Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Volvo XC90 R-Design Polestar Optimised
In an earlier test, Private Fleet’s Dave Conole had the then brand new Volvo XC90 up against Audi’s Q7, with the German narrowly taking the win. Since then, Volvo’s R-Design group have waved a wand over the XC90, an award winning car, with its 2.0L turbocharged and supercharged four cylinder 400 Nm/235 kW powerplant, adding some very stylish touches to the $101950 plus on roads and options behemoth. Here’s what you get.
Up front, a glossy black grille insert, along with the standard multiple parking sensors. You’ll get colour matched sills below the door and bumpers, with the front and rear gaining sportier extensions to the lower extremities, shiny twin exhaust tips, 20 inch rolling stock in a five spoke design (with Michelin rubber) and a larger rear spoiler.
Underneath the square acre of sheet metal that masquerades as a bonnet, there’s the aforementioned four cylinder petrol engine, not that you’ll know visually, hidden as it is under a plain black plastic shroud. There’s also the aforementioned 400 torques and 235 kilowatts….note the title. It says Polestar Optimised. In layman’s language that’s an extra eleven kilowatts, taking the total to 246 @ 6000, up from 5700. Torque increases to 440, at a peak rev point of 4500, compared to 400 between 2200 to 5400. Consumption?
Amazingly, it stays the same at 9.8/7.0/8.0 litres per 100 kilometres for the urban/highway/combined cycles from the 71 litre tank whilst hauling the 1965 kgs (dry) to one hundred kmh in just over six seconds. Emissions sit at just 186 grams per kilometres and there’s auto stop/start tech attached. Transmission is a smoother than Belgian chocolate eight speed auto, with paddle shifts which look like proper metal, but are plastic.
Under any throttle application there’s no appreciable feeling of gear change, but you can hear the system double clutching, slurring through the ratios around town and when the slipper hits the go pedal with some extra urge, the XC90 surges forward, pinning you back in the Nappa leather seats and watching the needle on the digital screen’s tacho flick as each gear is picked up. It’s an amazing feeling, especially under rapid acceleration, to not feel anything change but knowing that it does. Also, it has to be pointed out that the Polestar upgrade is an option any XC90 owner can ask for to get the same feeling.
Inside, it’s an experience; you’re greeted and cossetted by a mix of that black leather, high quality tactile plastics, carbon fibre look finishes, a 12.3 inch portrait oriented touchscreen, subtle LED interior lighting including the door scuff plate having the R-Design logo, a B&W sound system (yeah, it’s ok…cough), seven seats, and space enough to fit a weekend’s shopping. From IKEA. With ALL seats up there’s still 436 litres of space at the rear.
You’ll also enjoy Volvo’s CleanZone climate control system with separate controls (four zones) for the rear cabin, three memory positions for front seat passengers, with those seats gaining lumbar and extendable thigh support cushioning adjustments via toggle switches on the lower seat sides, and flat fold second & third row seating, providing 2427 litres of cargo space. 
There’s the usual nooks and bottle/cup holders spread throughout the cabin. The front seats also have heating but that’s $650 option, an odd choice by Volvo to ask extra coin for that feature. The rear glass is also laminated and tinted, also an optionable pair of costings at $850 and $525.
The Driverless Audi At The Racetrack
Well, I guess we saw this one coming as soon as the driverless car concept started becoming more than being reserved for use by science fiction authors. Audi has been doing some tinkering to find out if a driverless car can get faster lap times than a conventionally driver car.
For most of the designers and other boffins playing around with driverless cars (i.e. Google, Volvo and Toyota), safety is the main idea. Human error is the main cause of car accidents, so by getting technology to do it, the human error is thus eliminated (although I’m reminded of the saying that came out in the 1980s: To err is human but if you really want to stuff things up, use a computer). However, when Audi started modifying an Audi RS7 to make it into a driverless car, the idea was to see if a fully computerised driverless car could do it faster than a real person.
Is A Hybrid Vehicle Right For You?
Ever since Toyota came out with the landmark Prius, the first hybrid car to really capture public attention, more and more manufacturers have been coming out with hybrid engines. Everybody’s doing it, from Mercedes-Benz to Nissan (well, not quite everybody, but you know what I mean). You might be running your eyes through the reviews we have here at Private Fleet and wondering if a hybrid will be right for you. Surely, you ask yourself, a hybrid will be cheaper to run and better for the planet. Why shouldn’t I buy a hybrid car?
The answer to this question is yes and no. It really depends on you and your situation, just like it does for any other vehicle. To help you find out whether you should consider a hybrid, ask yourself the following handful of questions:
Holden Racing Team Lose Out As Holden Drinks Red Bull.
Holden has confirmed its commitment to Supercars and motorsport in Australia, announcing a new three-year deal with Triple Eight Race Engineering to form the Red Bull Holden Racing Team from 2017.
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