Volvo V90 Car Lease

Volvo limits its mainstream V90 models to a twin turbo 2.0-litre four cylinder diesel engine that must be mated to an 8-speed Geartronic automatic gearbox. The base D4 variant most will want puts out 190bhp through its front wheels, 4WD with this engine is only available if you choose the mildly SUV-like ‘Cross Country’ model, a variant that features a 65mm ride height increase. The alternative mainstream engine, a ‘PowerPulse’ D5 powerplant that boosts the 2.0-litre Drive-E diesel’s output to 235bhp and only comes mated to AWD. Both options are acceptably frugal, the D4 managing 62.8mpg on the combined cycle and 119g/km of CO2. If you want to do better than that, you’ll need to stretch to the top T8 Twin Engine Plug-in hybrid flagship model that mates a 320bhp turbocharged/supercharged petrol unit together with an 87bhp electric motor powered by a battery pack neatly packaged away in the transmission tunnel. When fully charged, this variant can offer up to 28 miles of all-electric driving range.

On the move, you aren’t served up anything that encourages much driving involvement -blame the rather vague steering for that - but in compensation, there’s unruffled poise and exemplary refinement. You get supple standards of ride comfort from the soft suspension too and there’s the option of rear air suspension if you want it. A standard ‘Drive Mode Settings’ driving dynamics system allows you to tailor throttle response, steering feel and auto gearshift timings to suit the way you want to drive. And if you do push on a bit, grip and traction are actually quite impressive and cornering bodyroll decently well controlled.

The design language is apparently taken from contemporary Scandinavian culture and from most angles, the resulting shape looks elegant and sophisticated. With its short overhangs, long wheel¬base and relatively low roofline, there’s an air of confident assurance here, yet also a look that’s uniquely Swedish, with a muscular shoulder line that’s distinctly Volvo.

Now let’s move to the rear where it’s very un-Volvo estate-like. Where one of the brand’s older station wagons would have featured a bluff vertical tailgate, there’s instead the kind of shallower rear glass line that you’d find on a typical German rival. You’d expect that this might have an impact on carriage capacity – and it does. Operate the standard electrically-powered tailgate - it can be activated with a wave of your foot beneath the bumper on the top ‘Inscription’ version - and a 560-litre boot is revealed, that’s actually 15-litres less than was provided by the old V70. Still, this figure remains very comparable with the capacity you’d get from rival BMW 5 Series Touring and Audi A6 Avant models.

Let’s take a seat up-front, where it really is very nice indeed. The first thing you’ll probably notice is the 9-inch portrait-style touchscreen on the centre console that de-clutters the cabin of buttons and gives it a classy, sophisticated air emphasised by intricate detailing and rich Scandinavian design. There’s more technology in the instrument binnacle where the normal conventional dials and read-outs have been replaced by virtual ones in an ‘Active TFT Crystal Driver’s Information Display’.

Time to take a seat in the back. Given the extra body length that this V90 enjoys over some of its rivals, you’d expect it to feel pretty spacious back here and, by and large it is, a clever design of front seatback further freeing up leg and kneeroom for rear seat folk.

In summary then, what we have here is a car that offers a uniquely different choice in this sector, an estate that goes about its business with relaxed confidence and a smartly understated demeanour. If you’ve reached the point in life where that appeals and you’re browsing in this segment, you’ll find plenty to like.