2019 Volvo XC90 T8 E-AWD – Road Test Review – By Ben Lewis

Volvo has had a renaissance for a few years now. From its hearty agrarian roots, to its German-baiting performance years, to now – a Premium Luxury division with impeccable style, the brand is extraordinarily capable of reinventing itself, while still keeping a Volvo a Volvo. And nowhere is that more notable than the Volvo XC90 T8 E-AWD we recently tested. Meet Thor’s Hammer While its design is closely related to the Volvo XC60 we tested, the larger proportions of the XC90 really give visual heft, and conveys a premium quality. Our tester was all that, starting with a bold front end, …

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2017 Volvo XC90 – Road Test Review – By Ken “Hawkeye” Glassman

  It has been a very long time since I’ve reviewed a Volvo. So I was anxious to get my hands on the 2017 XC90 T6 Inscription with AWD.  As I did a quick walk around of the vehicle, the styling showed a fairly generic shape, especially when viewed from the side.  It doesn’t have a long front overhand, nor a steeply raked windshield.  The front end shows the traditional Volvo grill, which in my youth looked outdated, as it was mostly seen on boxy shaped boring sedans. But on the XC90 it looks more stately, sitting between the headlights …

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VOLVO Launches POLESTAR Performance Parts Lineup

Volvo completed its full buyout of the Polestar tuning business in 2015, and is now rolling out a full lineup of performance parts under this bright blue halo. Yes, there are now a dozen or more ways to unlock more speed, style and stance for your cherished Volvo — and all come with a Polestar badge to set the tone. So far, we have chassis mods, wheels, exhausts, intakes, springs, ECU kits, exterior and interior upgrades for the S60, V60 and XC60.  Coming soon are PPP upgrades for the new XC90 and all the rest. Check out the deep upgrade …

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Geneva Debuts – 2016 Volvo XC90 EXCELLENCE – Quad-Throne PHEV Limo for Davos Crowd

  Not just Rangies… but S-Classes and Audi A8’s too! The superlux livery market just found a new favorite: the XC90 T8 Excellence. Plugin-hybrid to ease your (guilty) conscience?  Check. SUV-easy entry and exit, plus jumbo cargo bay?  Check. Individual, 787-first-class seats in back with a full-length console and nap-ready headrests? Check. 4×4 grip for ski holidays or slushy commutes home?  Check. Subtle to the point of almost disappearing behind the bright window-edges and deep-tinted glass all around?  Check. The new XC90 Excellence certainly looks great on paper as the next favorite limousine for the Davos crowd. The Excellence order …

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Spec Renderings – 500HP 2018 Volvo XC80 Polestar

It has been quite a while since a new Volvo stirred as much excitement as the 2016 XC90. The truck is absolutely miraculous, and an exciting new corporate re-alignment will see most of the XC90’s style and PHEV tech filter down throughout the range. The new S90 limo kicks things off, followed by (we predict) a lightly facelifted XC60 mid-size crossover. Beyond that, we have new S60/S70 models on the mid-term horizon — with the first Charleston, SC-built sedans set for a summer 2017 arrival as 2018 model-years. But if we were Volvo… what is the first possible thing to …

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2016 Volvo XC90 T8 R-Design Flagships Arriving Now – 472 Torques, Priced from $69k

The new Volvo XC90 is set to become the brand’s biggest-ever launch. Buried in preorders and scrambling to get the HOT new truck into buyer hands, Volvo started production of the new seven-seater with exclusively T6 engines and the luxury trimlines. These are fab, of course, but not technically the coolest or fastest new XC90. Nope, that honor definitely goes to the 400HP T8 R-Design!  Running a turbo PHEV drivetrain, the XC90 T8 will become the world’s first plug-in hybrid SUV with seven seats. It will also be the quickest XC90 ever — V8 included. How?  This incredible twin-engine drivetrain …

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2016 Volvo XC90 T6 AWD Inscription STUNS in Person: Worlds-Best Cabin and Q7-Smacking Exterior Beauty

  As you may know, we’ve followed the development of the all-new Volvo XC90 with a magnifying glass — loving the design vision, tech solutions and family-first attitude of this first in a new series of Volvo models. Meeting the truck in person this week was a seriously competitive affair. Journalists were literally running to reserve it for a quick spin every time it became available. Just an exceptionally short test drive as a result — without the chance to take a video or really get on-road impressions. Even so, we do have a gorgeous set of photos of the …

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Volvo Announces $500M Factory in Charleston, South Carolina – First USA-Made Volvo Cars in 2018

