Tag Archives: Volvo XC90

2026 Volvo XC90 B6 AWD

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Where solidity meets style. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Last year a colleague was involved in a serious automobile accident. After his recovery, he needed a new vehicle.

He told me, “My wife said no more fooling around. You are going to buy a Volvo.”

She remembered the company once emphasized the safety engineering that was part and parcel of Volvo vehicles.

The company pioneered such things as the three-point safety belt and the rear-facing child seat. It devised the side-impact protection system (if you are driving and in a front end collision you’ve got the whole engine in front of you and if you are hit in the rear, there is a lot of real estate between you and the rear of your vehicle, but if you happen to look to your immediate left, there isn’t a whole lot of there there). Then there were things like seat-mounted airbags and a curtain-style airbag. And there were sensor-based safety development like “City Safety,” which was autonomous emergency braking followed by pedestrian detection with full automatic braking.

But what is key in Volvos is that the company builds them using ultrahigh-strength and hot-formed boron steels, and those elements that make up the structure that you don’t see (it is under the sheet metal that you do see) are geometrically arranged so that not only is the structure sound, but any outside forces acting on it (e.g., something running into it) are channeled so there is essentially a safety cage for the occupants of the vehicle.

Safety.

But people tend to buy vehicles based not on that—at least not top-of-mind, unless they’re like the wife of my colleague, who knows what’s important—but on style and stuff.

And the 2026 Volvo XC90 B6 AWD brings both.

Volvo XC90: Style and substance. (Image: Volvo)

It is a large—seats up to seven—SUV. It has a handsome exterior. Although Volvos were long known for being “boxy,” that’s long gone from the brand’s design language, but there is still a hint of the upright rectangularity in the XC90, which is something of a subtle nod to its roots.

The inside is simply SCANDANAVIAN writ large.

The colors. The materials. The configuration of the seats.

One of the things that Volvo designers have working for them is a long history of a distinctive Swedish design approach that they are able to bring to the vehicle. This is a sort of aesthetic authenticity that makes the vehicle distinctive.

Let’s face it: there are plenty of large SUVs out there so having a solid basis is helpful in differentiating the XC90.

Yes, it has screens—11.2 inches in the center, 12.3 inches for the driver’s gauges—and yes it has an impressive Harman Kardon sound system. But these are the sorts of things that you can find in many vehicles, and many vehicles provide more in terms of screens and sound.

But it is the orchestration and execution that make a difference. Which is where the XC90 really makes a difference.

The vehicle is powered by a 2.0-liter engine. Which might seem like it would be too little for such a big vehicle. But the engine is both turbocharged and supercharged. It produces 295 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. It moves the mass as necessary.

This is a “mild hybrid,” meaning that it has a 13-hp integrated starter generator and a 48-volt battery system that helps move the vehicle from stops and can add a bit of oomph during hard driving.

The vehicle driven is at the Ultra trim level, which as a starting MSRP of $73,350.

Which might seem like a lot. But then I think back to my colleague’s wife. She has a good sense of what value means.

2026 Volvo V90 Cross Country B6 AWD Ultra

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A wonderfully executed wagon. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

If you’ve watched the TV series “Wallander,” you’ve seen the title character, played by Kenneth Brannagh, driving a Volvo XC70 SUV. The program is based on crime novels written by Henning Mankell. He is Swedish. The show is based in Sweden. And Volvo, of course, is based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The vehicle is completely appropriate for the series. If you’re going to drive in Sweden, drive Swedish.

But perhaps if police detective Kurt Wallander was more serene he would up his game and drive the Volvo V90 Cross Country. . . .

It is easy, however, to imagine Brannagh (who, by the way, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth way back in 2012, so the man isn’t simply a wonderful actor and director) rolling around in a V90, as it would be in keeping with both the functional: presumably directors travel with some gear. . .

. . . and the comfortable, as working on a set all day is certainly tiring, so that ergonomic, leather-clad, driver’s seat that provides heating and cooling and, as an $800 option, a massaging function, is certainly something that would be appealing. In addition to which, there is an optional adaptive air suspension system on the vehicle as-driven ($1,200) which smooths the ride notably.

It rides well in less rocky environments, too. (Image: Volvo)

(There is, of course, the crystal Orrefors shift knob, but Sir Brannagh is probably used to seeing things like that.)

The V90 has an electrified powertrain. There is a 48-volt mild hybrid system that uses regenerative braking; it has an integrated starter generator (so the auto start-stop isn’t in the least bit troubling, for those who find that fuel-saving function unsettling). The turbo-charged 2-liter engine (mated to an eight-speed automatic) produces 295 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque.

The powertrain provides good performance (let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is a station wagon that is meant for daily drives, not something to leave people pinned back into those comfortable Scandinavian seats) and good fuel economy: 22 mpg city, 29 highway and 25 mpg combined. But you want to run it on premium (91 octane).

A word about it being a station wagon rather than a utility. First know that Volvo has an array of SUVs (EX90, EX40, EC40, EX30, XC90, XC60, and XC40).

While the V90 does provide solid cargo space—69 cubic feet with the second row folded; 19.5 cubic feet with the second row up—it is not as capacious as, say, an XC90. But how often does someone pack their vehicle to the max? (And let’s face it, if there is a whole lot that needs to be transported, one can get a Thule roof-top cargo carrier. (Yes, although there are other brands, Thule is Swedish, too, so let’s keep it thematic.))

That said, the V90 rides, handles and maneuvers much more lithely than a ute, and that makes a big difference during those daily drives.

In fact, I submit that were one to go to their local Volvo dealer and test drive back-to-back an XC90 and the V90, although the higher H-point and consequent visibility of the XC90 is certainly an advantage, the overall drivability of the V90 is a real benefit.

I also suspect that as many people have been driving utes for the past few years they’ve forgotten how driving something that’s more sedan-like can feel.