videcormeum

I think this is a pretty nice car. For ~26-30 thousand dollars - it's a little expensive - but certainly one of the more attractive FWD low/near luxury sport sedans out there. I don't think the TSX (which may be its closest competition) holds a candle to this new S40.

I guess you can call it an overpriced Mazda3 - but I've heard that Volvo did a little extra work on that shared chassis and the T5's motor is nothing like the 2.3 liter Mazda offering.

But, I could be wrong. What do you guys think?

jet864

Looks a lot better than the last one IMO. What size engine is the T5? Is it still the 1.9T? I think this looks a lot sportier than the previous one.

James

agreziv

definatley looks better than the last one, but the interior looks like crap... my vote is for the TSX....

J.P.

"What's more, the S40 platform is the basis for Ford's next generation Focus, which bodes well for the future of that very important model"

mmarshall

The S40 is a nice car.......with a lot of the traditional Volvo safety features. Sharing a chassis with the Mazda 3 should give it pretty good handling. And, typical of recent Sweedish cars, It will probably be a little more reliable than its German competition....the Germans have really taken a nose dive in this area. But my opinion is, if you want a nice sport sedan and even better build quality, pay a couple thousand more and get the Lexus IS300.

videcormeum

The T5 has a turbo'd 2.5 liter inline 5-cylinder. It makes 218 hp @ 5000rpm and 236 torque @ 1500-4800rpm.

It sounds like a monster to me (of course, all of that goes directly to the rear [correction: FRONT] wheels ... as yet, Volvo has not indicated that there will be an "R" version with AWD and an even better engine).

I agree, that old 1.9t was pretty weak.

videcormeum

The TSX does have a nice interior ... I concur. But for some reason, to me, the TSX is just boring.

mmarshall

The old 1.9T may have looked weak on paper but it actually had some spunk when you put your foot down. The old S40 was fairly light in spite of its typical Volvo safety roll cage.

And rear wheel drive?....what Volvo are you talking about? There have been no RWD Volvos in the U.S. market that I know of for several years.

VSsc400

iTrader: (1)

looks good.

the S70's were a pain to upgrade... hopefully this one will not be

videcormeum

Nooo - I always make mistakes like that. Thanks for pointing it out. All of the T5's power goes to the FRONT wheels. I meant to say front. That is why I brought up the AWD "R" models ... they perform a tad better than Volvo's standard FWD set-up.

Thanks for the correction.

LexFather

I think the new S40 is hot!! The floating dash is cool, it looks great and with the turbo about 32k. Not bad at all.

Only thing about Volvos, to me, they have this image of people scared to die or something. THe whole safety thing. But Volvo= SLEEPER!!
I also love the S60R. Another bad-*** Volvo.

J.P.

I don't mind when a car I am buying is built off a multi use platform, IF the platform is quality! I have a hard time buying a car when it's being worked along with a Mazda 3 and Focus.

That’s like buying a land rover freelander, but you’re getting an ford escape… blah

mmarshall

Volvo is not the only make that is safety-conscious. Mercedes, BMW, Saab, and Cadillac also put a lot of money into safety features. Volvo just started before everyone else....back in the 1950's (not counting the 1948 Tucker Torpedo that flopped)

SecPole14

Haldex, or whatever it's called now, blows. I think "naming" AWD is stupid. It's like they're trying to cover something up...Hmmm...FWD bias, perhaps...

That's why I like Subaru. It's just called AWD. Not Quattro. Not Haldex. Not 4Motion. Not Super-Handling. Nothing ___ like that. It's simple and does what its supposed to, and does it well.

And anybody who would pay $32K for a compact Volvo, when a proper RWD Japanese sedan (read G35 and IS3) can be had for the same money, needs to have their head examined.

There's a whole-lotta $16K Mazda3 and Focus sitting underneath the skin, despite the 2.5 engine and chassis geometry bits. That's kinda like Chevy putting the LS1 into the new Malibu.

Volvo's 2.5 turbo = pwn3d by Subaru's 2.5 turbo

That is all.

mmarshall

I'm with you on not naming stuff just for marketing reasons, but consider that the Jeep / Eagle Division, which literally wrote the book on 4WD / AWD and has been producing these systems since World War II and pioneered car-based all-wheel-drive with the 1980 AMC Eagle, has a different code name for every different system they produce, like "Command-Trac", "Select-Track", and "Quadra-Trac". Subaru, today, though, produces the best car-based AWD system...I'm with you on that.