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Can a two-litre diesel engine in a seven-seater sports utility vehicle make the grade? Yes, says Volvo, and with loads of spoils.

Less than a decade ago, Volvo was on its way out, although you’d think this Swedish name would flourish as part of Ford’s premier brands, along with the likes of Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Land Rover. Ford did, however, expand their product range in this era with a few new luxury Volvos, of which the XC60 – currently an extremely popular mid-range SUV in Europe – is one. But think about it: Can you remember anything special about a Volvo from the early aughts? By 2008, Ford was making a loss with Volvo, and it took the takeover by Chinese company Geely to breathe new life into this marque. The transaction was concluded in 2010, and Stefan Jacoby, previously the boss at Volkswagen in the US, came in to get the house in order. With the support of Geely, Volvo started doing advanced, even revolutionary, research and development. Their engines are now modular, meaning with a few small adjustments the same engine can be used in a wide range of vehicles. The chassis is equally adjustable, thanks to the SPA philosophy (Scalable Product Architecture), whereby various vehicles – from sedans to fiveand seven-seater sports utility vehicles – can be built on the same basic chassis. Volvo also recently announced that from 2019 all new Volvos will contain an electric motor. According to the company, every new Volvo will be either a hybrid vehicle or completely electric. They’re even planning a few high-performance electric cars under their Polestar trademark. So if you’re given the opportunity to test drive a Volvo for a week, especially one from the flagship XC90 range, you of course grab the opportunity with both hands.

Under the bonnet

The XC90 D5 has a two-litre fourcylinder diesel engine. It might sound a bit lightweight for a utility vehicle that can comfortably transport seven people, but that’s hardly the case. The engine has two turbochargers, and the performance figures are impressive: 173 kW at 4 000 rpm and 480 Nm between 1 750 rpm and 2 250 rpm. The torque curve looks slightly weak on paper, because the engine develops its maximum torque in a very narrow range on the tachometer. Volvo, however, has smart technology for this: PowerPulse. If you’ve ever driven a turbo-engined car you may have noticed that it takes a while for “turbo power” to “kick in”, because all turbo-engines first need enough revs – and therefore pressure – before the turbo charger can do its job. But PowerPulse sucks air in through a compressor at the air filter and