which is just as it should for such an exclusive machine.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $68,290 (base price: $56,945)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged, supercharged, and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4; aluminum block and head; direct fuel injection

Displacement: 120 cu in, 1969 cc
Power: 316 hp @ 5700 rpm
Torque: 295 lb-ft @ 2200 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 115.8 in
Length: 194.3 in
Width: 74.6 in Height: 58.1 in
Passenger volume: 97 cu ft
Cargo volume: 26 cu ft
Curb weight: 4247 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 16.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 33.7 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.8 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 3.2 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.4 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.9 sec @ 95 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 132 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 157 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.92 g

*stability-control-inhibited

C/D FUEL ECONOMY:
Observed: 20 mpg
75-mph highway driving: 30 mpg
Highway range: 470 miles

EPA FUEL ECONOMY:
Combined/city/highway: 25/22/31 mpg