Volvo XC90

The XC90 diesel auto as never been a favourite tool, mainly because the weird pick-up and decidedly sluggish step-off meant that you were always screwing up your face and praying silently when trying to pull away smartly in traffic.

I vividly remember pulling out on to an A-road with a hefty Renault Magnum 32-tonner still some way off and ending up wishing I hadn't.

Volvo seems to have accepted that the car wasn't quite up to speed, so here we have an early drive of the new improved version, priced at $72,950.

The 2.4-litre D5 turbodiesel engine has been ramped up from 122kW to 136kW and torque has risen to 400Nm.

It's a comprehensive, if predictable job, with a bigger turbo, more efficient injectors, better cooling and a new version of the engine management that tweaks various inputs for greater efficiency.

And it shows - the XC90 is no longer a hit-the-throttle-and-hope car. Although the initial pick-up from the Geartronic six-speed auto (a $2,000 option) can make it feel like it's a CVT transmission, it mines all the torque a bit too deeply at the expense of refinement.

It's noisy and a bit uncouth in the lower gears, but if you drive the gearbox in push/pull 'manual' mode, the XC90 starts to feel increasingly slick.

Handling is much as before - not class leading, but not embarrassing, so the new engine makes a nicely weighted improvement.

Tom Ford