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Volvo V90 Cross Country vs V60 Cross Country Luggage Test | Comparing cargo areas

While the Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes E 450 All-Terrain have disappointed us with their poseur levels of capability and questionable value, that is not the case with the other midsize luxury off-roadish wagon: the 2021 Volvo V90 Cross Country. It has genuinely useful extra ground clearance and a lower, more sensible price. But what about that other element of wagon goodness, utility?  Although I have not luggage-tested the Allroad or All-Terrain, Road Test Editor Zac Palmer effectively did so using different luggage and different A6/E-Class wagon variants. Our results are therefore only vaguely comparable. My guess is the Mercedes would win the day and the V90 would top the Audi, but again, that's just a guess. I have, however, luggage-tested Volvo's smaller off-roadish wagon, the V60 Cross Country. Surprisingly, the difference between Cross Countries isn't that great.  According to Volvo's wonderfully detailed cargo specifications that indicate what exactly they measured (hint hint, every other car company), the V90 Cross Country (above left) has 25.5 cubic-feet of space behind the back seat from floor to roof. The V60 Cross Country (right) has 23.2 cubic feet. That's not much of a difference.  However, Volvo also provides the cargo area length from the seat base to the liftgate. That's a bigger difference on paper: 45.4 inches for the V90 and 40.7 inches for the V60. That would play out once I brought the luggage into the equation.  Before we get to the bags, though, take one more look at the above comparison photo. Check out the different D pillars and specifically how much more upright the V60's are. That's my guess as to why the V90 cargo area manages to be so much longer, yet has only a minor volume difference.  Same bags, same formation, different Volvo wagons. You clearly see here that there's more length available in the V90. Five inches more? I don't know about that, but you nevertheless DO get more space.  As with every luggage test I do, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).

Irv Gordon's Volvo P1800 has reached 3 million miles

While we were seated at our desks like good worker bees yesterday, Irv Gordon was continuing his assault on the record books. Gordon, if you recall, is the original owner of a red 1966 Volvo P1800 (owner and car shown above), and yesterday, Volvo says the coupe's odometer clocked its three-millionth mile. The miracle mile occurred on the Seward Highway in Alaska, one of only two states that Gordon had never visited.
It took the New York native more than 20 years to hit his first million miles in 1987 and another 15 years to achieve two million miles in 2002, but a road trip to Alaska will further cement his place in the record books as the car surpasses three million miles. Gordon has almost doubled the 1.69-million mile distance that helped him win a Guinness Book of World Records title for the most miles logged on an originally owned car, and this new momentous distance proves the durability of both man and machine. For more information on Gordon's feat, scroll down for a Volvo press release or check out a website set up to celebrate his latest milestone.

Volvo S60 Polestar Concept looking Smurfy in Jay Leno's Garage

Is it just us, or has Jay Leno's Garage evolved from an intimate, off-the-cuff video series designed to show off the late-night comedian's automobile collection into something a lot more ambitious and... mainstream? This isn't a complaint, exactly, as Leno has been putting out engaging videos at an increasingly furious pace. However, we can't help but note that the subjects have largely graduated from the funnyman's steam-powered eccentricities and forgotten classics to lots of new production and concept cars, often with automaker execs in tow. It's almost as if the series is turning into an internet version of his NBC talk show, one where bigwigs swing by to show off their latest projects as part of their publicity tours, only instead of new movies and albums, it's cars or the occasional motorcycle.
Such is the exactly case with Volvo's stonking S60 Polestar Concept, which makes its appearance in Jay's warehouse of wonders this week. Tuned by in-house skunkworks Polestar, the "Swedish Racing Blue" S60 has certainly been making the rounds as of late, with recent appearances near Leno's garage at the LA Auto Show and an Auto Motor und Sport track faceoff against the BMW M3 and Audi RS4 Avant.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Volvo is so keen to get its showcar in front of the cameras - last we heard, executives were seriously considering a small production run for their unlikely 508-horsepower, all-wheel drive sport sedan, though we continue to hear that realistic pricing is likely to be a roadblock.