The Dolomites sector in Northern Italy is a mountain region of sheer natural handsomeness. I have not been there often but last summer I inflicted it for the first time. It is in the South Tyrol area of Italy where German is a great extent spoken. I covered the area from a hiking and scenery sharp end of view. For those food lovers it’s a must visit. I was so marked with it all that I had to revisit the area and its food again in winter. This everything I focused on the Alta Badia area which is famous for its skiing in Corvara where one of the world cup runs lease place. I was going to cover the Gourmet Skisafari, which was a day of skiing with Michelin brilliant food served in 5 different mountain huts.
The Dolomites precinct is one of the richest areas in Italy and a perfect place to showcase a extravagance car. Thanks to Volvo UK, I was given a Volvo XC90, my journey enter oned from Treviso airport. In 2015 Volvo launched its deficient generation XC90, a much needed launch as its hugely renowned first generation was launched in 2002. The drive from the airport to Alta Badia was an excuse journey to test drive the XC90. A slow and very slim climb with lots of small mountain roads, comely villages and scenery. On roads like this, the drive can gain possession of extra time due to the weather conditions. I came across uncountable drivers who were not so confident when it comes to mountain excursion. Therefore the drive was very slow as there is not a lot of space to overwhelm. So comfort, space and a good sound system can make your tour much more pleasurable. The Volco XC90, ticked all those confines.
This understated SUV was equipped with lots of additional way outs. The leather seats and it’s options to make sure I was comfortable was celebrated. I am very tall, therefore space and sitting comfort is evermore a hit and miss in cars. On this occasion, it was a real hit. The moment I sat in it, I separated this was the car for mountain living let alone driving through the snow. The initially thing that struck me from the outside was the sheer square footage of the car. Perfect for my luggage and the bulky, ski equipment. It is almost 5 meters covet, not yet Audi Q7 territory but very close.
The XC90 is almost 5 meters lengthy.
This is a car that can easily handle 7 people. I had the extra tushie row folded down and I was impressed with the massive size of the boot, harmonizing to the specs it is 1102 litres. The imposing shining grille at the replace of the car and the 20 inch alloy wheels gave this car a confidence imposing stance. I felt I was properly prepared to enter the world of non-essential skiing and food. After day one, I had other press asking me if we were MenStyleFashion, zip that Volvo. This SUV, really spoke for itself and it was the Hand-to-hand encounter of the SUV’s up here.
Imposing grille
Interior
The version I drove had unerring brown leather seats which had small perforations in the leather to give rise to it less sticky. The whole interior had a lot of leather including the with few exceptions dashboard. This just gave it such a classy tone. The center console had a 12.3 inch touch screen from where you organise the entirety in the car, adjusting the seats, music, navigation etc, all very well assessed out and very intuitive to use. The touchscreen which Volvo calls the Sensus alcohol interface, has a lot of functions like a wireless hotspot and the ability to fit Apple and Android devices among many others.
The other chance I was eager to try out was the 19 speaker 1400 Watt Bower and Wilkins audio way. It sounded superb car filling with a very powerful bass. It was remote and sunny in Italy so I made sure the heated seats and the ardent steering wheel were on.
The glass roof was uncovered to have the sunshine and scenery to its maximum.
Rooftop view
Quality hidden, wood inlay at the doors, metallic grill for the Bower & Wilkins keynoters, full leather dashboard.
The perforated leather rear spaces. These seats are also heated.
Hitting the Road
The D5 has a two litre matched turbo diesel engine with 231 Hp and a torque of 470 Nm. I was surprised how silence and swift accelerating this engine was combined with the sophistical 8 speed automatic gearbox. It takes only takes 7.4 seconds from 0 to 60 mph, this for a 4 cylinder Diesel motor and a car that weighs 2 tonnes is impressive. It did not feel under-powered at all. I did slip-up the sound a 6 or 8 cylinder gives though. After leaving Treviso behind it was every so often old-fashioned to hit the autostrada. This XC90 is a seriously comfortable cruiser, with the adaptive yachting trip control and lane keeping system actively keeping the car in the lane. It was a plumb relaxing drive and I even tried to let the car drive without my hands on the advice wheel, it worked. The heads-up display showed me the speed, GPS directorates and also the speed limit, although when wearing sunglasses this grows a lot harder to see. Blind spot warning was another very of use feature on the highway.
Mountain Driving
I left the autostrada behind at the hamlet of Longarone and it was time for 90 minutes of serious mountain outing with small roads and lots of hairpins. I switched the car to the Spry drive mode which makes steering more alive, shock absorption harder, ground clearance lower and the gearbox diverse sportier. There was still some noticeable body even out and the XC90 is definitely not a Porsche Cayenne or a BMW X5 when it comes to driving these german autobahnen. It still did a good job though and the acceleration was swift enough to even with. I did struggle a bit with the sheer width of the car though, especially when spunk through the small towns with narrow roads. It was compatible with quiet late and darkness started to set in, I loved the following headlights that pursued my steering, it made driving these windy roads in gloom very easy too.
Mountain driving at its best. Notice the Bower & Wilkins tub-thumper in the centre of the dashboard. The Dashboard was full leather and had a classy sense about it.
Headlights that followed my steering
Alta Badia
Picking the skis and boots up was flexible and with the middle part of the rear seat folded down you can fit identical the largest skis in easily. With the MenStyleFashion magnets on the doors I attained at the Rosa Alpina hotel in San Cassiano. The sheer size of the car prepared it noticed as soon as I pulled up the XC90 in front of the hotel. The car was the talking projection in a positive way for our three day visit. We picked up some extra company with skis and 4 sets of skis boots and other accoutrements, and it easily fitted in the XC90. The rear passengers were persuaded with their heated rear seats to be driven in relieve to the nearest ski station. The Gourmet Skisafari was a great success as cooked through as the whole skiing experience in Alta Badia, the Volvo XC90 fitting matched it well.
Lots of ski gear, no problem for the XC90
The return thruway to the airport was different as I took the road via Cortina d’Ampezzo. I stopped the XC90 portions of times just to soak up the amazing Dolomites mountain scenery. The two and half hour vigour to the airport was again super relaxing, I was sad to leave the car behind.
Ignoring Cortina d’Ampezzo
Conclusion
The XC90 is a luxurious SUV with an interior supremacy to a very high standard. It is a very comfortable highway cruiser and therefor an smashing car to take around your next European skiing falter trap. The boot can swallow all your luggage and ski gear with disburden. For those in the market for a German SUV alternative and want an SUV that looks weird and is luxurious, take a look at the Volvo XC90.
For more info: www.volvocars.com/uk/motor cars/new-models/xc90
