ROMANCE OF THE ROAD
AS VALENTINE’S Day draws near, Volvo, in conjunction with Tablet hotels, has created for one month only its own pop-up romantic love-nest it calls the Get Away Lodge.
It comes complete with the new all-terrain V90 Cross Country estate model as getaway car.
Tucked away amid the tranquil snowy mountains, rivers and dense woodland of northern Sweden, but close enough to the buzzing winter sports village of Are, the recently renovated, cosy lodge with a wood-burning stove and snug double bedroom is available from March 3 to March 29 for £328 per night (tablethotels.com/en).
I have not experienced the romantic cabin, but this week did take the Cross Country for an extensive spin, including off-road through the scenic woodland of Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. This all-wheel-drive version is expected to account for a quarter of all sales in the 90 family.
The smooth operator is launched initially with two versions of Volvo’s two-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine linked to an adept eight-speed automatic gearbox. The standard D4 version, from £39,785, has a 190bhp engine and is a good, comfortable and highly efficient long-distance cruiser on country lanes and motorways.
It has loads of lugging space, a top speed of 130mph, accelerates from rest to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds, averages 54.3mpg and has CO2 emissions of 138g/km. But for added oomph, the 235 bhp D5 PowerPulse version is a noticeably meatier drive.
Ingeniously, it also uses a small tank of compressed air to give an instant response to the turbocharger and eliminate any throttle response delay. From £43,585. Though not a full-blooded off-roader, the Cross Country is nimble up steep, muddy slopes and the extra 65mm of clearance helps navigate ruts on forest tracks. The hill-descent keeps you in check on the downhill so the car can be held on a steep incline. Volvo has also added sporty R-Design versions of the V90 estate and S90 saloon, which are 15mm lower than the standard car. The two newcomers join the existing Momentum and Inscription trim levels.
A green petrol-electric T8 twinengine plug-in hybrid version will come along later this year with acceleration from rest to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds with low CO2 emissions of 44g/km.