Observations of driving 2018 XC90 T6 AWD, T5 AWD and T5 FWD

[Oly850]

Yeah that's a lot of weight for the T5 with AWD. The same powertrain powers the new XC40 with a substantial weight saving and it gets to 230kph (over 140mph).
The power output (250hp) is descent enough and the XC90 AWDs get to 60mph in 9 secs but the torque peak is very high in the rev range. I wonder how flat the torque curve is on these motors...

I also wonder if yours was under par and needed an issue to be sorted.

No issues, all three were 2018 new cars as listed as service loaners. I have had this 2018 XC90 T5 FWD since last Thursday and they say Wednesday will be the earliest my S80 will be ready. So I have had the benefit of driving all three powertrains for thousands of miles. The T6 I had for a month and I put 2K on that car while I had it. The T5 AWD was awful, no power at all.

Simply the T5 AWD and T6 AWD drove more truckish and this T5 FWD drives more carish. I really like the way this T5 FWD drives. At 80 mph it's so smooth and quiet it feels like 50 mph. I decided to order a Inscription T5 FWD and tried this afternoon to discover it's not available. Stupid Volvo once again is forcing AWD on the nicer model. And the Momentum is not available with the $3,200 premium sound system option or the good looking 22 inch wheels So I'll wait to see what comes in pure electric form in the next couple of years and keep enjoying my S80 as my daily driver. June

My wife & I drove both T5 & T6 AWD versions when we were buying our XC90. She picked the T6 instinctively. The T6 XC90 has enough horsepower to accelerate onto the freeway quickly enough to do it safely. We don’t drag race it for sure but it helps once in awhile. In a lighter Volvo it would likely be different, my Mom’s 740 turbo (inter cooled) was unbelievably fast, it didn’t need to be blown as well.

[June]

With manual steering most every car had a damper of some sort to prevent resonances. The steering on aBeetle is really light because the front end is so light.

Once power steering came, the fluid acts asa natural damper so the shock goes away

The steering shake ina beetle with a bad damper is impressive ..about 3-4 inches of wheel shake

It was a Florida washout chugghole so you are correct a good 4 inches of violent side to side action ! I drove occasionally a 1979 F100 straight six, 3 speed column shift, manual steering and brakes that was perfectly tight at 10 years old. Back then I was tiny. Barely strong enough to steer it and it took both feet to push the clutch down. It did have the AC option that was ice cold . Note ice cold AC is mandatory! June