Sometimes the job calls for a soft, spacious machine that makes an art of being undemanding. In other words, a wafter.
A certain elegance to the design is always nice to have – a 5.0-litre Jag XJ will look rather better on your driveway than an ID7 – but ultimately the calibre of any wafter boils down to effortless cruising and high levels of isolation.
I needed a wafter not long ago. There were several candidates among the test cars at Autocar HQ in London. Some of them were electric, including a Polestar 3 that I know rides supremely well, but because of the sheer mileage planned, the prospect of charging up every day wasn't an enticing one. I settled on a gleaming Volvo XC90, returning it 13 days later with 3000 miles added to the odo and fingerprints all over the huge touchscreen.
Averaging 230 miles daily for nearly a fortnight is a foolproof method of flushing out the weaknesses of any car. This near-£90k Volvo has some of those, for sure, as well as several strengths, more on which in a moment.
The itinerary? First to Anglesey Circuit, where the XC90 played a supporting role for the Maserati MCXtrema test. Photographer Jack Harrison could deliver a passably sharp tracking shot from the back of a donkey cart if need be, so the prospect of him hanging (suitably restrained with a harness) from the wide boot of an air-sprung premium SUV on a glass-smooth circuit all but guaranteed frames crisper than a porcelain poppadom. And they were.
Then it was down to Italy for a busman's autumn getaway, in that I'd briefly disappear in order to attend the launch of the Volvo ES90 in Monaco. When I arrived in Monaco the uniformed event techies wondered why a filthy UK-registered XC90 had just teleported onto the hotel forecourt, but eventually they let me park up next to Volvo's plush new EV fastback and take some photos.
It shouldn't have been the case that the ageing SUV was clearly the more attractive of the two cars, but that is one of the XC90's undeniable trump cards: it still looks superb.
Other things I liked were the raw performance of the 400bhp-plus T8 plug-in hybrid powertrain when I needed to skin a Panda on a Piedmontese hillside and the sense of light and space in the cockpit, which made the Great St Bernard Pass feel superbly immersive.
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The running costs of XC90 are out of my price range but as popular as XC40 and XC60 are, and despite the salesperson's insistance the infortainment google software is bang up to date, after a test drive, I too came away to the exact same conclusion - both cars felt ready for retirement. I so wanted to like them , they drove perfectly well for my needs, but they're at least 10yrs out of date.
We have a new XC40 with the new Google. Never needed to use Apple carplay (unlike our other VW) as Volvo has built in Google maps, Spotify, Waze, audiobooks, internet radio etc and works really well and the B4 mild hybrid has a good dollop ot low down torque. I looked at a new Tiguan, Skoda, BMW etc and still preferred the XC40 as a comfy all round family car (and a motorbike in the garage). Volvo also makes it easy to switch off various annoying safety functions which sounds contradictory but is great.
90k SUV 2 litre 4 pot averages 25mpg on trip to Italy, if this is a promo article it's not served it's purpose.
Yep. The author complained that he didn't want to charge frequently an EV and chose a car that he had to fuel up as frequently.
The refuelling-vs-recharging issue isn't about outright range. Even if it was, I haven't driven an EV that can manage 390 motorway miles at a decent clip.
Not many if any 7 seat EV SUVs will do 390 miles between charges, especially in winter, then of course it takes 5 minutes to refill with petrol, from virtually anywhere, whereas 40 minutes or longer to recharge an EV if you find a charging station and manage to conect to it, and the cost will probably be very similar. EVs have their place, and this journey wasnt it. PHEVS are the best of both worlds, especially more modern ones that will do 50+ miles on a charge before need ing to use any petrol, which is enough for the majority of peoples commutes.
Yea because it's so important to get going within 5 minutes and spend another 6 hours in the drivers seat without stopping.
PHEV's are actually the Worst of both worlds, expensive, heavy, emit fumes etc. They only exist due to tax rules, end of.
Had one of these as a rental in August. Was surprised how economical it was as the rental firm hadn't charged it up. 34mph average. Not to mention it was supremely comfortable. A real treat.