Cars are rated one (forget it) to four ('bout as good as it gets) James Deans

 GOOD STUFF

     Amazingly comfortable seats
     Top-notch active and passive safety equipment
     Reasonable price
     Surprisingly roomy
     Straightforward controls
     Handsome, chunky looks

 


 BAD STUFF
         
     Buzzy engine
     Floats on the highway
     Option packages launch the price like a Saturn V rocket
     This car is just crying out for a manual transmission!!

• Style: sedan
• Engine: 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder
• Transmission: four-speed automatic
• Drivetrain: front-wheel-drive
• Horsepower: 160 hp @ 5,100 rpm
• Torque: 170 ft-lbs @ 1,800 rpm
• EPA mileage: 21 city/28 highway
• Weight: 2,998 lb.
• Base price: $23,400
• Price as tested: $29,325

Back in the Old Country, where their big wagons are known as the choice of the sweater-and-pipe set, Volvo has for years offered small, front-drive cars.

These capable but dull vehicles were never imported to the States, most likely because they didn't fit America's perception of the safety-obsessed Swedish manufacturer as a luxury marque.

This year all that changes. Volvo has deemed the Dutch-built 40-series - introduced in Europe in 1997 - fit for Volvo's American image. The S40 not only upholds Volvo's reputation for safety and luxury, but it furthers their new-found reputation for driving excitement and sleek (if not heart-pounding) styling.

And you're not going to believe the price: $23,400 for starters, and no stripper that - all S40s get power windows, heated power mirrors, power locks with remote keyless entry and alarm, climate control, automatic transmission, antilock brakes, side airbags, a cassette deck, alloy wheels, and a 160 HP turbocharged engine. A wagon version, the V40, costs $1,000 more. Both are covered by a 4-year, 50,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, which bests the 3/36 coverage offered by most cars in this price range.

Be warned: there are several option packages that will drive the price way, way up. Witness our test car: Sport Plus package (power seats, CD player, fog lights, trip computer), $1,900. Sunroof package (sunroof, wood trim, leather seats), $2,200. Weather package (traction control, heated seats, headlight washers), $850. Even the metallic paint cost $400 extra. When all was said and done, our tester cost just shy of 30 large. Except for traction control, these are all comfort and convenience items that don't affect the basic functionality of the car.

Stick to the basics, and you're talking Honda Accord prices for a car that stacks more safety in it, has more prestige, and is a hell of a lot more fun to drive.

Better get comfortable. This is going to be a l-o-o-o-n-g section.

Let's put aside active safety - the ability of a car to avoid an accident - for a moment, and concentrate on passive safety, the ability of a car to protect occupants in a collision. Like the rest of the Volvo family, the S40 literally covers you from all angles.

Frontal collision protection starts with the S40's crumple zones, which not only absorb crash energy, but take advantage of it. For example, the sheet metal in front of the windshield pillars is designed to move downwards and deflect the front wheels, preventing them from crushing the footwells. Where the crumple zone ends, the stiff "safety cage" begins. Its job is to insure that the body shell surrounding the passengers does not deform at all. "Intelligent" airbag sensors take into account crash speed and seat belt use - in a lower speed collision, the airbags will only deploy if the seatbelt is not buckled. Speaking of seat belts, the S40 sports the latest and greatest, with automatic height adjustment and pretensioners. Seat belts stretch in a crash, so these devices - which are triggered by the airbag sensors - pull down on the buckle to compensate for stretch or slack. (Technically "pretensioner" is a misnomer, since they are activated during a crash, not before.)

Let's move to the sides. Be warned, this is graphic: In a T-bone collision, a common finding is a dent in the hood of the striking vehicle. It's made by the head of an occupant of the vehicle that was struck. Side airbags keep your head inside the car and can prevent such an injury. The S40's side bags are mounted in the seats rather than the door pillars, so they are always properly positioned regardless of the damage done to the car's body. Side airbags are potentially lethal to children, so they're mounted in the front only - another reason to keep the kids in the back. Naturally, the S40 also gets steel beams in the doors as part of the safety cage.

Front and side impact protection is fairly commonplace, though few cars cover it as comprehensively as the Volvo. Rear-impact protection, specifically protection from whiplash, is less common. The S40 uses a system called WHIPS, for WHIplash Protection System. (They ought to call the safety cage the CHAssis Impact Nullification System, or CHAINS.) The seats have headrests that actually contact the back of the head (an innovation in and of itself!). When the car is struck from the rear, the seat backs shift backwards in such a way as to prevent the neck from snapping.

You're covered from the top, too - the safety cage provides roll-over protection. (Anyone remember the print ad from the 70s in which Volvo showed a bunch of 144's stacked on top of one another?) Keen eyes will notice that the S40 lacks side curtain airbags, which protect passengers from broken glass and debris should the car roll over, and debuted on the 1999 S80. Keep in mind that the S40 is actually a four-year-old design. Perhaps Volvo will see fit to add them to the 40-series in the not-too-distant future.

Antilock brakes are standard, natch. Being seen is important, so the S40 sports fender-mounted turn indicators and daytime running lights, though the latter can be disabled. Options include traction control, which briefly lets up on the throttle when the wheels slip, and a built-in child seat. I'm a big fan of the built-ins - there's no worry about risking your child's safety from improper installation, and the kids love 'em, since they look and feel more like a grown-up seat.

Had enough? We're almost done: a first aid kit, jumper cables, and a tow rope, all stowed neatly in the trunk, round out the picture.

Wow.

