Confession can be extremely liberating. Try it on for size - Volvo certainly is. How about we stop trying to avoid the nagging accusation that you're not going to take your XC90 off road and embrace it instead? Stand up proud and admit that it would be a cold day in hell before you took this big 4x4 into axle deep mud. Feels good to shake off the guilty pretence doesn't it? Volvo seems to think so because it has unveiled a range of XC90 models that are geared towards even sharper on road performance - the SE Sport variants. Leave the wellies in the potting shed and get your driving shoes on.

The Sport SE isn't just a cosmetic makeover. Underneath the skin sits a fundamental retuning of the XC90's suspension designed to offer flatter, keener cornering and a better connection with the road. The shock absorbers benefit from stiffer rebound rates and the anti-roll bars go up in girth by .5mm at the front and by 1mm at the rear. The speed-dependent power steering has also been modified to offer more feel and feedback, while Volvo's Nivomat self levelling system has been further refined to improve body control.

The work of the Special Vehicles department, the SE Sport is all about finding a workable compromise between handling and ride. As the head of this department pointed out, "the driving characteristics are of a calibre that many would not have thought possible in a Volvo SUV. And we have not had to compromise on ride comfort. We have succeeded in finding a balance between driving stability and the capacity to absorb unevenness in the road." Much of the credit for the XC90's additional 'stiction' comes courtesy of some quite enormous Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres - rubber you'd more normally expect to find on a supercar instead of a big 4x4. Wrapped around the 19-inch five-spoke Vulcanis alloy wheels, these tyres measure 255/50 R19W. Thankfully Volvo hasn't been tempted to lower the profile of the tyre too much. I'm still recovering from a ride in a 4x4 fitted with 30 series tyres where every rut, ripple and ridge in the road surface was transmitted straight up my spinal column.

"A Volvo to give a Porsche Cayenne a run for its money? That's the premise here"

Volvo has also worked overtime to visually differentiate the XC90 SE Sport from the rest of the line up. As well as those big alloys - offered in either bright silver or diamond cut with contrasting tone - there are double chromed exhaust pipes and the addition of a unique paint finish - Passion Red. Flared wheel arch finishers, satin silver exterior trims and brushed stainless steel sill mouldings are also fitted. The car looks lower and sleeker than other XC90s and at first it's not apparent why. Then you realise that the roof rails have been deleted. Volvo will add them as a no cost option if you so desire.

Drop inside and there are torso-gripping sports seats with added lateral cushioning. Perforated leather adorns the sports steering wheel and the gearshift gaiter, while the leather seats use a combination of two contrasting grades of leather with another colour for the piping. The instrument dials have been finished in blue with metal chronograph style bezels.

Three engines are offered. The diesel option is the 183bhp D5 diesel, good for 121mph and 34mpg. This will doubtless be the volume seller and it's a great engine. Carbon dioxide emissions are pegged at 219g/km for the manual or 239g/km if you opt for the Geartronic automatic. The entry-level petrol unit is now a 236bhp 3.2-litre straight six powerplant, built at Bridgend in Wales. Largely constructed of aluminium, this lightweight yet punchy engine is smaller than the old five-cylinder lump and thanks to Variable Cam Timing and Cam Profile Switching, it's a good deal more efficient. The 0-60mph sprint takes 8.9s and the official combined economy figure is 23.9mpg.

Volvo has also unleashed a big hitter in the form of a 311bhp 4.4-litre V8 engine. Their first V8, this is the same powerplant that's offered in the S80 V8 AWD and it's something rather special. Its narrow V-configuration means that it's possible - as with all Volvo engines - for it to be mounted transversely and still offer excellent crash protection space in the front crumple zone. With the block and the head cast in aluminium, this engine weighs in at just 190kg. Low weight means better handling, sharper acceleration, improved fuel economy and lower emissions.

While it may seem a little counter to Volvo's tree-hugging image to sell a brash V8 'SUV', this XC90 has a social conscience of sorts. One of the cleanest V8 engines on general release, it meets stringent American ULEV II (Ultra Low Emission Vehicles II) standards thanks to four catalytic converters, a lean air/fuel mix for cold starting and a higher idling speed at cold start. Volvo's engineers had identified that the first 15-20 seconds after starting was when the majority of harmful emissions were created and have worked to quell this occurrence. That's the environmental bit out of the way. If you're a little less concerned about polar ice caps, you'll be pleased to know that a heavy right boot will send the XC90 V8 to 60mph form standstill in under seven seconds with a hefty 440Nm of torque chiming in nicely at 3,900rpm.

In order to prevent the XC90 going dirty side up during overenthusiastic cornering sophisticated gyroscopically-controlled stability software steadies even the most radical manoeuvres. Should you hit a kerb or ditch and roll the XC90, it features a boron-reinforced roof to prevent the upper body deforming. Finally, the XC90 also features curtain airbags that stay inflated ten times longer than normal bags in order to ensure passengers are kept away from flying glass and insulated from doorframes during a roll.

The XC90 SE Sport may be a departure for Volvo but it looks set to be a very lucrative one. Everything the XC90 has touched has thus far turned to gold. There seems little reason to doubt the trend will continue.