Volvo S90 Irish drive: Volvo’s flagship sails into Cork

At Crosshaven in Cork, outside the world's oldest yacht club, Royal Cork, a fleet of flagship Volvo saloons destined for its 11 dealerships are lined up and ready for a pre-delivery test drive.

The Swedes’ new flagship saloon looks as majestic as the yachts in the harbour taking part in Volvo’s Cork week 2016. These are the navigators of Volvo’s new strategy, the exemplars aiming to lure Irish buyers away from the seemingly automatic route to German brands. As such they are loaded with Volvo’s latest tech. More on that anon. For now the most eyecatching feature is the 20-inch wheels; looking great but hardly suitable for the rough roads of west Cork.

The S90 is going up against some heavyweights like the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Mercedes-Benz E Class. Given the scale of these German brands’ dealer networks, the Volvo is unlikely to match their sales, but there is a decent case to be made for it to beat other rivals like the Jaguar XF and Lexus GS.

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Volvo’s new S90 boasts a cutting edge cabin loaded with tech taken from the larger XC90 SUV

Classic roots

The classic Volvo P1800 was a key influencer at the design stages . The concept version was a star attraction at the major international motor shows. Fans and auto hacks alike admired the way its designers had developed the link with the brand’s classic will remaining contemporary in its styling and cutting edge with its technology.

The rear is perhaps the weakest styling point. Early test reviews - including by The Irish Times motoring editor - referenced a similarity to the less-than-premium Peugeot 407. It is no surprise that many critics, this reporter included, would opt for the V90 estate version over the saloon.

Inside the cabin S90 is a Scandinanvian design feast. Simple, pure and elegant materials are combined and used throughout that give the cabin a premium feel. The layout features thoughtful lines that please the eye and overall we felt content behind the wheel and even mildly superior. Again these test cars were loaded with nearly all of the optional extras available.

Steering tech

One new driving aid is standard on the S90, Pilot Assist. This semi autonomous driving mode control steering and acceleration up to speeds of 130km/h. You simply activate and set the cruise control button on the steering wheel with your left thumb and a green steering wheel graphic displays on the main dials to tell you the car is able to steer within the lane itself and also acclerate and decellerate based on the traffic it encounters. Similar to Tesla’s and Mercedes-Benz’s drive pilot systems you have to keep your hands on the steering wheel regularly. As we reported in our first drive in the car, it’s far from perfect when it comes to automous driving and Volvo is at pains to point out it’s an assistance system and not the advent of much-hyped (over-hyped) self-driving systems.

We took two diesel versions out for a test, a D4 and D5. S90 has two trim levels Momentum and Inscription. All the test cars were well equipped Inscription models and fitted with optional air suspension dampers at the rear that costs from €2,600. With the air option you get a drive mode selector that lets you choose from three settings - eco, comfort and dynamic. These alter the suspenion stiffness, engine mapping, gear shifts and steering weight.

Leaf spring

The S90’s rear suspension is remarkable because at its core is a large leaf spring, yes a leaf spring - something you’d see in a horse cart or ancient Ford Anglia. Of course it is a high tech version but in essence still a large leaf spring.

The spring is laid width ways across the axle. Clever dampers do the rest of the hard work. Volvo says it did this to free up space in and around the boot area for electronics and other bits that don’t need to be seen.

All S90s use an eight-speed geartronic automatic gearbox and unlike Volvo's rivals feature engines with no more than four cylinders. The S90 D4 is a front wheel drive only version with 190hp and 116g CO/2. The D4 will be the most popular engine choice in Ireland with prices starting from €48,400. Fitted with standard 16-inch wheels it's a competitive price, though a long way from our test cars in Cork on the 20-inch alloys and carrying price tags in the order of €75,195 when all the options loaded on board are taken into account.

On the poor surfaced roads around Crosshaven the car’s ride was choppy and lacked refinement. The suspension did calm down on smoother surfaces and the D4 proved eager and quite entertaining to drive. Road tax is €200.

Air blown

The next engine up is the D5. This boasts a very clever innovation as it uses compressed air to spin up the turbocharger much sooner than the exhaust gases would on their own. The result is impressive as you get engine power sooner. 235hp allows healthy progress to be made.

The S90 D5s are all wheel drive on deman, though in most instances power goes just to the front wheels. Our D5 again had loads of options on top of the standard specification that brought the asking price to an eyewatering €82,942. Road tax is €270. A hybrid T8 is on the way that should be a lot of fun if the XC90 T8 is anything to go by.

The S90 is a serious alternative to the usual suspects but take into consideration how smooth the roads around you are when selecting its wheel size.