2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark Review

Ever since the Volvo XC90 was released in 2002, it has been the benchmark of comfortable and safe family haulers within the luxury segment. It’s insanely practical, good value for money, dependable and a good size as well, making it the Labrador of the premium large SUV segment. This current model of XC90 only added to the first generation’s qualities with a much better driving experience and even more luxury on the inside and while competitors have increased their pricing drastically over the years Volvo has kept its relatively stable. Is the Volvo still the popular breed of the segment? We tested the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark to find out.

While the XC90 was almost unique when it was released, competition is much fiercer nowadays and rivals to the XC90 include the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Audi Q7, Land Rover Discovery and the Genesis GV80. Let’s find out how the Volvo stacks up against the competition.

Price & Equipment: 8.5/10

The 2023 Volvo XC90 range kicks off with the Plus B5, which is priced from $95,990 plus on-road costs (around $105,000 drive away, depending on location). The model we tested here is the almost-top spec Ultimate B6, which is priced from $107,990 plus on-road costs (around $116,000 drive away).

As you’d expect for a Volvo, the XC90 Ultimate is very well equipped with 21-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED lighting with front and rear LED daytime running lights, auto lights and wipers, four-zone climate control with a PM2.5 air quality sensor, keyless entry and start with a hands-free electric tailgate, a 9.0-inch vertical touchscreen running Android Automotive software, an inbuilt SIM card with included data for four years, wired Apple CarPlay, Google Maps satellite navigation, digital radio, the Google Play store to download apps such as Spotify, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a heads-up display, leather upholstery, 14-way electric front seats with memory, heated front and outer middle seats, a heated steering wheel, auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors, heated and auto-folding mirrors that dip in reverse, four USB-C charging ports, a wireless phone charger and sunshades for the middle row.

With safety equipment, the XC90 is equipped with Volvo’s ‘Pilot Assist’ semi-autonomous driving tech, seven airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and large animal monitoring, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, auto rear braking, Matrix adaptive high beam functionality for the headlights, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, driver attention monitoring, speed sign recognition, a 360–degree parking camera and front and rear parking sensors as standard.

Options fitted to our test car were the $2,100 Dark Package that includes gloss black exterior elements, a larger 22-inch wheel design and Nappa leather upholstery, the $165 Climate Package that includes headlight washers, the $4,550 1,460W 19-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system and the $3,250 Nappa leather with ventilated front seats. Other available options include a $3,250 panoramic sunroof, $3,750 air suspension with adaptive dampers, $1,100 massaging front seats, $1,050 tinted rear windows, and a $2,000 600W 14-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system. Volvo also offers two Lifestyle Packages: one with the Bowers and Wilkins sound system ($6,450) and one with the Harman Kardon sound system ($3,900), and both also include the panoramic sunroof.

Unlike most competitors at this price, Volvo does not charge extra for premium paint. There is the choice of ‘Onyx Black’, ‘Denim Blue’, ‘Bright Dusk’, ‘Silver Dawn’, ‘Crystal White’, ‘Thunder Grey’ and our test car’s ‘Platinum Grey’. For the Dark, there’s black and beige upholstery available.

While it’s not at all cheap to buy, we think the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark is great value for money because it has a very good equipment level compared to other vehicles in its class. To equip a BMW X5 xDrive40i to the XC90’s spec level you need to spend an extra $12,100 on options on top of the $138,900 plus on-roads asking price and it’s the same with the Mercedes-Benz GLE. A Genesis GV80 has slightly more equipment like a rear seat entertainment system, but the XC90 is larger and a true seven-seater, and not a ‘5+2’ like the Genesis.

Performance & Range: 8.5/10

Under the bonnet of the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine paired with a 48V mild-hybrid system for added boost and emissions reduction. It makes out 220kW of power (at 5,400rpm), 420Nm of torque (2,100rpm and 4,800rpm) and the sole available transmission is an eight-speed torque converter automatic from Aisin. It may seem unusual for such a big car to rely on only two litres of engine – especially when, for example, the BMW X5 xDrive40i has a larger 3.0-litre engine with 250kW of power – but the XC90 moves quite well.

Unusually for a 2,090kg (tare) large seven-seat SUV, the 2023 Volvo XC90 is quick. With a claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.7 seconds that’s aided by 10kW of electric punch thanks to the mild-hybrid system, it really gets down the road with ease. There is a nice linear power band, which makes the car feel like it has power all through the rev range. It also makes a great noise, with a revvy nature helping further.

The transmission is very smooth, operating it through the Orrefors crystal shift knob (genuine Swedish Crystal) is also a nice touch that adds to the premium feeling of the cabin. The shifts between gears can barely be felt when driving normally and when you put your foot into it, the XC90 responds well and kicks down to the lowest possible gear without a fuss. The mild-hybrid tech subtly adds to the performance and fuel economy of the XC90, but for most, it will act like an extended start-stop system as it kills the engine before you’ve even come to a stop. As there’s no starter motor – it’s integrated into the mild hybrid system – starting the XC90 is seamless and barely noticeable.

