IF more people drove big Volvos the roads would might not be so full of tearaway (male) drivers out to impress mates with their ability to drive fast.

For a while, at least. The sight of an impressively imposing Volvo with two men in the front certainly reined in the enthusiasm of the shaven headed driver of the lowered, pimped Golf we came up behind.

So we overtook - in a perfectly restrained manner - at which point he must have noticed the two females sitting in the back.

Suddenly the Volvo wasn't a potential copper-fest out to keep him legal but a comfy saloon with a quartet of mature folk on board out for the day.

He was past us in seconds and away as fast as his smoky old engine would allow.

So here we have two cliches for the price of one; the young man who thinks he's at least as fast as Lewis Hamilton and will prove it, and the Volvo saloon that wants to take its occupants ever so gently to where they're headed.

Well, if the second part of the sentence was ever correct, it isn't now. Or only when who want it to be, for this biggest saloon in the Volvo range is certainly comfortable.

With leg stretching room front and rear and a ride that stays markedly on the supple side of firm, here is a car you could travel a long way in and look forward to the drive home too.

While everyone on board is enjoying the car's seven league legs there is time to take in a cabin so crisply and elegantly styled it could be a Swedish show home and several kilometres from the unrelenting blackness of a typical competitor from Germany.

The Volvo's driver will enjoy a driving environment equally as thought out, with wonderfully clear instruments and a huge touchscreen for the satellite navigation and heating and sound system that's almost as usable as your lap top at home.

You might still yearn for a well turned metal knob to adjust the heating or change radio stations but the S90 is as workable an alternative as you'll find and looks cool as it does it.

The S90 starts at £33,865 and tops out with a hybrid petrol/electric all wheel drive model for £57,705. All the others are powered by a 2.0 litre diesel with either 190 or 235 horsepower, the latter cars fitted with an all-wheel drive system.

Buy the least expensive S90, or for £2,000 more the V90 estate version, and you will have a car that lacks for little. From smooth auto gearbox and powered boot lid to sat nav (with lifetime annual map updates) and adaptive cruise control, it has the essentials and more.

The 'more' includes a suite of safety features - it's a Volvo, remember - that includes pilot assist that's most of the way to driving the car itself. With a hand resting lightly on the steering wheel the car tracks its own path and keeps a safe distance from the vehicle in front, so long as there are clear white lines to keep between. Great in a queue, especially.

Even with the lesser of the diesels doing the work the car never felt slow and on the right sort of smooth road surface turned so quiet you could hear the whispered (female) conversation in the back.