Digital Trends is currently giving out awards to different cars in different segments, as it rounds up the best cars of the year. One of those awards is the Luxury Car of the Year Award and this year the BMW 5 Series, Volvo S90 and Porsche Panamera Turbo were in the running for it.

The Porsche Panamera Turbo is sort of the outlier in this test. It’s by far and away the fastest car, most expensive car and best handling car in the running for the award. It’s extremely luxurious and packs a ton of tech, much like the other two, but it’s really a super sedan…err…hatch, rather than just a luxury car. Despite its incredible performance and probably the absolute coolest active rear wing in the business, the Panamera comes last in the running for Luxury Car of the Year. It’s just too expensive and too powerful to really be considered.

Next up is the Volvo S90. It’s probably the most unique luxury car in the world in that it doesn’t follow traditional luxury car tropes. The S90 is very unlike the rest of the Germans or Brits in the segment. Rather than make an attempt to have some sportiness, the Volvo S90’s entire mission is to completely isolate its passengers from the world around them, stress and all. The cabin of the S90 is a completely serene environment and both its design and materials simply relax passengers upon entry. It isn’t particularly fun to drive and it’s not exciting in any way. It’s just lovely.

Lastly, it’s the BMW 5 Series, a car that we know quite well. The new 5er is an interesting car as, according to Digital Trends, it “splits the difference [between the Volvo and Porsche] to become our most well-rounded luxury player.” It’s not as sporty as the Panamera and it’s not as luxurious as the Volvo but it’s a superb all-around car. It’s fast, fun to drive, luxurious, comfortable and comes packed with technology. It’s hard to beat the well-rounded package that is the new BMW 5 Series and I’m personally a big fan. However, it’s not good enough to win the DT Luxury Car of the Year Award.

That honor goes to the Volvo S90. It’s just such a unique luxury car that makes easy work of driving long distances. It also completely envelopes its passengers in its own, Scandinavian world of smooth leather and rich wood, all blended together to make one of the most peaceful cabins ever fit in an automobile. So it wins the award.

[Source: Digital Trends]