Volvo S40 1.8 Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volvo S40 1.8 range
Prices: £16,295-£18,295 – on the road
Insurance Group: 10
Emissions: 174g/km
Performance: Max Speed 124mph / 0-60mph 10.9s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 39mpg
Safety: Twin front and curtain airbags, WHIPS seats, side impact protection system
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4468/1770/1452mm

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Our Rating: 6.7 / 10

For many buyers, the 1.8-litre S40 represents the first step on the Volvo ladder. Andy Enright can see why owners stay loyal

Think for a moment about who buys medium range cars. Most of the mainstream brands’ products are snapped up by companies to be used as fleet cars. Only a surprisingly small percentage of new Vectras and Mondeos are bought by private buyers who walk into a showroom. In contrast, compact executive cars from BMW and Mercedes, despite making respectable profits from corporate buyers, are still bought largely by private buyers. It’s rare that a car can appeal to both at the same time, although Volvo’s S40 1.8-litre range may have that particular trick taped.

It’s tricky to know quite how to classify the S40. Volvo calls it a ‘Premium Compact Saloon’ and it’s ostensibly designed for someone who’d like something nicer than a medium range Mondeo or Vectra-style model but can’t quite stretch to a BMW 3 Series, an Audi A4 or even Volvo’s own S60. The 1.8-litre engined models open at £16,295 for the S trim level and top out at £18,295 for the R-Design Sport; still less than even the most humble BMW 3 Series saloon but pitched halfway up the Mondeo range.

Private buyers like the S40 because it looks good, is well styled, is based on a modern chassis, has slick interior detailing and features a semi-premium badge that sets it apart from the usual M25 foot soldiers. Business users will warm to it due to its high residuals, reasonable upfront asking price and surprising interior space. Both fleet managers and private buyers will like the car’s 39mpg fuel economy figure although the 174g/km CO2 figure is respectably meagre. The engine may be a compact unit but it still cranks out 125bhp and will get the S40 to 60mph in 10.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 124mph. Buyers looking do go beyond the call of duty in the quest for fuel economy and low emissions could also consider Volvo’s 1.8-litre FlexiFuel engine that is capable of running on renewable E85 Bioethanol or normal unleaded.

Volvo has made some small incremental improvements to the car’s look and feel. At the front end, the chrome-framed ‘egg-crate’ grille has been reprofiled and features a bigger Volvo badge. Clear lensed headlights and a wider air intake look a little more distinctive, while at the back there’s a revised LED tail light assembly as well as a modified bumper, boot handle and tail pipe design.

Three versions are offered in 1.8-litre guise. The S model features 16-inch alloy wheels, a CD stereo, driver and passenger airbags, an inflatable curtain, a height adjustable steering wheel, dynamic stability and traction control and electronic climate control. The SE model adds leather upholstery, 17-inch alloy wheels, a choice of aluminium, wood or iced aqua trim, rain sensing wipers, a trip computer and a whole host of other electronic gizmos. Body-coloured side mouldings and front fog lights are also included. There’s also the option of the ritzier R-Design Sport derivative that delivers a fully bodykit and upgraded interior trim.

Of course, cynics will point out that Volvo’s old S40 campaigned on the ‘Premium Compact Saloon’ card for years without much success, but then that car never had an engine like this in its armoury – or the high-tech design and engineering to go with it. One of the best things you can say about this car is that it takes many of the features that have made the larger S60 so successful and shrinks them into a handy-sized package.

All too often, we hear about innovations in car design and what we really get is moderately incremental changes. The S40 features a number of styling touches which we’ve genuinely never seen before. The exterior won’t get too many pulses racing, effectively resembling a shrunken S60, but the cabin is a delight. Volvo interiors are traditionally odd things. Although they work supremely well, they are often clunkily designed with scant regard for the sort of slickness that separates them from rivals. Little of the design flair we usually associate with the Scandinavians has traditionally seemed to translate into their cars. The ‘spaceball’ gear selector in the S60 showed that Volvo could come up with some neat ideas and the S40 takes the spaceball and runs with it. The key design feature is a centre console that’s a softly contoured moulding featuring supremely easy to use controls and fresh air behind it. You