2024 Volvo V90 Cross Country B6 AWD Ultimate Review

As a guy well known to like fast and hot-looking cars, you swallow a little hard when faced with the decision whether to review a station wagon or not.  I have a reputation to uphold for goodness sakes!  Then I remember what I told myself many years ago: You have to drive them all. 

Then it was delivered to my office: The 2024 Volvo V90 Cross Country B6 All-wheel Drive Ultimate. I looked out the window and saw it, and I thought: “Wow, that is actually very attractive”.

If you just don’t like SUVs, but you need some cargo area and you are considering a large station, your only choices are from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo.  Given that wagon sales make up only about one-and-a-half percent of the vehicles sold in America, we aren’t likely to see any new entries in this segment.  Still, props to the three automakers who make them, they are dividing up roughly 240,000 sales among the three of them in the United States.

Exterior

The exterior looks are fantastic.  The side view of the V90 is sharp with great-looking 21” wheels, LED lighting all around, a nice amount of chrome, really great body lines and a sculpted hood.  A spoiler finishes up the view from behind, and this Denim Blue color is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. 

Powertrain

Under the hood sits a 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder putting out 295-horses and 310 pound-feet of torque. Using both a supercharger and a turbocharger means the V90's 2.0-liter offers up good acceleration, especially when the turbocharger comes on at higher speeds. The addition of a mild hybrid system by way of an integrated starter-generator, gives the V90 an overall smooth engine and good fuel economy, especially on the highway. The power plant is hooked to an 8-speed automatic tranny with shift paddles. 

All V90s come with all-wheel drive, and I love that it is rear-wheel drive biased.  In other words, power goes to the rear wheels until the AWD system kicks on and power shifts to the front wheels, instead of the other way around like many all-wheel systems.  For me, the end result is a much better driving experience overall.

Interior   

Moving to the interior, it strikes you as pure luxury the minute you open a door.  Heavily stitched and bolstered Nappa leather power heated and cooled seats look terrific and are so comfortable, plus they will massage you.  There are lumbar supports and a thigh extender for those on the tall side.  A terrific and colorful 12.3” gauge cluster sits in front of you and displays a large map of where you, or you can choose current data on your drive.  Look up and you’ll see a bright head-up display in the windshield that shows you your speed and recognizes traffic signs, including the speed limit.  In a day when aluminum and carbon fiber often adorn interiors, it was a refreshing and welcome change to see old school wood trim throughout.

 Center dash is a 9” iPad-like touchscreen that operates the optional Bowers & Wilkins 1410-watt sound system with 19-speakers and WOW, can you jam out to your favorite tunes. The screen also operates navigation, the Bluetooth for your cell phone, Apple CarPlay, Google Assistant, the vehicle status, and interior air quality.  You can also adjust driving modes, engage the Pilot Assist, which is semi self-driving mode, and pick and choose the safety features you want to use.  Just as an aside, I ALWAYS turn off active lane assist when driving.  I don’t mind being warned if I get out of my lane, but don’t want any car jerking me back into the lane.  It is annoying. A 9” screen is small by today’s standards, but honestly, it doesn’t need to be bigger.  It is readable and there is a lot of unused space on it.

The center console houses a beautiful crystal gear shifter that is lit, a knob to start and turn off the vehicle, a couple of cup holders, the electronic parking brake, and an Auto Hold button.  Everything inside the driver and passenger area is neat, clean, luxurious, and well laid out.  You can look up and see a massive panoramic moon roof with a power sliding cover that comes standard on the Ultimate.  This is hard to wrap my brain around: With all the wonderful features in this cabin, there is no wireless cell phone charger.  There are USB-C ports, two in front, two in rear, so be sure to bring your plug-in cable with you.

The back seat headrests fold down electronically from the front, so if there are no passengers, it improves visibility out the back.  If there are passengers obstructing the view, the rearview mirror becomes a rearview camera.  The 360 surround view camera on the infotainment screen works extremely well.

Back seat leg and head room are plentiful.  Rear occupants get heated seats, air vents, their own climate control settings, and a fold down armrest with cup holders.  The second row is equally as comfortable as the front seats are. Leg and head room are both very generous, and rear passengers can raise side window shades to filter out the sun.

The cargo area is spacious.  You don’t get the height you get from an SUV in rear, but there is a sizeable 25.2 cubic feet of cargo area, and with the back seat folded down (it lays nice and flat) you expand to 69 cubic feet.  There is a full-length cargo area cover, and underneath you find something rare these days, a spare tire and wheel.  There is a 12-volt power outlet back there, and the tailgate is power and hands-free, or you can operate from the key remote.

Safety

On the safety front, you get blind spot monitoring with steering assistance, collision avoidance, oncoming traffic mitigation braking, driver alert warning, whiplash protection system in front, Pilot Assist system with adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, forward collision warning, and automatic unlocking after collision.

Options

Options include the climate package for $750, side scuff plates for $1,050, power tailgate for $200, the cargo cover for $380, air suspension and adaptive chassis for $1200, the amazing B&W stereo for $3200, and the beautiful 21” wheels for $800.  The Swedes haven’t figured out you can charge extra for paint like every other automaker does.  Also refreshing, only $1,095 for transportation from Sweden.  Most automakers charge $1,200-$1,800 in transportation charges for vehicles built in North America, clearly a new profit center for them.

Ride and Drive

The V90 drives and handles great, acceleration is very good with instant power thanks to the mild hybrid system.  Visibility is exceptional as you would expect in a station wagon surrounded by glass.  Fuel economy is rated at 23 in town, 29 on the highway, and 25 MPG combined. The V90 will tow 3,500 pounds.

One important thing to note:  The V90 Cross Country wagon sits up really well.  Getting in and out of it is a breeze, much like an SUV.  No fears here of having to fall in or crawl out of this vehicle.

What You'll Pay

MSRP as equipped is $73,380 as equipped and super loaded.  You can go up to a similarly equipped 5-passenger Volvo XC60 SUV for about $5000 more if you are curious.