Volvo XC90 vs BMW X5 [2019-2023]

14 Ratings

6 Ratings

All good nice

the car feels royal, especially from the back and front. it is a luxury car with all the creature comfort you would expect at this price point and which is largely ignored by the German.

An engineering achievement.

I drove this SUV on a recent holiday in the mountains where I drove it for around 650kms of winding roads. The car was almost brand new with only 2000-something km on it. As far as SUVs go, I am sure better ones exist but I haven't driven anything as good as this car, not even the 5-series. When it comes to control on tight curves on roads through the mountains, this car is extraordinary. It felt as easy to drive as a 1-series petrol - and the 1-series petrol is a fun car indeed. This car looks a lot like the old X5 but it's a completely different beast to drive. This is also a very smart car - it will remember all of your driver settings - the onboard navigation is perfect, the user interface is the best, it understands your gestures for volume control and many other functions, it will keep you in the lane, and it will even park itself. The head-up display is a life-saver. The sensors and cameras give a 360 degree view of the car's surroundings, making parking and reversing a breeze. To illustrate the case, I was on a single road in the mountains. The road was just wide enough for the X5 and I had to reverse almost 100m to a passing point to accomodate a car coming from the opposite side. Any other unfamiliar car and I would have sweated a bit but with this car, there was a sense of complete control - just look at the display and reverse. I consider a car to have a good pick-up if I am scared to floor the acclerator and this one meets that criterion. It's quick, really quick. You can overtake any car within three seconds - take the usual precautions though. And if you intend to drive like that frequently, believe in yourself and turn off the lane assist. The fuel economy was around 11-12 kmpl, which was OK but I expect that number to be significantly better if driven on flat roads without frequent braking and accleration. The roads I drove on were among the best in the world. I can't mention the top speed that I drove this car at but what I can say is this - the only thing becasue of which you will need to slow down are the road and the traffic. The car is limitless. The car provides absolute stability and comfort when speeding, braking, and turning. I had two co-passengers including an elderly one who suffers in other cars but had the home-sofa comfort in this one. Needless to say the height of the car can be lowered to make getting in and out easlier for those with mobility issues and for loading the boot. It has all the other usual things that you would expect at this price point, so I won't get into that long list. If you are buing a non-hybrid, non-electric car today then you have already sold your soul to the devil. And if you have come to terms with that, this is a great great buy. My only disclaimer is that I haven't driven any other car in this specific category except the Range Rover. And this car makes the Range Rover look like garbage.