Volvo made its big factory announcement this morning — right in my backyard!  Yes, Volvo is coming to Charleston to be closer to car-revs-daily!? Just kidding. Volvo chose this Southeastern Atlantic state for a number of reasons — all related to the firm’s ambitious goal of making up to 200,000 cars a year here by around 2020. The first Volvo plant anywhere in North America, Volvo is clearly seeking the strategic and financial advantages that come with building its cars close to their intended market. Why South Carolina? Every state is willing to kick big tax incentives to manufacturers these …

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2015 Mitsubishi GC-PHEV – 40 Photos and 4 Reasons This Concept Previews USA-Bound 2017 Montero Full-Size SUV

  Okay, okay. We can certainly echo your initial thoughts on this design. First reaction at this desk was a blasphemous exclamation. “Sweet Jesus.” Second reaction after thinking we might see a production-spec Montero reborn. But ended up with this? “Holy Mary, mother of God…. what is this evil monstrosity?” But step back a minute. Appreciate its creamy and sily surfaces atop this unapologetically blocky shape. Functional, futuristic, and certainly eye-catching. The nose and tail are absolutely ghastly, but then, the 2016 Outlander shows how cool and chic production-spec nose like could look. With some tweaks, the overall scale of …

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2016 Volvo XC90 Hits 16,000 Pre-Orders So Far + 38 New Dynamic Photos

  The 2016 XC90 is easily the most important Volvo in the last five years. Scoring a hit with buyers is a make-or-break venture for the much-loved Swedish car brand. A simple refresh with new cabin tech, design and exterior upgrades might have secured a 30-percent sales increase all on its out. The previous scenario assumes carry-over powertrains. Volvo has not taken that route. The new strategy is an all-new platform with standard plug-in hybrid tech, a T6 power level and T8 setup with 400-horsepower. If the old gains might have been modest, the new XC90 is looking set to …

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2016 Volvo XC90 R-Design Is Damn Sexy Swede

When the Volvo XC90 debuted earlier this year in Stockholm, we were floored by its super luxurious cabin and extremely smart PHEV powertrains that actually deliver huge horsepower — and mileage. The 400-horsepower T8 is far ahead of any other seven-seat hybrid SUV, and is the world’s first plug-in seven-seater. But to be honest, the style of the normal two XC90’s — one body-colored and one with off-road pieces unpainted — seemed extremely frumpy and dull. The XC90 R-Design helped a great deal in those stakes, but it is always hard to get a sense of a car from renderings, …

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Speculative Renderings – 2016 Volvo S80 and 2017 Volvo S60

The new Volvo XC90’s style is being very warmly received across almost all of the seven-seat SUVs major markets. This all-new platform brings a stunningly-luxurious cabin and a high-tech PHEV hybrid drivetrain with T6 and T8 engine choices. But the secret behind those badges and the T8 moniker? They are both turbocharged four-cylinder engines, with varying levels of electric assistance. So how will the new XC90 influence the rest of the Volvo lineup, both under the skin and in the exterior designs? The answer to both, we predict, is heavily. The tech of this new chassis is set to roll …

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2015 VOLVO XC90 R-Design Adds Sex Appeal to All-New 7-Seater

  Hooray for Volvo! We are very excited for the XC90 launch and have a strong feeling that Volvo’s efforts in the cabin and with the ultra-modern powertrains will be a big hit with shoppers. But if one thing was missing from the XC90 announcement last week — it might have been a bit of sex appeal. Where was the VaVaVoom of the Concept Coupe and Concept Estate? The new XC90 seemed a little too practical for its own good? Luckily, the R-Design trim is now out and addresses many of these concerns. It looks hot — and even hotter …

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‘Little Volvo’ PV444 Celebrates 70th Anniversary In Charming Retrospective

Volvo has come a long way in the last few weeks – selling out the launch edition of the new XC70 in less than 48-hours and poised to grow its market share across the globe. These new products are whole-heartedly Volvo’s to the core. But what is that core? Outside Sweden, the ubiquity of the PV444 was never an issue. Despite being a huge hit in the domestic market, the PV444 is exceptionally rare in the US today, where the car was imported by the mid 1950s. If VW has their Beetle, and Citroen the DS, and BMW the 2002 …

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2015 VOLVO XC90 World Premiere – Pricing from $48,000 – Fabulous Hybrid Tech and Cabin Innovations

The 2015 XC90 is official and it is fantastic! At once both very futuristic and innovative, while also rebuilding on the Volvo luxury and family safety that have been brand pillars for decades. The base price is $48,000 in the US market, where the first trucks will hopefully be arriving before year-end. The two launch packages are likely one of the biggest choices to make when considering the new XC90: — Urban luxury: body-color trims and 21-inch wheels — Rugged luxury: grey body cladding and some very handsome 22-inch wheels 2015 VOLVO XC90 World Premiere   World premiere: the all-new …

