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If you thought Volvo only made boring, safe cars then this is the Volvo which will flip your perceptions on its head.
Mention Volvo to the average person and I guarantee that one of the first words they will say is ‘safe’, I’m sure you would too. I know I would.
And we’d all be spot on, after all, Volvo are the pioneers of safe cars. Heck, they almost invented the word.
Whilst most manufacturers back in the day were giving a sort of non-committed nod to making their cars safer (yes, that’s a generalisation – but it is largely true), Volvo were actively researching and building standard technology to include into their new cars.
In the mid-60s and early 70s Volvo was already looking at the three point safety belts, and the rearward facing baby seat. And a little more recently, in the early 90s, side impact beams and side airbags which debuted on the Volvo 850.
Okay, enough with safety history lesson. More about the car we see here please!
Sure. Fast forward to today and a plethora of driver aids have debuted on modern Volvo’s from drowsiness alert systems to lane departure warning, and blind spot monitoring. You name it, a modern Volvo has it.
But, let’s forget about all that for a moment because, look at it, it’s the Volvo V40 T5 R-Design and it is magnificent.
If you thought that this Swedish manufacturer exclusively made staid boring, and safe cars then this is the Volvo which will flip your perceptions on its head. R-Design is Volvo’s ‘performance arm’, basically what ‘S’ is to Audi and ‘M’ is to BMW.
The V40, which in standard trim is very good looking, is dripping in cool and sexy in R-Design trim, my word have Volvo got the styling spot on. Show me someone who says the Volvo V40 T5 R-Design is not a good looking car and I’ll show you liar. R-Design gives the already sexy looking V40 a healthy dollop of sporty additions like the deeper front bumper, with bespoke LED running light arrangement, 18-inch diamond cut alloy wheels, and dark grey rear diffuser with large bore tailpipes. Very un-Volvo-like.
It certainly is a looker!
Perhaps it’s the cab backwards, station wagon type look which manages to give the V40 a completely unique look on the road making it completely left field. And yes, there is an ever so slight resemblance to the Audi A3 Sportback in profile, but only really at a squint. Without gushing too much, in my opinion it is the best looking hatchback available today.
The T5 badge on the boot might have you thinking that this is the same 5-cylinder engine of yore. But it isn’t, that engine was too dirty and thirsty and times being as they are, makes way for a more regular turbocharged 4-cylinder unit. The new engine wears the Drive-E badge and is part of Volvo’s strategy to cut the engine variations in the range from eight to just two. This being one of them, the other being a 4-cylinder 2.0-litre Drive-E diesel engine. These two engines will, in various outputs, power everything from the car you see here to the new XC90 SUV.
In this application it certainly isn’t down on power though producing 180kW and 350Nm of torque being both super and turbocharged. Combined with Volvo’s stop-start technology, the advantages are both weight-saving and massively improved emissions figures. Throw in Volvo’s Geartronic 8-speed automatic gearbox and you effectively have a match made in heaven.
No doubt this is the point that you say, “Ah, finally a Volvo hot-hatch!†but again you’d be wrong. This car has a decidedly Jerkyll and Hyde personality – on the one hand you have 180kW and 350Nm which compared to say a Focus ST or Golf GTI is on par or more even, but, on the other, when you drive it you come to realise that the V40 just isn’t bothered with trying to compete with the likes of the Focus and Golf. Think of it in this way, the V40 is a tailored suit whereas those other two are just jeans and a collared shirt.
The V40 is not without competition of course. It’s an executive hatch and a subtlety hot one at that and competes with the likes of the 160kW BMW 1 Series 125i Auto (R432 373.00), 155kW Mercedes A-Class A250 Sport (R481 273.00), and the 132kW Audi A3 1.8T Sportback Quattro (R435 000.00). Saying that, the Volvo does seem to be in a class of its own, at R428 700.00 it’s both cheaper and more powerful than the rest of this group.
And, is it hot or not?
The V40 T5 does a convincing hot-hatch rendition, in the same way that Britney Spears does an excellent rendition of the Arrows I Love Rock n Roll – it sounds good no doubt, but you get the feeling that it’s not 100% natural. Same goes for the V40s hot-hatch ambitions.
The R-Design V40 sits on a lowered chassis with stiffer springs and dampers and on those 18-inch wheels it is sure does feel like its set up as a hot-hatch, and it’ll show a clean pair of heels to many a protagonist at a green robot. However,it is compromised though, because on anything less than smooth asphalt results in a choppy and crashy ride.
Plant your right foot and the 8-speed auto will kick down a few gears almost without notice, and have you catapulting towards the horizon in no time at all, whilst making quite a sporty sound.
If you prefer you can even move the gear lever one click to the left of its home position and swop cogs manually. There are eight of them, and remembering exactly which gear you are in and which one is appropriate is quite a mission. My advice: Leave it in ‘D’ and let it figure things out on its own. It’s not a twin-clutch unit but in my opinion, is just as good.
Once you’ve come to realise that the V40 T5 prefers a gentler environment, you can sit back and relax in one of the most comfortable and simple cabins around. Sure, it’s looking a little dated now, but much of the appeal of V40 T5 for me, is its simple nature. There are no damper and gearbox settings or sport buttons to configure. You simply start it and go.
All modern amenities are present and accounted for, such as full dual-zone climate control, large TFT screen with satellite navigation, electronically adjustable (and very comfortable) front seats, a fully digital main instrument binnacle, AUX-in, steering wheel mounted controls, Bluetooth, Harman Kardon audio system…the list goes on. (For a full breakdown I suggest looking here)
Okay, let’s wrap this up
You wouldn’t expect to see a man in tailored suit doing the 100m sprint and similarly, a sporty Volvo is an unexpected sight.
The Volvo V40 T5 R-Design, whilst managing to pack as much power as a hot-hatch, isn’t one. It’s a confident, (mostly) comfortable, wonderfully styles long distance cruiser in the Gran Turismo mould, with a superbly comfortable and well kitted interior. And, has the ability that when it’s needed, it has an abundance of power and torque to dispatch any situation.
Oh, and yes, it’s also very safe.