Volvo V40
If you’re in the market for a premium compact car you’ll undoubtedly have been bombarded with Golf’s, more Golf’s and yep, you guessed it, more Golf’s. Well venture into something a bit more out of the ordinary and you’ll soon be surprised about what your hard earned cash can get you. The Volvo V40 is one of the alternatives to the Golf, A-Class and BMW 1 series, providing a beautiful car both inside and out with more technology on board than what you could shake a stick at.
Volvo, renowned for developing ground-breaking safety technology has spared no expense on the V40 and it really shows. Starting off with what Volvo’s are known for, their safety, you’ll be pleased to know that the V40 achieves a fantastic 5 star Euro-NCAP award for safety, in fact, it’s the safest car ever tested by the organisation with 100% safety assist rating and a 98% safety rating for adult occupants.
Some of the safety features you get as standard with the V40 are Safety Assist along with a pedestrian airbag.
So for safety, you know you’re in safe hands (no pun intended) but what about reliability, comfort and style? Well, Style wise, you’ll set yourself aside from the crowd for all the right reasons. The V40 draws inspiration from other cars in the Volvo range, but it works, it looks fantastic with its wide and low stance.
Looking at the interior, the V40 feels light and airy with rather supportive seats and a well-positioned driving position, however the V40 is let down sadly by the computer system. I found it to be too cluttered with menus and submenus meaning it’s difficult to operate at a standstill let alone when driving. There is plenty of space for 5 adults in the V40 with a 60:40 rear bench split however the V40 didn’t impress with its boot space of only 335 litres with the rear seats upright and 1,032 litres with them folded down, although the rear seats down fold completely flat.
Performance wise, the V40 is really comfortable and does exceptionally well as a motorway cruiser but it’s perfectly capable of being an in-city run-around too thanks to a range of engines. The engine we felt best suited the V40 though with a fantastic blend of performance and economy was the D4 Diesel engine churning out 187bhp meaning you have all the power needed while getting a very impressive 74.3mpg and 99g/km on emissions.
Overview
The V40 looks great, drives great and has plenty of trim levels to suit you although the base spec one comes well equipped enough with things like alloy wheels and a plethora of safety technology. It may seem expensive for a hatchback, but comparing it to what else is on the market in the same segment, it all starts to make sense especially since running costs aren’t going to break the bank.
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