After 7 years with a 2016 XC90 T6, we traded it for a 2023 B5 which we picked up around Thanksgiving. After a few months of around town driving, we took a couple road trips these last couple weeks and here are a few thoughts. Since most of the chatter seems to be about the T8, I thought I'd round things out a bit.
The Good: Great on the highway. Far more refined than the 2016 - quieter, smoother, seats seem to be more comfortable. Not sure if this is just because it's newer, but I was barely sore after 7 hours of driving, and the in cabin experience was very nice. Not quite luxury, but good enough. The Pilot Assist works great. We didn't have this on the 2016. Works MUCH better than my 2021 Toyota which often ping-pongs back and forth and really wants to take every exit if I'm driving in the right most lane. It even did well in a snow storm. By well, I mean it turned itself off when the visibility went down. I also appreciate the 360 view (also new to us) that seems to be very good about coming on automatically when you need it and staying off when you don't. Google Maps works just like on my phone. We have the HK mid-tier sound system, and it's a very nice upgrade from the base. It's no BW, but it was "only" ~$850 so, IMO, well worth it.
The Meh: Complaints about the android system have already been beaten to death on the site. It's not great, but does tend to get the job done. No resets or hiccups. I was never a Sensus power user so the main thing I notice is that the seat heaters and heater controls are much smaller and harder to hit. Learning to use voice instead. I noticed the B5 working a little harder than the T6 would have - more/earlier downshifts, especially going up hills or passing - but it never felt badly underpowered. It easily kept up with traffic and easily handled merges/passing. I'm quite happy with the ~25 mpg driving 65 - 80 mph. Granted, this is only 2-3mpg better than the T6, but maybe it will get better as it gets more miles on it (about 2K right now). It's not an exciting driving experience, but, come on, how exciting is a big SUV ever going to be. I'm fine with the B5 and don't really miss the T6. I really don't notice much of a difference when driving around town.
The Bad: The clock didn't change to reflect a new timezone. The nav system's destination time was corrected for the timezone, just not the time shown on the screen. I wish there was an easier way to turn pilot assist on/off.
The Good: Great on the highway. Far more refined than the 2016 - quieter, smoother, seats seem to be more comfortable. Not sure if this is just because it's newer, but I was barely sore after 7 hours of driving, and the in cabin experience was very nice. Not quite luxury, but good enough. The Pilot Assist works great. We didn't have this on the 2016. Works MUCH better than my 2021 Toyota which often ping-pongs back and forth and really wants to take every exit if I'm driving in the right most lane. It even did well in a snow storm. By well, I mean it turned itself off when the visibility went down. I also appreciate the 360 view (also new to us) that seems to be very good about coming on automatically when you need it and staying off when you don't. Google Maps works just like on my phone. We have the HK mid-tier sound system, and it's a very nice upgrade from the base. It's no BW, but it was "only" ~$850 so, IMO, well worth it.
The Meh: Complaints about the android system have already been beaten to death on the site. It's not great, but does tend to get the job done. No resets or hiccups. I was never a Sensus power user so the main thing I notice is that the seat heaters and heater controls are much smaller and harder to hit. Learning to use voice instead. I noticed the B5 working a little harder than the T6 would have - more/earlier downshifts, especially going up hills or passing - but it never felt badly underpowered. It easily kept up with traffic and easily handled merges/passing. I'm quite happy with the ~25 mpg driving 65 - 80 mph. Granted, this is only 2-3mpg better than the T6, but maybe it will get better as it gets more miles on it (about 2K right now). It's not an exciting driving experience, but, come on, how exciting is a big SUV ever going to be. I'm fine with the B5 and don't really miss the T6. I really don't notice much of a difference when driving around town.
The Bad: The clock didn't change to reflect a new timezone. The nav system's destination time was corrected for the timezone, just not the time shown on the screen. I wish there was an easier way to turn pilot assist on/off.
), but travel to the hilly parts of Michigan once in a while. If I drove in hilly area daily or frequently fully loaded it up with multiple adult passengers and their stuff, I might consider the B6. It's not that the B5 is lacking, but if my memory of the T6 is still accurate, it does downshift earlier/more in hilly areas and when carrying a heavy load of people/stuff. It's normally just my wife and I, and a dog, and sometimes one or two adult kids on mostly flat roads, and I'm not interested in racing anyone - I just want to merge without incident and occasionally pass on a 2 lane highway.
