Photography: Brian Vance

Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series owners might not know what to do with all the room in the back seat of the Volvo S90. The Swedish luxury sedan's rear seat feels more spacious than the specs suggest, yet the car still undercuts those midsize luxury sedan favorites in price. After the 316-hp S90 won a comparison test against the Mercedes-Benz E300 and Cadillac CT6 2.0T, we wanted to see how much of that car's solid luxury appeal remains on a 250-hp base model S90 with an as-tested price of just over $50,000.

These days, $50,000 can buy you a well-equipped compact luxury sedan such as the BMW 330i or Audi A4 2.0T, but our 2017 Volvo S90 T5 Momentum-trimmed tester proved that a midsize four-door is still within reach, too. The front-drive S90 we drove carried an MSRP of $50,780 and included leather (softer leather is available on a higher trim), a multicamera parking system that could react a little quicker, a moonroof, navigation on a 9.0-inch touchscreen, a proximity key, LED headlights, an advanced active safety tech package, and complimentary maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Go price a competitor with those options, and you'll start to see how much of a value the Volvo is—though we would have liked heated front seats made standard on every car, too.

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See all 27 photos

Despite our S90's base 18-inch wheels, the new sedan has a premium-brand design that was lacking in the S80 it replaced. Perhaps the fact that far fewer S90s exist than 5 Series and E-Class sedans has something to do with that appeal, and the positive buzz from the popular XC90 probably helps, as well. The T5 is the lowest-trim S90 you can get in the U.S. Under the hood is a 250-hp 2.0-liter unit with 258 lb-ft of torque and surprising oomph for those who are skeptical about a four-cylinder luxury sedan.

The direct-injection engine is noisier than we'd like at idle, but the car partially makes up for that with respectable straight-line acceleration. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph comes in 6.5 seconds, which matches rear- and all-wheel-drive 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 sedans we've tested, is one-tenth of a second behind a 2017 Cadillac CT6 2.0T, and a half-second behind an all-wheel-drive 2016 Audi A6 2.0T. Like the all-wheel-drive S90 T6 we've tested from 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, the S90 T5 is equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The eight-speed in our S90 T5 tester took on a central role in our time with the car. Before Volvo updated the transmission's software (it's unclear whether this was anomalous to our test car), the car would surge forward from the lightest of throttle inputs even in Eco mode and downshift roughly for a luxury sedan when coming to a stop. After the car returned, the transmission's behavior was much improved on the street and the track (and improved in 0-60-mph testing by 0.3 second). Road test editor Chris Walton noted that in acceleration testing, a weird, laggy upshift from third to fourth gear disappeared after the transmission update, yielding much smoother performance.

And that's smoother, not sportier. The S90 T5, like the more powerful T6 model, doesn't pretend to be a sports car hiding in a luxury sedan wrapper. Even so, there's a bit too much pitch and dive with heavier braking and acceleration, but the car always feels solid. On the Motor Trend figure-eight course, which tests a car's handling, its acceleration, and generally how confidence-inspiring it is when pushed, the front-drive S90 T5 finished in 26.4 seconds at 0.68 g (average), compared to the two E300s' 25.8 seconds at 0.70 g, the CT6 2.0T's 26.7 seconds at 0.66 g, the A6 2.0T's 26.8 seconds at 0.66 g, and the S90 T6's nearly identical 26.3 seconds at 0.68 g. On the track in the figure-eight course, testing director Kim Reynolds noted an aggressive stability control system and said the nose felt a bit indistinct turning in.

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See all 27 photos

For everyday driving, I appreciate the car's standard customizable drive mode settings. The feature allowed me to make the steering heavier (for fewer course corrections on the highway) while keeping the throttle sensitivity and brake pedal performance more relaxed. It's in that Individual setting menu that you can also decide whether you want the car to use an environmentally friendly HVAC setting or turn the engine stop/start system off. We'd recommend turning that latter system off because more than one editor noticed it was too intrusive. Like S90 T6s we've reviewed before, the S90 T5 could be quieter at speed, a feeling that was confirmed after driving a 2018 BMW 530i that admittedly was equipped at a much higher level.

