The interior feels spacious and headroom is ample, thanks to the swelling roofline than resembles a shirt ballooning on a fast-moving motorcycle rider.

The XC90 rides and handles quite well. It's a good highway cruiser, quiet and smooth. However, if sporty behavior through twisty bits means more to you than a roomy, flexible-use interior then the Infiniti FX or BMW X5 would be more to your liking. The Volvo's steering lacks the easy precision of those vehicles, too, but is more than up to most demands.

The XC90 V8 is priced around $46,000. A DVD navigational system can add $2120. To keep the back seat occupants separately entertained, $1995 will buy a dual screen system with separate input jacks. If you want heated seats you'll need the Climate Package at $625.

Others: Touring Package $1795. Includes 12-speaker premium sound system; alloy 18" wheels with 235/60R18 tires; wood inlays; wooden steering wheel. Convenience Package, $1,300. Includes rear parking assist; security cover; cargo net; power child locks and power retractable exterior rear-view mirrors.

The Volvo XC90 comes in two other models for 2005. The T6 AWD has a turbo-charged inline six-cylinder engine good for 268 HP and 289 ft-pounds of torque, which costs about $5000 less than the V8. However, it has a four-speed automatic that compares poorly to the transmission in the V8 and even to the 5-speed in the
base XC90.

The base front-wheel drive XC90 wears Volvo's proven 2.5-liter turbo-charged inline 5-cylinder engine (208-HP/236 ft-lbs of torque). With a 5-speed automatic this may be, at $34,840, the value package in the line up, even though it doesn't have all-wheel-drive.

A scenario: the new V8 engine succeeds in putting the Volvo XC90 on shopping lists it would have missed before. The family enters the show room to kick a few tires. Mom, with Sonny on one hip and Missy by hand, is captured by that sliding center seat, the ease of changing seat configurations and loading kids and gear. And its safety reputation. And who really, really needs all-wheel drive with proper winter tires … Can you count $11,000 less? Can you say base?

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