Thor's (Plush) Hammer
Coasting along in a cushy cloud, lined with open pore wooden surfaces and comfortable Nappa leather seats, one could assume a ride in some hyper rich limo. My experience with the Volvo S90 T6 Inscription, revealed plenty about how the Swedes have spent sleepless hours, building a car which would deservingly be on par with their German counterparts in the Executive Sedan segment.
It is safe. As an industry first, the S90 features an Intersection Auto Brake function, which identifies cross junctions as you cross them, and would apply the brakes if it does sense a car beating the lights, and coming into the path of the car. Additionally, the run-off-Road Protection system, which helps mitigate the effects of the car running off the road, by dropping the speed, and steering the car back into lane.
Active Cruise Control keeps the S90 within a safe distance of the car in-front of it, and will keep you in lane if it detects that you are travelling out of lane. In tighter spaces, the S90 also aids in warning the driver of any pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, with their City Safe Technology.
Parking the large car has been made easy with the “Park In” and “Park Out” functions, which assist in parking the car a 360-degree camera also gives the driver an accurate plan view on the location of the car, in relation to obstacles around it.
In essence, Volvo boldly stated that the S90 is one of the safest cars in the word. “Nobody should be seriously injured or even killed in a new Volvo” - Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President, Research and Development.
Power comes from a 2.0 twin charged four cylinder engine, mated to an 8-speed automatic, producing 320bhp at 5,700rpm, with maximum torque of 400Nm, which begins at 2,200rpm, and pleasantly stays this way to 5,400rpm; meaning that there are hardly any flat spots in the engine under heavier acceleration.
While there are four drive modes to choose from, one which is customisable, you’d find yourself in the want to keep the S90 in “Comfort” mode, as the way the car delivers the ride is extremely plush, without extensive body roll which normally comes with such a ride when taking the car around tighter corners. The air suspension does the job of taking away the bulk of road judder. It is really like riding on a cloud. The light steering is responsive, and there is sufficient road feel, though as an electrical unit, you will find that the feedback can be slightly synthetic.
In “Dynamic” mode, you will notice the increased engine idle, as-if to ready the supercharger for a quicker takeoff. The suspension stiffens, providing more feedback into the chassis, and overall, the car feels well planted, especially during multiple directional changes. Ride quality is similar to the Mercedes-Benz E Class “Sport” mode, but still a little plusher. First to second gear under hard acceleration in “Dynamic” mode does bite a little with a pause in-between cog switches.
I found that there was the tendency to switch the car back into “Comfort” mode really quick. Perhaps it is the beautiful interior that does not suit aggressive driving. I could say that it is not because the car does not like going there (Sport Mode), but you tend not to want to go there. But the S90 can deliver on performance. 0-100km/h is delivered in just 5.9 seconds, and the car’s natural handling from the AWD keeps all 1,830kg in place, when driving it un-Volvo-like.
There we have it! One more to the fray of Executive sedans. While the German and Japanese offerings tend to offer something serious, dark, classy and premium. Volvo has opted to go (slightly to) the other direction of offering an Executive class sedan, which is serious, bright, classy and premium. Perhaps a small step slightly left-of-field makes a better car?
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