Volvo's done a lot in recent years to shake off their stodgy image, but I never expected their entry-level offering to be this much fun to drive.

The ride is on the firm side, though there's a slight floatiness on the freeway that goes away when the car is fully loaded. For some strange (and possibly related) reason, the front suspension seems to handle big bumps better than the rear - the front of the car settles quickly, but there's some residual bounce from the back.

Variable assist power steering provides more boost at lower speeds to ease parking, with increased feel on the highway. The S40's steering is precise, though it feels a bit dead on center, and the car tracks straight at all speeds.

Toss the S40 into a corner and it responds eagerly. Body roll is well controlled, and the car feels confident in fast side-to-side transitions. The S40 felt as if it wanted to lead with the tail in back corners, but I never managed to get the back end to get out of line, even when I tried. Of course not - it's a Volvo, and it's going to go where you point it.

Power comes from a 1.9 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine producing 160 HP and 170 ft-lbs of torque - the latter an especially impressive figure for such a small engine. The turbocharger is particularly well behaved; there's very little "turbo lag," and once the turbo starts doing its thing - somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 RPM - the little four-banger pulls like a V6. Too bad it doesn't sound like one: the engine's buzzy note gets more and more harsh as the motor is revved, and even at 4,000 RPM it sounds as if a piston is going to come flying over your shoulder.

A four-speed automatic is the only transmission on offer. It's a good, responsive unit that shifts smoothly and crisply, and includes economy, sport and winter modes. The latter forces the car to start out in 2nd gear, which helps control wheelspin.

The transmission has just one glaring fault relating to performance driving: there's no way to keep it in second gear. It uses the P-R-N-D-3-L pattern, with one detent (L) for both first and second. Yank the lever down into L, and the car downshifts to second until your speed drops low enough to drop to first, which it does with an uncomfortable lurch. Once in first, it stays there - wind it out to redline, and the engine just bounces off the rev limiter. Normally, I like automatics that won't force an upshift, but here's the catch: move the shifter up a detent, and unless your foot is flat on the floor, the car shifts up to third.

Second gear is missing in action.

Which brings me to a point: This car is just begging for a manual transmission. I understand the economics. About nine out of ten Americans opt for an automatic car, though I'd wager the number is lower for European cars sold here. The S40 gets a manual tranny in Europe, so how much trouble could it be to import one here?

Damn those Swedes!

The S40's front seats are the most comfortable I've ever sat in. They're well shaped and supportive, with headrests that actually cradle the head. Once I got used to the S40, every other car I sat in gave me a backache.

Those amazing seats combine with a user-friendly interior to make the S40 an easy drive. Secondary controls are a bit cluttered, as they are on most European cars, but they're well marked and use either English or easily-understood pictographs. Opt for leather seats and the wood-trimmed interior (both come with the $2,200 sunroof package, though leather seats are available a la carte for $1,200), and the S40 toes the line between mid-size sedan and luxury car.

The climate control system deserves special recognition: it looks like a standard three-dial air conditioner, but the fan speed and outlet selector both have "auto" detents. It's easy to set and easy to override. One complaint: the system doesn't wait for the car to warm up before supplying heat. Set the temp to max heat and the fan control for auto, and the Volvo responds with an arctic blast, at least until the engine warms up. Oh well - at least there are optional seat heaters to warm your buns while you wait.

The Volvo feels small from the inside, but the back seats are surprisingly generous, as is the trunk. The back seat splits, flips and folds to expand cargo room. But the S40 doesn't stop there: you can fold down the front passenger seat, too, to extend the load floor even further. Amazing.

Allow me to expound on a pet peeve: Rear fog lights. A lot of people don't know what the rear fog light is. It's a red light on the back of the car that shines at the same intensity as the brake light; it's mandatory in Europe, where fog gets thick enough that the normal tail lamps can't be seen.

We generally don't need 'em in the States, and we sure don't learn about them in Driver's Ed; still, a few European manufacturers, including Volvo, install them on American-spec cars. If you've ever followed a European car that looks like it has one or both brake lights stuck on, chances are those are the rear fogs, and the driver is blissfully unaware. Annoying, eh? The only way to tell the front fogs from the rears is to look at the pictogram on the switch: the icon with the light facing the same direction as the headlight icon controls the front fogs; the light facing opposite controls the rears. On the S40, fronts and rears are controlled by the same switch, which further complicates things. Unless the fog is pea-soup thick, you really don't need to use the rear fog lights. For that matter, you don't need the front ones, either.

I know my cars, and if I had to pick a mid-size sedan to ferry my kids around in, this would be it. Careful driving can only go so far. Other drivers form the X-factor, and a Volvo is the best defense. Now, finally, Volvo safety is available at a price that competes directly with Japanese and American mid-size sedans - provided, that is, you don't check too many boxes on the option sheet.

But safety wouldn't be my only reason for choosing the little Volvo. The S40 is nipping on the heels of one of my favorite compact sport sedans, the Audi A4. The Volvo's every bit as much fun to drive, plus it's got a better back seat and a more user-friendly cockpit - and the Volvo undercuts the Audi A4 1.8T's price by $590. Some will note that the Audi offers a V6 and the Volvo doesn't, but I personally prefer either car's turbocharged four. Only the lack of a clutch pedal keeps the S40 from overtaking the A4 in my book.

Volvo's new entry is roomy, well-equipped, exceptionally comfortable, and an absolute delight to drive. The warranty runs a year longer than the Japanese competition, and twice as long as a Volkswagen Passat or Jetta.

Kind of makes one wonder: What's the point of considering anything else?

Drive safely!


Home, James