Volvo V90 review (2016-2023)

Driving position

The Volvo V90’s interior is a real highlight.

Step inside, settle into the driver’s seat and you’re greeted by a fairly simple and elegant dashboard.

It’s topped by soft plastics, there are metal or wood inserts lower down and on the doors, the air vents and steering wheel inserts use piano-black plastic, and a portrait-style touchscreen sits in the middle of the dash.

There’s also a digital screen in front of the driver and the multi-function steering wheel. 

The touchscreen operates the climate control, audio and sat-nav, and works well.

There are a few buttons beneath for the volume and pause/play/fast-forward. 

Higher trims get Volvo’s On Call app, which will call for recovery and lets you send nav info from your phone to the car. 

Tech and features

The standard audio system (with digital radio) is good but the Bowers & Wilkins upgrade that features on some cars has an 18-speaker set-up and sounds terrific.  

There’s ample headroom and legroom for four adults, while a third passenger will be happy on shorter trips because that seat isn’t as supportive as the others. 

Every version (Momentum is base trim) gets leather upholstery (heated up front) plus Bluetooth, an electrically operated boot lid and keyless start.

Inscription trim adds more sumptuous leather and fully electric seats, and R-Design brings sportier suspension and seats. 

Engines and power

The Volvo V90 comes with a good choice of petrol, petrol-electric hybrid and diesel engines.

The petrols, designated by a ‘T’ on the boot lid, comprise a couple of 2.0-litre units (the T4 and T5) with different power outputs.

There’s also a plug-in T8 hybrid with a huge amount of power.

The diesels are made up of a pair of 2.0-litre motors of varying power and are badged D4 and D5.  

The engines were changed for a range of ‘mild hybrids’ in 2020 – three petrols (B4P, B5P and B6P) and 2 diesels (B4D and B5D) – plus a new plug-in hybrid called the T6 Recharge, all with 2.0-litre engines. 

Handling and ride comfort

The V90 is a comfortable car to drive, especially if it’s been fitted with the optional adaptive suspension. 

It’s especially good at making motorway miles slip by with minimum fuss and also does a grand job of dealing with poorer roads in town.

The plug-in hybrids can run solely on electric power for a few miles, which makes them super-quiet and boosts their appeal in urban situations because there won’t be any tailpipe emissions. 

The focus on comfort means the V90 leans a bit more on bends than the BMW 5 Series Touring, but it’s still a very nice thing to drive. 

Storage solutions

As well as the usual door bins front and rear, the Volvo V90 has a lockable glovebox, storage trays beside the gear lever and under the central arm rest, nets on the backs of the front seats and rear trays.  

Boot space

The boot isn’t as large as those in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate or the Audi A6 Avant.

It will hold several suitcases with the rear seats in place.

Part of the floor can be raised to stop your shopping bags from rolling around, while the rear seatbacks split and fold via buttons in the boot to create a huge load space.  

Fuel economy

The older, non-hybrid engines are most economical when they’re sipping diesel – expect economy of around 45mpg with the D4.

The T4 and T5 petrols are likely to send economy down into the 20s. 

Economy for the hybrid models, especially the plug-in hybrids, is more promising but depends on how often you can keep the latter’s batteries charged.

Do that and stick to urban roads, where you’ll be able to run on electric power for prolonged periods, and average economy will soar.