Winter plus pack or aux heater
 

I'm about to finalise spec on my order and am stuck on 1 final option, here is my spec so far

Momentum D5 Powerpulse AWD
Magic Blue
Xenium pack
Illumination pack
Seven seat comfort pack
Privacy glass
Apple car play
12.3 TFT display

I have about £1000 still to play with and am torn between selecting the Winter plus pack or the aux heater (unfortunately I can't stretch to both)

Not bothered about the heated windscreen but the winter plus pack appeals because of the bending headlights with shadow technology. I like the fact that they can shadow the light to not blind oncoming or following cars but can still give full beam everywhere else at the same time. However I also like to idea of the aux heater as the preheat function does seem very appealing on a cold morning. Which one would you recommend and why?

Finally I'm considering the dark flame inlays instead on the brushed aluminium standard inlays (standard charcoal interior). Thoughts?

Would welcome any opinions, particularly from anyone who has got either installed on their XC90

Thanks

Winter pack.

I had a BMW with a webasto heater and it was just amazing, push the remote control as you head into the shower and after a few minutes the blowers come on. By the time you've had your coffe the car it all defrosted with the engine at full temperature. You just can't beat them.
I have also had heated windscreen but whilst I loved the quick defrost the heater elements anoyed the hell out of me, most people can't see but my eyes are just drawn to them.

I would go winter pack for the lights too.

A lot of discussion on this forum about the inlays. Some have said that the metal dents where the seat belt clobbers it on return. Others have said that the birch is too dark and too shiny. Personally I would probably stick with the metal because I think dark wood is a little old fashioned (can you not get the lit wood?) but I can't really comment because I have gone for carbon in the R-Design.

The choice is yours!

Haven't got my car yet, so not commenting from experience. However, consider how much you would benefit from the bending headlights compared to the aux heating.

No doubt aux heating is fantastic, but I've never had it in a car and haven't missed it, a bit of a luxury that I can live without. Modern cars with heated seats etc don't ever feel cold for long to me, they soon warm up.

The bending headlights however are something that will enhance the driving experience every time you drive at night.

:wq

Your spec is similar to the order I've just placed. I went with both the Winter Plus pack and the Auxiliary heater but omitted the 7-seat Comfort pack.

XC90 D5 Momentum in Bright Silver with Blond leather
19" wheels
Xenium pack
Winter Plus pack
Illumination pack
BLIS
12.3" Display
Auxiliary Heater
Privacy glass

The advanced headlights in the Winter pack swayed me to order that one and heated washers are good to have. Everyone who has the Auxiliary heater says it's the dog's danglies and it overcomes the problem of modern diesels taking ages to warm up. I initially considered the 7-seat pack but decided against it because I've had dual climate in cars for over 20 years and 99% of the time the systems have run in sync mode with the same temperature on both sides. I couldn't see that changing with a 4-zone system. Plus, I'll seldom have anyone in the rear-most seats and even if I did it would be on very short journeys. There have been reports of extra fan noise from the rear vents between the front seats with the 4-zone system. Also, if you intend keeping the car beyond 3 years, consider the extra complexity of a 4-zone system and potential maintenance/repair costs. (I assume there'd be an additional evaporator/refrigerant circuit for the rear system.) I know from personal experience just how expensive aircon systems can be to repair. Replacing the evaporator on my Merc was nearly £2,000 but luckily the initial diagnosis was wrong and it cost 'only' £1,000 in the end.

Whilst a cooled glovebox sounds cool (ahem!) I had one in another car and really never used it.

I initially ordered the Dark Flame inlays but after realising how shiny they are I changed the order to standard aluminium. I would've gone for Linear Walnut but that is only available on Inscription models now. Apparently, Volvo underestimated the demand for this trim and the supplier cannot keep up.
_

Regarding the comment about diesel warm up time, are the latest ones not fitted with PTC Heaters ?

Aux heater by a margin especially at current lower price. I have both and having lived through the relatively mild winter in the south with them you would have to pry aux heater from my dying hands. Winter pack is good but nowhere near the comfort. You get heating boost - hot air in 30sec vs 5-7min without it. Pre-conditioning is just great too as you can just step into completely warm car (for all passengers) and it also warms up the engine. Also all the windows get defrosted in minutes not just front and back and don't forget the wires in the windscreen- once you notice them they will bother you no end.

Thanks for the feedback. I take your point on the 4 zone system and tend to agree, however we would regularly be using the 3rd row of seats so having air con to them will be important (otherwise I'll have kids moaning it's too hot!). I am edging towards winter pack for the lights but am not a big fan of heated windscreens. If only the lights were a standalone option!

I was going toward the winter pack until I read your post, you make a very compelling case for aux heater. Is the aux heater on a lower price at the moment?

I mean lower than last year. I paid 1400 for MY2016. Even at that price it's still my pick over the winter pack. That and 360 camera are the two musts on this car IMOP.

If you do have it remember a quirk with pre-conditioning - once you turn it on it will stay on for 30min even if you drive a short trip and then stop the car - it will carry on. So you need to go into Parking Climate tab in climate or into Volvo on call app to turn it off. This would only be necessary if you pre-heated say 10min then have 5min trip and don't want it to keep burning for further 15min after that. If you pre-condition using timers this is irrelevant as it will start pre-condition so that it stops at your desired trip time.
When setting up schedules in Volvo on call app (for instance mine gets pre-conditioned for regular school runs) never modify existing timers but rather delete them and set up new ones. It's a bug. I have not tried setting them up through car climate tab so not sure if this is an app or a car bug.
By default the heater booster option is not enabled in settings so if you want warm air pretty much straight after starting the car you need to go enable it. Just to see how much better off you are see how long it would take you to get warm air out of the vents with this setting off on a cold morning.
Also if you park on an incline the car needs to be nose down so gravity takes the fuel to the heater and not away (heater is above right front wheel arch).
They say to expect black smoke and that it's normal but I am yet to see it (I do only fuel with shell premium though)

Decision made...we went for aux heater. Thanks for everyone's input.

Good choice, I've spec'd mine with the same Aux Heater, My brother lives in Switzerland and has a Disco with an Aux heater and says it is great. When you are up in the mountains and finished a days skiing or whatever, when you enter a cold car and descend the mountain the car can take upto 20 minutes to heat up as you are hardly using the engine to generate heat when descending these high altitude areas. So you have done the right thing.

I've gone for the inscription, with Air suspension on 20" alloys, 360 camera, HUD and Xeniun packs.

Car due in Aug - cant wait :car: