Volvo XC90 Reviews

"The wood inserts throughout the cabin provide some brightness and give it that upscale look. And the usual speedometer, tachometer and other gauges are as easy to read as ever."

"Ride motions are tidily controlled, the ZF rack-and-pinion steering reacts and reads back faithfully, and the chassis feels stable and predictable."

"The 6-cylinder engine has ample power from the light, and the twin turbos provide sufficient boost when you need to pass or climb that incline."

"The XC90 is well-stocked with standard features. Among them are dual-zone climate control, a power driver seat, steering wheel-mounted stereo controls, one-touch up and down front windows and a roof rack (cross bars are optional)."

"ROPS (Roll-Over Protection System) uses a torque sensor mounted in the floor to detect when the car starts to rotate about its longitudinal axis, or roll. The system then independently applies brakes to understeer the XC90 out of trouble. We tried to roll the thing and couldn't."

"Where it comes up short is in fuel economy, 15 mpg city/20 mpg highway with full-time all-wheel-drive."

"Not enough support in seats to stop you from rolling around during cornering."

"In normal driving conditions, power [from its Haldex all-wheel drive system] is split 95 percent front and 5 percent rear, for the sake of better fuel economy."

"When a car company whose name means 'I roll' in Latin plans a foray into the world of sport-utility vehicles, you can bet there's some serious review of the issues."