Volvo XC90 inscription v VW Tourareg
 

I had a forced change of car several weeks ago due to someone reversing into my XC90 Inscription which then required the bumper repaired so I had a VW Touareg R design as a hire car for a week.
Impressions of the VW Touareg:
Cargo area although big is no where near as big as the XC90, I had dropped my family off at the caravan the day before the accident with the XC90 loaded up, when I picked the family back up I could not get everything in the VW even though there were less bags as there were no food provisions etc on the way back and some of the cargo had to be put on the rear seat.
Engine, the VW being a V6 was lovely and smooth, very quiet and very responsive, a really good engine, I wish Volvo had a V6.
Steering, was more precise and there was much less body roll when cornering, being the R design it had stiffer suspension.
Brakes, the brakes were better than the Volvo, very little effort required and it pulled the car up very fast, again R design may have better brakes than the standard car.
Comfort, the ride around town was very jittery and you felt every bump or joint in the road so not as comfortable as mine but again R design v my air suspension.
Auto wipers, Miles better than the Volvo rain sensing wiper, they worked just perfectly.
Retracting towbar, again better than the Volvo, it swung out and locked in place with a touch of the button, no need to manually pull it up to lock it in position.
Driver convenience, no remote start, etc and what I did find most odd that it had no heated mirrors. I missed not being able to remote start and have the car defrosted when I got in it, and no pilot assist either or 360 camera just a rear camera.
So the VW has a nicer quieter more responsive engine, better steering, better brakes, better wipers, and a better towbar, not as comfortable as my XC90 but I dont know how it compares to the Volvo R design.
Would I pick one over the Volvo, Although it was better in many ways, overall the Volvo is a much nicer car to be in and live with so no I would choose the Volvo every time, I was very pleased to get my XC90 back, its just a nice car to be in.

One other thing that let the VW down was the DAB radio, most of my journey to the caravan was in radio silence as the DAB had no signal and I could not see any FM radio, after a week with the car I still could not find FM.

Volvo do a straight 6 , 3200cc on the post 2007 XC90 and always had a 3 litre straight 6 twin turbo from the start .
Ohh and also a 4400cc V8 !

I owned a straight 6 24 valve V90 (original V90) it was a fantastic engine.

When I worked for the Police we kept on pressing Volvo to produce a V6 or straight 6 diesel to compete with BMW. The D5 was updated but never caught up with BMW.

The last I heard was they were producing a D6 as an alternative to the D5 but it only materialised as a mild sort of hybrid and then was never seen again.

A few of the guys have Touareg - they were about £200 a month less than an XC90.

The engine is a lot quieter and smoother I have to conced, though I dont know what the real economy is like.

I would have to say though, that its not a quality interior, a bit like the F-Pace, there is a lot of hard plastic below your elbows.

They have R trim on theirs, not as well equipped as a ‘90.

Its decent value on the lease though.

I started off wanting the Touareg but found it disappointing on two fronts - boot shape/size for what I wanted to carry and the very modest standard specification. Once it was in the spec I wanted the price was just silly. Also the dealers were geared up for selling a much cheaper car with lack of access to proper test drives etc. I'm happy to have chosen the XC90 instead, my first Volvo.

PS IMHO the Volvo brakes are brilliant. With VW they just have a more aggressive initial bite. I have to remember that everytime I get in my wife's Golf.

To me, the XC90 is all about comfort (and safety of course).
The T5 engine doesn't disappoint me in any way (I suppose I would be equally happy with the diesel).
It has more then enough power, is silent and smooth. The engine and gearbox are a very good combination.

This comparison motivated me to write a head to head comparison between my electric bike Scott Aspect eRide 30 and my Honda CBR 600.
Thank you so much for giving me the courage to move forward.

Without a doubt the VW is a much better car, the VW group have many more resources to develop a car than Volvo. To your points against the VW, you have to remember that the Touareg's big brother, the Q7 is the 7 seat option, and I agree with you the trim elbow down is not as quality as the Volvo, but again they need to differentiate against the Q7, why else are you going to spend an extra £10K on average for the Audi when essentially its the same car.
As you said the Touareg is around £200 p/m cheaper, I would have had the Touareg had there not been a spike in prices while I was swapping, plus even the new Black edition Touareg is now cheaper on lease than the Volvo.
As for dealers, I think you old school Volvo owners are going to be in for a shock, there is obviously a drive from Volvo UK to bring in the large dealership groups like Stoneacre, who I got my car from, but wouldn't let them service a dinky toy, so it will be to Riverside for servicing, but how much longer can they hang on before Volvo UKs demands make it impossible for them to compete.
The Volvo is not a bad car, its just not polished enough for the price and the fact its nearly 6 years and still has a lot of quirks and niggles is unacceptable, the random things the software does, just shows the lack development and testing, and I'm sure its the Chinese influence (if you ever owned one of the Chinese market Android phones, you'll know what I mean) but I'm not sure they are going to cut with the prestige market and with companies like KIA/Hyundai snapping at their heels I think their market is shrinking, especially in the large SUV market.
I know you Volvo Fanboys are going to get defensive about this, but as someone who has no particular allegiance to any manufacture, and just gets the best value large SUV at lease renewal time, I don't think it will be a Volvo for me next time.

That depends on what you have been smoking. Remember that you have to mix the right amount of tobacco on the thing or else crazy stuff will happen.