Off to the Volvo home
Unusual task for the Volvo V90 Cross Country B5 from our test fleet in August 2023: a visit home. In Gothenburg, the manufacturer’s home, and at the big Volvo meeting “VROM”.
The abbreviation VROM stands for “Volvo Rendezvous & Owners Meeting” and that’s what’s hidden behind it Volvo meeting Europe that you should definitely visit. At least if you look at the regulars’ table conversations with some people Humpback Volvo– or Amazon owner listening carefully.
The question arose as to how these brand traditionalists would react if ours suddenly appeared between their shiny chrome classics V90 Cross Country from the Endurance test parked?
Bengt Carlsson (left) and Martin Pettersson (right) are among the organizers of the Volvo meeting.
Image: Lars Hänsch-Petersen / Car Whiz
A Volvo meeting for every Volvo fan
The answer lies somewhere between delighted, curious and appreciative. The organizers of the VROM emphasize this on their website vrom.org (in Swedish and English) that it is a meeting for Volvo enthusiasts acts that knows no club boundaries.
In practice this means it doesn’t matter what kind you use Volvo you arrive and what condition the vehicle is in. main thing Volvo! Sure, that sounds a bit like the cliche about the warm friendliness with which another Swedish company sells furniture. But there’s something to it.
The participating vehicles from many Volvo eras came from Hungary and even Italy.
Image: Lars Hänsch-Petersen / Car Whiz
A friendly “Hey” and you’re part of it. The rest works with school English.
On the motorway in Sweden you notice how much the large station wagon suits the speed of its homeland.
Image: Lars Hänsch-Petersen / Car Whiz
The Volvo V90 Cross Country feels at home in its homeland
Ours was just as relaxed as his compatriots Test car on the journey home. You have to keep in mind that there is no Alpine passes had to climb and there was only a small sports bag in the 507 liter trunk. Nevertheless, it was noticeable that the large station wagon simply suits Sweden.
At a maximum of 120 km/h on the Highway Not only did the grumbling noise that was occasionally audible at higher speeds disappear Diesels. According to the on-board computer, average consumption fell almost automatically to 5.6 liters. Ranges Beyond 1000 kilometers per tank filling should be the rule rather than the exception.
The display in the center display of the V90 can only be described as really successful.
Image: Lars Hänsch-Petersen / Car Whiz
And the V90 showed good manners. The distance measurement to the front, to the sides and to the back is not only pleasantly precise. The visual and acoustic warnings are restrained in their need to communicate and thus do not spread any more excitement than is already inherent in the traffic or parking situation. Top: the map display in front of the pilot or in the center display.
Why does the navigation system say the street name?
At the navigation On the other hand, the system on board gets in its own way a bit. The friendly female voice announces the name of the street you should turn onto. And that can be confusing in a country with a foreign language. In other words: I now realize that my hotel was on “Vikingsgatan” in Gothenburg. But I don’t know if I really need to know that.
How sensitive are these beautiful rims to scratches?
Image: Lars Hänsch-Petersen / Car Whiz
Visually, the V90 Cross Country has no weaknesses and is riding the crossover wave. Not only that, details like that send rims on the test car fit the picture perfectly. However, be careful when parking, you don’t want to scratch the beautiful parts.
By the way: The World of Volvo, a brand new experience center dedicated to cars from the far north, is currently being built in the middle of Gothenburg. The Volvo Museum is expected to merge into this Volvo world in 2024. If you would like to visit the birthplace of Volvo, it is best to find out about the planned opening date and go before or after – depending on your taste.
The Volvo V90 Cross Country B5 in the endurance test
• Endurance test start: December 15, 2022• Price of the test car with extras: 92,930 euros• Driven so far: 38,810 km• Test consumption: 6.5 l D/100 km
If you drive comfortably through Scandinavia in a large station wagon, you can cover huge distances and hardly notice it. But I would like to be able to order the V90 CC to be a little less fancy. For example with the simple aluminum rims of the Swedish police.
