![]() What it was, and still is, is a very practical and understated cross between a luxury SUV, an MPV and a Crossover. In 2002 the XC90 launched and could probably be considered, at first glance, as a less aggressive offering than a BMW X5, a more subtle one than a Mercedes M Class and a more affordable one than a Range Rover.Īnd the XC90 was all of those things, but it was also much cleverer than that. Not because Volvo has changed it massively in the last decade but because, in many ways, the market has caught up with what the XC90 offered from the start. That ready market is probably because the XC90 is still very appealing. So the old warhorse has soldiered on and still finds a ready market amongst the chattering classes looking for transport for their brood. After all, it’s now pushing on a decade old and is still pretty much the same AWD Volvo SUV that launched way back in 2002.īack then we could think of the XC90 as an SUV, although in many ways it was the forerunner of the more recent rash of lifestyle SUVs and crossovers that now proliferate on the carscape.īut despite Volvo’s desire to bring an all new XC90 to the market, the traumas under Ford’s ownership mitigated against that plan. Volvo has been threatening to replace the XC90 for quite some time. Can the Volvo SUV still hack it? In this review & road test we’ll find out. Still looks contemporary with the R-Design options With winter looming, we spend a week with Volvo’s now quite ancient XC90 R-Design. A Cross Country version of the new, SPA-based V90, the V90 CC, replaced it in Volvo's lineup in 2017.The Volvo XC90. Some different engines appeared late in the XC70's production, with the "modular" 2L inline four (also known as the Volvo Engine Architecture or "VEA" engine) appearing as a new " T5" base engine in 2014, and with an additional T5, the old " white block" inline five, appearing the last year of XC70 production in 2016. We offer both a reseal kit and new pumps for this purpose. ![]() Above the transmission and driven by the camshafts, this pump often develops leaks from the o-ring where the pump bolts to the engine, and the oil dripping down can appear like expensive transmission or rear main seal leak when viewed from underneath. In our experience, these " short six" engines are generally pretty stout, but they have an achilles heel: the brake vacuum pump. The SI6 engines were specially developed by Volvo to fit transversely (sideways) in the engine bay of FWD cars, and they feature some unique engineering tricks to do this: the timing chain, accessory belt drive, and components like the alternator and A/C compressor have been relocated either to the sides of the engine (driven via special gears off the middle of the crankshaft) or to the "back" end of the engine, above the transmission and driven by gears off the end of the crankshaft. All engines were paired with the Aisin-Warner TF-80SC 6-speed automatic transmission, with Haldex AWD optional on the 3.2i and standard on the T6. The XC70 brought all-new engines to the table, not using any of Volvo's "white block" inline fives or sixes in the US, but instead offering a 3.0 turbocharged or 3.2 naturally aspirated "SI6" inline six, with both engines designed by Volvo but built by Ford of Britain. The resulting " EUCD" (European Class D segment) platform became known as the P3 in Volvo usage, and hot on the heels of the flagship S80 was the new generation of the XC70 lifted station wagon. As with the P2 platform underpinning multiple sizes of car and crossover, Volvo and Ford extensively re-engineered the new P1 compact platform to a full-size format. By 1999, Volvo's new flagship on their new P2 platform, the S80, had already been released, and development on the soon-to-be-released S60 and V70 midsize cars was just finishing up these P2s can be regarded as the last "pure" Volvos, and Ford soon began leveraging its global reach to integrate the companies.įor an automaker, "integration" means shared parts and shared platforms, and Volvo, Mazda, and Ford of Europe engineers put their heads together in Ford's Cologne, Germany design center to co-develop the compact P1 platform, also known as the Ford C1 platform and the Mazda BK platform, underpinning the S40/V50/C30, European Focus, and Mazda3 respectively. In 1999, Volvo elected to sell off the automotive part of its business, and the now-separate Volvo Cars was picked up by Ford Motor Company, becoming a part of their Premier Automotive Group alongside Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin. The Volvo badge appears on not just cars, but also semi trucks, heavy industrial equipment, marine engines, and even some jet engines.
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