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Update1 – 2015 VOLVO XC90 – 400HP Twin-Engine PHEV Dubbed T8, 316HP T6 Also Coming to USA

Updated 8.12.14 with additional platform info from Volvo More info from Volvo today about the all-new XC90’s platform – plus the first official exterior image! Granted, it is just a headlight close-up… but we are excited all the same. [ The full exteriors shown here are unofficial renderings. ]     2015 VOLVO XC90 Powertrain   Well, here is some good news! So far, we have seen the new XC90’s interior luxury and infotainment solutions. The luxury looks good, but the info touchscreen is a bit short of the Tesla 17-inch ideal. Under the hood? This has been another worry …

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2015 VOLVO XC90 Powertrain Teaser – Twin-Engine PHEV with 400HP Dubbed T8, 316HP T6 Also Coming to USA

2015 VOLVO XC90 Powertrain Well, here is some good news! So far, we have seen the new XC90’s interior luxury and infotainment solutions. The luxury looks good, but the info touchscreen is a bit short of the Tesla 17-inch ideal. Under the hood? This has been another worry – will dropping the inline-6, turbo six and V8 engines hurt the XC90 in power-pad American showrooms? The answer is a big No! The range-topping plug-in hybrid powertrain is teased today, and it looks awesome. Called T8 for twin-engine 4+4 shorthand, the T8 brings 400 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque. Through …

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2015 Volvo XC90 Interior Is Official! 7-Seat Comfort, Luxury and Tech

Volvo has rediscovered all of its best brand attributes – and is bringing them to market this fall with the very promising 2015 XC90 SUV. The slow drip of the launch has taken the form of three outstanding concepts since Frankfurt 2013: the Volvo Concept Coupe, the Concept Estate and the XC Coupe Concept. All have shown the firm to be on an exceptional path toward restoring its brand luster. This is a company that is poised for greatness — all by going back to its core roots: stylish but subtle, efficient and safe, and comfortable on the North Pole …

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Concept Estate Confirms It! Volvo’s New Design Lead Th. Ingenlath Should Be Sweden’s Man of the Year!

Go Volvo Go! I love an underdog, and have thrown my continued support behind Volvo since the VCC debuted in Frankfurt in September. Sidebar: Did I love Volvo before? Yes, as a brand. But not the cars. Only one year ago — almost exactly — I wrote an op-ed for a defunct media outlet that debated Acura versus Volvo in the battle for the Worst Luxury Brand In America. Scathing barely does that one justice. Seeing the Concept Estate makes me glad that article is not still online, and that the original Word doc is long gone as well. Such …

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2015 Volvo XC90 Closely Previewed by New XC Coupe Concept for Detroit

Volvo is on a roll. After winning the ‘most improved style direction’ award here at CarRevsDaily last month for the Frankfurt VCC two-door, the Swedish team’s new style looks even closer to reality on the latest XC concept. The redesigned Volvo XC90 is so important to the future well-being of Sweden’s auto industry: it is hard to overstate how much is riding on the shoulders of this summer’s newest seven-seat crossover. The XC90 is currently a fantastic truck with good dynamics, a great ride, and everything from four-cylinder diesels to the smooth Yamaha V8 engine. The XC Coupe is obviously …

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New Volvo XC Coupe Concept Previews Stunning 2015 XC904

New Volvo XC Coupe Concept Previews Stunning 2015 XC90

Volvo is heating up! Literally – warming themselves in the cold winters up north with visions of how pretty the 2015 XC90 needs to be. The Swedish team has developed some scientific assessments of car styling that use heat maps to identify viewer emotions. As the viewer’s eye circles the car, tracking software is able to learn and highlight the areas of the car design they like best. Sounds completely absurd, like something from science fiction? Nope. The Swedes know many things about cold versus hot temperatures. As shown in the below graphics, the Best of 2013 Award-winning Concept Coupe’s …

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Best of 2013 Awards: Most Improved Design/Style – Volvo Concept Coupe

Welcome to the first in a playful series of ‘2013 Awards’ articles about the most significant and influential cars of the past year. What a year for concept cars! After serious austerity at the major European shows in recent years, our favorite luxury brands embraced exotic prototypes once again in 2013. After all, show cars can – and do – work wonders for the best car brands. The list is long, but two of great American icons come to mind. The 1953 Corvette concept led to hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue in the 60 years since then, while …

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