Category: Sporting 4x4s 
Price Range: £29,995 to £49,985
Roomy, comfortable, safe and refined.
It's no off-roader and it's not cheap.
Versatile family transport that's benefited from a thoughtful programme of improvements.
All XC90s come with a formidable armoury of electronic driver aids, including anti-roll trickery, that will do their best to stop you crashing: there's also an equally long list of safety features designed to minimise the pain if you do. All seven seats have three-point seatbelts, the front seats have a whiplash protection system and the central seats have Isofix fittings for child seats. The many airbags include curtain airbags along the entire length of the interior.
Despite being lighter than its key rivals, the XC is a sturdy beast, helped by Volvo's SIPS side-impact protection system. It chalks up the full five Euro NCAP stars for occupant protection and two for pedestrian safety - big SUVs are always going to struggle on that score, although the Volvo outpoints many rival 4x4s.
For a V8, the Yamaha engine in the fastest XC is unusually compact, fitting transversely in the engine bay, which maximises the crumple zone at the front of the car and thus reduces the likelihood of pedestrians coming into direct contact with a large, hot, metallic object.
Remote central locking, an alarm and deadlocks are standard on all XC90s.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volvo XC90
wrote on 10 10 2007