Volvo XC90 Ocean Race Special Edition Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volvo XC90 Ocean Race special edition range
Prices: from £36,500 [approx] - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 15-16
Emissions: 219-289g/km
Performance: [D5] Max Speed 121mph / 0-60mph 10.9s
Fuel Consumption: [D5] (urban) 26.4mpg / (extra urban) 40.9mpg /(combined) 34.0mpg
Safety: Front & side airbags / ABS / SIPS / WHIPS
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4733/1860/1562mm

NAUTICAL BUT NICE

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

Now there’s a 4x4 for people with salt water running through their veins and the sound of the sea ringing in their ears. Or indeed anyone who fancies a good-looking Volvo XC90 at a value price. Steve Walker reports…

Batten down the hatches, splice the mainbrace and shiver your timbers. No, me harties, it isn’t International ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’ – unless you happen to be reading this on September 19th when, oddly enough, there is such a thing as International Talk Like A Pirate Day. No, it’s a new special edition from Volvo with a pronounced seafaring slant. Volvo have gone all maritime on us with their sponsorship of the Volvo Ocean Race and now we can drive a car that shares a name with this prestigious round-the-world yachting event. The Volvo XC90 ‘Ocean Race’ is here and she be a fine vessel indeed.

We’re told that the Volvo Ocean Race is the ‘ultimate sailing endurance event’, crossing four oceans and calling in on five continents over a 33,000-mile course. The competitors will be frantically winding handles, hoisting sails and tying knots aboard some of the world’s most advanced racing yachts without a barnacle-encrusted frigate in sight and, hopefully, no pirates. It’s the adventurous, hi-tec image of modern sailing that Volvo are hoping to tap into with their sponsorship of this escapade against the elements and if some of that can rub off onto the XC90 4x4, then so much the better.

Customers actually have the choice of Ocean Race special editions of three different Volvo models but we’ll be leaving the V70 Ocean Race and the XC70 Ocean Race in dry dock for the purposes of this article and concentrating on the XC90 Ocean Race. Volvo have done quite a thorough job of marking the vehicle out from ordinary XC90s. For a start, the bodywork is coated in Ocean Blue pearlescent paint which isn’t offered elsewhere in the range (though you can ask for Electric Silver if that doesn’t suit. The car’s appearance is further enhanced with a new, more exclusively designed Volvo Ocean Race emblem and chrome exterior details. All the cars feature full Ocean Race leather upholstery and are available in Soft Beige or Off Black with the centre console and other details in silk matt aluminium inlays. Better still, all Ocean Race customers get a branded key ring to leave casually placed on the Yacht Club bar.

All these additions come on top of the standard SE specification and so the XC90 Ocean Race comes completely shipshape and Bristol fashion with features like cruise control, an electric driver’s seat with memory functions, 18" alloy wheels, rear parking assist and a 6-CD autochanger. Most customers will go for the five cylinder D5 diesel version, though a 3.2-litre six cylinder petrol variant is also being offered. Expect the vehicle to cost around £1,000 more than an equ

Volvo’s D5 engine used to produce 163bhp but a series of revisions to the unit boosted power to today’s 185bhp and made it Euro IV compliant. It certainly won’t break the bank to run, returning an average fuel figure of 34mpg, enjoying Euro IV status for tax purposes and producing CO2 figures of just 219g/km, which are especially good for such a large vehicle. The towing capacity of 2,250kg will also appeal to those with boats or caravans.

Still, a good deal is being asked of that diesel engine. That said, only footballers and rap stars generally buy big 4x4s for their performance credentials and for the majority of us, the generous 400Nm torque figure of the diesel engine will be quite adequate. The 60mph increment passes in around 11 seconds and a top speed in the region of 120mph is perfectly acceptable for all but the most merciless autobahn stormer. The XC90 D5 isn’t averse to a bit of the rough stuff, the adequate ground clearance, compact overhangs, diesel lugging power and comparatively low centre of gravity making it proficient but not in the same league as something like Land Rover’s Discovery. It uses an electronically-controlled permanent 4x4 system with a Haldex differential calculating how much drive should be directed to the rear wheels, typically anything from 5 to 65%.

Unlike most of its rivals, the XC90 seats seven as standard with a set of rear seats that adults can occasionally use. Despite this, the car’s footprint remains usefully small. Being a Volvo, the XC90 isn’t shy of safety features. The innovative Roll Stability Control (RSC) system received the World Traffic Safety Symposium Manufacturers Award. In order to prevent the XC90 going dirty side up in the first instance, sophisticated gyroscopically controlled stability software steadies even the most radical lane changing behaviour. Should you hit a kerb or ditch and roll the XC90, it features a boron-reinforced roof to prevent the upper body deforming.

Finally, the car also features c