Consider also disabling the car's auto brake hold, which is an immensely useful feature we've seen on everything from a Honda Civic to luxury cars. The car's electric parking brake can hold the brakes when you come to a stop, automatically releasing when you touch the accelerator pedal. On the S90 T5, however, the system isn't as easy or smooth to use as in, say, an Acura—we'd prefer a system that activates with a pump of the brake pedal.

Even with Volvo's recent momentum, safety remains a core brand value, and the S90's active safety tech package is standard on every car. The systems go beyond simply tugging the steering wheel to get the car back in its lane, applying the brakes automatically if it senses a potential collision ahead and offering adaptive cruise control that works in stop-and-go traffic—all of which the car does. The S90's Pilot Assist is a semi-autonomous driving mode that, if the conditions are right, combines adaptive cruise control with steering assist even at low speeds. In other words, Pilot Assist can help steer the car and keep a safe distance (five settings are available) in traffic or when the road is clear. The technology is promising, though it's not for everyone. Although one editor had no problems with it, another felt the adaptive cruise control was too aggressive in throttle and brake applications. Also, keep in mind that the steering assist will disengage when it can't sense lane markings—so as with any semi-autonomous tech, keep your hands on the steering wheel and pay attention. The S90 hasn't been safety tested by the NHTSA, but it is an IIHS Top Safety Pick, scoring the highest possible rating of Good in every crash test and the maximum rating in the active safety test. In the newer headlight test, the S90 scored a maximum rating of Marginal instead of Acceptable or Good, preventing a Top Safety Pick+ rating.

Inside, the S90 T5 in Momentum trim includes a partially digital instrument cluster design with an 8.0-inch screen. (Higher trims get a full 12.3-inch display.) The tester really didn't feel like the moderately equipped car it was, thanks to the standard 9.0-inch vertically oriented center-stack screen and leather trim on the door panels extending lower than similar trim on other cars. As we've written about before, only-in-a-Volvo details fill the cabin, from the little Swedish flag tag on the front passenger seat to the second-row headrests that conveniently fold down at the touch of a button from the front seats.

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See all 27 photos

The infotainment system looks modern, but it had a few issues during our time with the car. More than one editor couldn't get the voice-command system to work for navigation, which is why it's good Volvo allows a passenger to punch in destinations while the car is in motion. (Apple CarPlay was an option our car didn't have.) Also, as cool as that minimalist center stack looks with as few buttons below the screen as possible, I grew tired of having to press three buttons to change fan speed or redirect the air—one to engage the screen with the settings, another to make the setting changes, and a third to remove the settings screen that stayed in place and didn't revert back to whatever screen you were on previously. Volvo has updated the user interface for 2018 models, and the changes—which include simplified menus and improved response times—are backward compatible with earlier S90s.

While the front-seat passenger interacts with the infotainment system, rear-seat passengers can get comfortable and relax. Keep the middle rear seat clear, and the 2017 S90's spaciousness impresses, which makes the automaker's 2018 S90 changes more surprising. To enhance this advantage, all 2018 S90s will arrive in the U.S. in a standard long-wheelbase model. With a panoramic sunroof, the stretched S90 will cost $1,150 more than the standard-wheelbase 2017 model. The 2018 model also makes the higher Inscription trim only available on the T6 and T8 variants, which is a shame considering how gorgeous the light-colored linear wood inlays have looked on S90 T6 Inscriptions we've driven before.

If you've ever ventured beyond a Mercedes-Benz or BMW dealership for a midsize luxury car, the Volvo S90 should interest you. The car is different yet still premium, and it is a value compared to top-tier luxury brands as a base model or loaded car. Despite its faults, the S90 is worth consideration whether you don't mind the lack of a three-pointed star or blue-and-white badge on the hood or if that's the very reason Volvo is on your list at all.

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2017 Volvo S90 T5 (FWD Momentum) BASE PRICE $47,945 PRICE AS TESTED $50,780 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan ENGINE 2.0L/250-hp/258-lb-ft turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4 TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 3,770 lb (57/43%) WHEELBASE 115.8 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 195.4 x 74.0 x 56.8 in 0-60 MPH 6.5 sec QUARTER MILE 14.9 sec @ 94.9 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 120 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.86 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 26.4 sec @ 0.68 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 23/34/27 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 147/99 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.72 lb/mile