2019 Volvo Xc90 R-design on 2040-cars

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2022 Volvo C40 Recharge Interior Review | Stylish, spartan and Google tech

The 2022 C40 Recharge is an all-electric, all-or-nothing proposition from those delightfully stylish Swedes over at Volvo, whose designers put their typical minimalistic spin on this crossover-coupe EV. While Zac was a bit more fond of the all-blue interior in our tester than I was (you can also get it in black), I was at least equally as impressed as he was by its new tech suite. The "you can get it any way so long as it's loaded" American-market C40 arrived sporting the latest version of Google’s Android Automotive OS infotainment system (like other Volvos). In what may be the most stereotypical display of Silicon Valley chicanery I've seen so far in 2022, this new infotainment system doesnÂ’t support Apple CarPlay at launch, so it was almost poetic when the iPhone I used to shoot the above video fought me tooth-and-nail when I tried to share it via Google Drive. Relax, iPhoners. Volvo says an OTA update with CarPlay support is coming. But let's face it, when it comes to maps, Google is Google, and since you get it natively here, it works exactly the way you'd expect it to. Google Assistant is there to handle your voice commands too. There's even ample room in the rear for a future Google Bathroom Attendant, should you feel that you're just not getting quite enough Google in your diet.  If you've driven a recent Volvo, the infotainment system will probably look familiar to you. Despite the architectural overhaul and obvious Google ecosystem UI elements, it still feels like a Volvo system. I suppose that could be either good or bad, depending on how you feel about Volvo's user experience, which tends to eschew menu-diving in favor of pretty much putting every possible feature on the screen at the exact same time. That may sound overwhelming, but there's an organizational method to this pixelated madness.  Google's approach uses a simple scroll when you run out of home screen (yes, like a smartphone) and has collapsing drop-downs in the app menu for categories with more icons than will fit in the allotted span. For apps, settings and other such menus, this works a treat. Obviously, you don't want to be scrolling through things like cabin temperature or fan speeds, so you get more conventionally laid-out menus for both, for better or for worse.

2015 Volvo XC90 is the Swedish future

It's been months since the Concept XC Coupe debuted at the Detroit Auto Show, Volvo's last show car previewing its all-new 2015 XC90. But the production model is finally here after years of development, and it signals the future of the Swedish automaker with its Scalable Product Architecture modular platform and cutting-edge new engine family.
The 2015 XC90 carries all-new styling, but is still familiar up front, with the company's logo slashing diagonally through its prominent, upright grille. Like the concept, it carries T-Shaped LED running lights through the headlights. The company calls them the "Thor's Hammer" design, an evocative designation that we think is fantastic. Under that new front end is a choice of two quite powerful, but very efficient powertrains. The standard XC90 gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged engine with all-wheel drive making an impressive 316 horsepower. Or if buyers want to be a little greener and more powerful, there is the XC90 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid with the same engine, albeit augmented with an electric motor to produce a staggering 400 hp.
The exterior styling is crisp, if not quite as sensual as Volvo's latest concepts, but we think the interior is the real star here, with a dashboard that looks like it came out of a Herman Miller catalog and a unique vertically oriented infotainment screen integrated into its center stack, perhaps taking a cue from Tesla. If the cabin feels as good as it looks, we think a lot of sales are going to be won inside.

Comparison test: 2019 Acura RDX vs. compact luxury SUV competitors

Truth be told, if we were to compare the all-new 2019 Acura RDX with those compact luxury crossover SUVs it would most likely be cross-shopped against, you'd be looking at a different list. Even Acura admits that Lexus and Infiniti are the most likely bogies, but with the 2019 RDX, Honda's luxury brand is attempting to attract those customers who think as much with their hearts as with their heads. And for the most part, those folks have been buying from German brands: the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. So, to show how the new RDX compares to them, Acura actually provided examples of each during the recent press drive along with a Volvo XC60. All were determined to have greater emotional appeal than the last RDX, and we would certainly agree. For, as much as the previous-generation RDX made sense on paper, it was really hard to get excited about it. And when you're paying extra for a luxury vehicle, shouldn't you get a little excited? Well, as luck would have it, Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and I were on hand in Whistler, British Columbia, for the press launch. We didn't have an abundance of time in each RDX competitor, but in conjunction with our usual comparison chart, our impressions should provide a good first taste of how the new RDX compares. Performance and fuel economy Contributing Editor James Riswick: On paper at least, the RDX is gutsier than its comparably powered European rivals. It also weighs the same or less, which logically should mean it'll be the quickest in a straight line. During my brief drives, though, I'm not sure it really stood taller than the three Germans. It at least matches them for smoothness, which is something that can't be said about the Volvo. Fuel economy is lower than them all when you consider all but the Mercedes come standard with all-wheel drive. It's also worth noting that all the competitors are available with engine upgrades, and unless Acura's forthcoming resurrection of Type S models includes the RDX, it should stay that way. Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: Line 'em all up in a drag race, and I have a feeling the Acura would squirt away to victory. A good bit of that, though, would be due to its 10-speed automatic transmission, which offers a huge spread of ratios and fires off extremely quick shifts. In the real world, I'd guess fuel economy will be similar across the board, so I'm willing to call that category a draw.