Volvo S40 D5 2007 Review

Road Test

Is the S40 the best looking car in the Volvo range? The latest S80 (more here) is a handsome machine, but the S40 remains attractive and interesting even though the basic shape is now four years old.

We like the way the rear quarter panels wrap around and the front end conveys the corporate Volvo style in an assertive way that isn't confronting.

Styling is kind of a metaphor for the whole S40 experience. It's clean, clinical and efficient, but still impressive. Take the S40's interior trim, for example -- the fabric and synthetic trim combination gives an impression of durability without being Spartan. And Volvo has combined this combination with contrasting stitching, multi-tone plastics, carpets and door moulding fabrics for a look that could have been pretty busy, but works out well since it all coordinates across the interior and with the exterior colour too.

It's not all that common to climb into a car that was originally designed for LHD countries and find that the instruments and controls make as much immediate sense as those in the S40. Sure, the indicator stalk is on the left and the wiper stalk is on the right, but most other fixtures are where you would expect them and they work intuitively.

A new 'die hard' habit-breaker that Volvo has inflicted on drivers of RHD cars is the location of the ignition lock barrel -- left of the steering column on the dash. Once you get used to it though, it makes sense and is much safer in an accident than anywhere else.

The heating, ventilation and air conditioning ('HVAC') controls and the audio system are properly integrated and are easy to operate with just a short study of the layout. A digital read-out in the audio head unit displays the name of the song being played, provided the radio station multiplexes that information with the signal. It's a nice touch for those of us who like to listen to new music.

There's a lot of menu-driven functionality in the HVAC and audio systems, but it's much more intuitive than some systems and isn't reliant on a single controller to take care of multiple and disparate functions. We like that.

The seats are comfortable and supportive. They aren't as firm as some, but for most people, that's a good thing. Rear seats feature three headrests and two useful built-in child booster seats, which deploy by lifting up and back to lock in place.

There's one shortcoming in the S40 which needs to be mentioned specifically. That's spaciousness. With the driver's seat adjusted to a comfortable position for average or taller occupants, there's precious little legroom in the rear.

Even with the front seat forward as far as it will go, the S40 gives away an old-fashioned inch to the Ford Focus in the rear seat legroom stakes, according to data provided by RL Polk Australia (see our car comparator here). Volvo advises that the difference in legroom is down to the integrated child booster seats.

The Focus and the S40 are built on the same platform, which is a cost-cutting measure dictated by Ford. That's not to say that the one-size-fits-all approach is a problem. The S40 definitely gains from adopting the Focus platform.

Spaciousness is also a concern in the boot. The boot floor is shallow, even with a space-saver spare tyre and it isn't all that long either. This is when you realise that the S40 is a smaller car than Volvos of yore.

As well as the Ford Focus, the S40's platform is also shared with the Mazda3. Between the Focus and the Mazda, that's some impeccable bloodline. The S40 is a better car for it and boasts above average dynamics. It isn't as explicitly sporting in its nature as the two cousins, but it also handles, holds the road, steers and rides better than a car with a MacPherson strut front end should, by rights.

It's only when you tramp it on a wet road that Mr MacPherson's three-link system in the S40 lets you know that it's missing a link. The front wheel(s) will spin and axle tramp with power heavily applied, even rolling along at a speed of 40km/h or so...at the behest of the driver, of course.

Why this is so can be tracked back to the five-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine fitted to the S40 in its 'D5' incarnation. This is a very torquey engine which develops 350Nm from as low as 1750rpm right through to 3250rpm. That's the sort of low-down grunt you might have expected to have on hand in a Land Rover!

The engine's tractability and ready response (for a diesel) make driving in traffic -- or anywhere really -- a breeze. Need to accelerate to squeeze into a gap in the traffic? Prod the throttle and you're there.

For all the engine's remarkable performance, the worst fuel consumption in a week of heavy throttle use and low-speed traffic was 8.6lt/100km.

Some will not appreciate the noise of the diesel and with the added idiosyncrasy of the in-line five-cylinder configuration, it emits an unusual warble in full cry. It's not the quietest diesel around, but at idle or when cruising it's quiet enough.

Drive is transmitted from the engine to the front wheels via a five-speed automatic. Generally speaking, this is a well behaved unit with good ratios to suit the diesel application. It comes with a sequential shift quadrant and we still can't see much point in this for a diesel car, but it's there if you want it.

And there you have it. We're converts to the diesel/auto cause and the S40 was already a good package anyway.

The price might be considered a bit steep in some quarters, but when you consider the attention to fine detail and the fact that you should enjoy years of trouble-free motoring from the S40 D5, we think it's ultimately worth the extra.