The claimed average fuel consumption for the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark is 8.2L/100km with emissions of 186g/km of CO2. With our week spent behind the wheel of this Swedish SUV, we saw an average figure of 10.2L/100km, though that was in mostly urban driving. The XC90 requires minimum 95RON fuel and it has a 71-litre fuel tank.

Ride & Handling: 9/10

Without mincing words, the Volvo XC90 is a serene car to drive – it’s a very solid car on the road and even without the optional air suspension, we found the ride excellent for a car of this type despite the huge 22-inch alloy wheels. It was not too soft and floaty, but not overly firm to try and give a faux sporty feel. We would describe the ride as the goldilocks option: just right. There was no fuss when going over speed bumps or drive ways and we love how it feels on the road.

The handling ability of the 2023 Volvo XC90 actually surprised us. For such a large car there was barely any body roll in the corners and you feel very safe cornering at speed in the XC90. The steering offers a reasonable level of feel as well. There is great visibility thanks to large windows and road noise levels are nicely low. The XC90’s safety systems are great – as you’d expect for a Volvo – with subtle but effecting tuning. The rear auto braking is a touch sensitive for our liking, however – the ‘Pilot Assist’ semi self driving technology was fantastic. Set it and as long as you have your hands on the steering wheel the car takes care of the rest.

Interior & Practicality: 9.5/10

Being a modern Volvo product, the XC90’s interior is fantastic and difficult to fault. As with other Volvo models, the quality of materials used is excellent with soft touch materials everywhere, including a stitched dashboard panel. We love the layout of the interior as well, everything is where you’d expect it to be and feels nice to the touch. The Nappa leather trim is superb too – it’s soft without being too delicate.

It is worth noting that everything is easy in the XC90’s cabin. Let me explain. The seats (second and third row) are very simple to operate, the middle booster seat is easy to setup and the controls for the infotainment system and digital drivers display work seamlessly.

Centre of the cabin is a 9.0-inch touchscreen that’s fully featured with wired Apple CarPlay, satellite navigation, digital radio and even apps such as Spotify that use the car’s inbuilt SIM card. The new Google infotainment system is excellent and uses Google Maps navigation, which is so refreshing for an inbuilt satellite navigation system. The screen graphics are great, and it’s very quick to respond to touch. The icons on the screen could be larger, however, and the climate controls are inbuilt into the screen, which can be fiddly, but the 360-degree parking camera is so helpful and clear.

The optional Bowers and Wilkins sound system is one of the best we have experienced in a car, it has fantastic depth and is a joy to operate. It’s well worth the extra $4,550. There’s no faulting the XC90’s practicality either, with large door bins, a nicely sized centre console with huge cup holders and a wireless phone charger, a big glovebox and a big centre box underneath the front armrest provide more than enough storage options for passengers.

The 40:20:40-split middle seat is very spacious for six-footers to sit behind themselves – legroom and headroom is plentiful, and the seats are very comfortable as well. To aid either legroom or boot space, they both slide and recline and there’s also an inbuilt jump seat that lifts up for kids. Rear amenities include two zones of air conditioning, heated outboard seats, air vents, inbuilt sun shades, a centre arm rest, two USB-C charging ports and map pockets.

Being a Volvo, boot space is plentiful with 369-litres is on offer with the third row erect, 1,019L with them folded and a large 1,868L with the middle row folded flat. Space in the third row is pretty good too, with more than adequate space for adults – and features in the boot such as hooks, tie down points, a 12V socket and even a partition that flips out of the floor to hold shopping bags and fragile items.

Service & Warranty: 9/10

Like all other new Volvo Cars products, the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark is equipped with a five-year/unlimited km warranty with eight years of roadside assistance. This is the same warranty that can be had by Audi, BMW, Genesis and Mercedes-Benz on all of their products, though with at least three years more of roadside assistance.

A five-year/75,000km service pack costs a reasonable $3,000 ($600 per service), though Genesis gives you five years of free servicing with its cars. A five-year service pack on a BMW X5 is $2,750 and a Mercedes-Benz GLE is a massive $5,950. The Volvo warranty is the equal best in the segment and its service package pricing is reasonable too, and its roadside assistance is great.

2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.8/10

We love a large three row SUV here at DiscoverAuto and the 2023 Volvo XC90 Ultimate B6 Dark really took our interest. We love that it has all the premium feel and features that its rivals have for less coin. We love the solid feeling of the car, that the interior is put together exceptionally well and it feels very sure footed on the road. It’s also very spacious, extremely well thought out and just really cool as well.

The interior is a focus point of the XC90, we love the great quality and insane practicality on offer. So it begs the question, of the premium family haulers would our money be going to the Volvo XC90? Well the new technology updates on the BMW X5 make for a more interesting cabin, and the Land Rover Discovery offers more off-road ability if that’s what you want, but it’s hard to go past the XC90’s all-round capability. Small wonder its been the family favourite for all these years!