Volvo V90 Cross Country: Top 5 facts

Volvo’s upcoming, off-road capable V90 Cross Country aims to resurrect the wagon segment in India.

Volvo India has been pretty audacious of late. Earlier this year, the Swedish brand introduced its performance arm - Polestar in India, with the menacing 367bhp S60 Polestar. Now, the company is on the verge of launching its latest station wagon - the V90 Cross Country (CC).

India has a history of never showing any love to station wagons. Many manufacturers took a shot at establishing the wagon segment with models such as Maruti Baleno Altura, Opel Corsa Swing, Tata Indigo Marina and Skoda Octavia Combi in the 2000s. However, no one tasted success as such in India.

But, Volvo thinks otherwise. It believes that with something like the V90 CC, it will be able to create a niche in the luxury car segment. The V90 CC isn’t your average station wagon, it boasts some unique features which make it stand out from the crowd. Here are the things you must know about this Volvo which launches on July 12, 2017.

PowerPulse Technology:

Turbocharged motors have long been plagued by turbo-lag. Waiting for the engine to reach its optimal RPM range before the turbos start spooling can be annoying for many. Well, Volvo plans to eliminate this with its PowerPulse technology.

The system consists of an electric compressor, a tank and a valve. What the compressor does is draw air and stores it in the two-litre airbox. When driver mashes the accelerator, the air box immediately sends pressurised air to help spool the turbos faster. Thus, the performance surge is instantaneous.  

The V90 CC is powered by Volvo’s 2.0 litre inline 4-cylinder D5 diesel engine, which develops 232bhp of max power and 480Nm of peak torque.

Collision warning with autobrake:

Safety features are Volvo’s forte. With the V90 CC, Volvo is offering its collision warning system as standard. According to Volvo, the system works in two levels:

Level 1: The driver is warned of occurring obstacles by means of visual and acoustic signals - no automatic braking intervenes, the driver must himself brake.

Level 2:  The car is braked automatically if the driver himself does not act within a reasonable time.

Standard All-Wheel-Drive (AWD):

Now this is what makes the V90 CC stand out. Volvo’s ‘Cross Country’ badged cars are meant to be tougher than their standard counterparts. The V90 CC comes with AWD as standard and is capable of conquering bad terrains with ease. As a bonus, the ground clearence is a massive 210mm, higher than many of the self-proclaimed crossovers.

Added Versatility:

Station wagons (or Estate cars) are all about space and flexibility. A wagon is basically a sedan whose third box has been redesigned to open up a lot more space. In a similar fashion, the V90 is a more practical counterpart of the S90 sedan, which was recently launched in India.

The V90 CC has about 560 litres of storage area in its boot, which expands to a cavernous 1,526 litres with the rear seats fallen flat. The S90, in comparison, has only 500 litres worth of boot space.

Only top-end trim on offer:

Initially, Volvo only intends to offer the V90 CC in the top-end Inscription trim, which comes loaded to the brim -  heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, massage seats, a 19-speaker Bowers and Wilkins surround sound system, and aforementioned Collision Warning system, all come standard. Internationally, lower-spec trims are offered, but they won’t come to India for the time being.

Also read: Volvo V90 Cross Country Review: First Drive