Volvo XC90 V-8

Volvo XC90 V-8 Volvo XC90 V-8
First Drive Review From the November 2004 Issue of Car and Driver

When the first Volvo car chugged to life in April 1927 in Hisingen, Sweden, it was powered by a 28-hp four-cylinder engine that partners Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson had acquired from a small company down the road in Skövde. Weighing 2100 pounds, that first car's top speed was 56 mph. Two years later, knee-deep in red ink, the partners turned to a bigger engine, a 55-hp six-cylinder that gave its heavier (3300 pounds) and very American-looking sedan a 68-mph top speed. That engine, too, had been developed elsewhere, in cahoots with Continental, an American engine maker. Things got better for Volvo.

And now, 77 years after the company produced its first automobiles, the Swedish automaker, owned by Ford since 1999, has finally gotten around to offering a V-8 for the first time—bolted exclusively into its surprisingly popular XC90 sport-ute—that continues its engine-outsourcing tradition.

Perhaps for marketing reasons, Volvo officials in this country have resisted acknowledging that the engine is a reworked version of the V-8 designed by Ford and built by Yamaha that once powered the Taurus SHO in the mid-'90s. Maybe the word synergy has lost its buzz value with marketers, but that's where the engine's basic architecture originated, and indeed, the XC90 V-8s will be built by Yamaha in Japan and shipped to Sweden. Financially, it simply makes sense for seller and buyer.

It's a 60-degree block, small enough to mount sideways (okay, transversely), which was mandatory since the XC90 was designed for transverse inline-five and six-cylinder engines. That sideways fit also means that the V-8 SUV's overall length remains at 188.9 inches, an inch shorter than Volvo's S80 luxury sedan, a platform mate, and one reason it drives more like a car than a ponderous truck.

The Yamaha V-8 has been to the gym in a big way since those SHO days. The original 3.4-liter V-8 of 235 horsepower has ballooned to 4.4 liters (269 cubic inches) and now makes 311 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 325 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. That's an advantage of 103 horses over the XC90's turbocharged five-cylinder engine, and 43 more than the twin-turbo six-cylinder XC90's 268-hp output.

Before a 100-mile test run in this V-8, we spent three days tooling around in a five-cylinder XC90 (a six was unavailable) for comparison purposes. Pulling the weight of just a driver, the T5 did not feel underpowered. What we remember about the six-cylinder twin-turbo XC90 is that it tied for fifth in an eight-SUV comparo ["The Bradsher Bunch," C/D, January 2003] and eked out a sleepy 8.5-second run to 60. So the V-8 is expected to be an enormous improvement in acceleration and midrange power, Volvo pledging that it will turn a 0-to-60 in 7.0 seconds. That sounds about right. Its ability to keep up with what Volvo sees as the luxury competition—the Infiniti FX45, the Cadillac SRX V-8, the Mercedes ML500, the BMW X5, and the Lexus GX470, in order speedwise—now puts it midpack, where before it was gargling dust.

All V-8 XC90s are all-wheel drive, so although you won't be leaving any rubber calling cards on the pavement, it does surge powerfully away from a standstill. It feels odd driving a Volvo that is whooshless and without the sort of power mood swings that are common to turbos. The V-8 pulls with a forceful, linear intensity, and passing milk trucks on two-lane roads in the Swedish woods was a breeze, fun in fact. To handle the added horsepower, Volvo has installed a new six-speed automatic transmission with a manumatic function. We're pleased it isn't one of those manumatics that overrule your shifting decisions, but with six gears closely placed, we did notice some gear hunting when applying even small amounts of throttle between 40 and 60 mph.

The XC90's spring and shock rates have not been messed with. This model is distinguished by a pair of V-8 logos, 18-inch wheels, some trick tailpipes, and assorted doodads. Indeed, everything else feels very like the less-powerful XC90s: light steering, competent braking, cushy seats, a compliant, bump-absorbing suspension that gives it one of the most car-like rides of any SUV, and the general sense that you're driving a Volvo sedan that someone stole while you were sleeping, jacked up exactly 3.1 inches, and returned to you. The V-8 also has two flop-down seats that make a third row and provide seating for seven in an SUV nowhere near the size of the jumbo utes. Volvo predicts fuel economy of 15 city and 20 highway.

Knowing its V-8 market is in the U.S., Volvo has given the XC90 an exhaust note to make a Camaro-head envious. In the upper reaches, its exhaust song could sub for cannon in the 1812 Overture. It's quiet at idle and in the low part of the power band, but it comes on with a rich, sonorous rap as the revs head uptown.

The popularity of this two-year-old XC90 has been remarkable. At its debut, Volvo prayed that the world would ask for 50,000 of them annually. In 2003, it delivered 62,177 of them (35,791 in the U.S.), and this current bestseller of the European sport-utes is now also Volvo's sales leader, despite a base price of $35,525 for the five-cylinder, $41,015 for the six, and $46,080 for the V-8 pretty much loaded to the gills. And it is an excellent engine. If Ford had put one of this output in that SHO, it might still be around.