Volvo S40 R Design SE - Any good?
Discussion
Afternoon, not my usual forum however I am in the process of trying to make a decision on a new company car, i'm down to 2, the Volvo as per the above in Passion Red or a Skoda Octavia VRS...
I know all about the Skoda's but wanted to know what people thought/know of regarding the S40.
Any thoughts/comments would be awesome.
Cheers
SP
I know all about the Skoda's but wanted to know what people thought/know of regarding the S40.
Any thoughts/comments would be awesome.
Cheers
SP
I find the ride on 18 inch wheels far too harsh for the state of roads in UK, more of a reflection of the state of our roads budget than anything else unfortunately.
Octavia far more spacious, S40 is quite a small car. Probably the new S60 more a like for like in size maybe?? However seating is better than Skoda I think, personally I don't like the R design seats or colour scheme.
I also would have difficulty making the choice tbh, slightly swayed by we have a Fabia which has been a cracking car from new to 8 years old.
Then again on my second V50 very little problems with either.
The D5 engine is no longer available according UK info, though can still be purchased here in Sweden confusingly.
Allegedly some new engines going to be fitted to S40 so I'd hang on if you were thinking of going diesel which being a company job you probably are. The Volvo version of the Ford 2.0D TDCi will be phased out and the Volvo D3 in a 2.0 litre version will be fitted. Volvo have been trying to get rid of that Ford lump for ages.
I find Audi-VW diesels a little thrummy, but with plenty of poke admittedly.
Octavia far more spacious, S40 is quite a small car. Probably the new S60 more a like for like in size maybe?? However seating is better than Skoda I think, personally I don't like the R design seats or colour scheme.
I also would have difficulty making the choice tbh, slightly swayed by we have a Fabia which has been a cracking car from new to 8 years old.
Then again on my second V50 very little problems with either.
The D5 engine is no longer available according UK info, though can still be purchased here in Sweden confusingly.
Allegedly some new engines going to be fitted to S40 so I'd hang on if you were thinking of going diesel which being a company job you probably are. The Volvo version of the Ford 2.0D TDCi will be phased out and the Volvo D3 in a 2.0 litre version will be fitted. Volvo have been trying to get rid of that Ford lump for ages.
I find Audi-VW diesels a little thrummy, but with plenty of poke admittedly.
I agree about the 18" wheels being too big (or more specifically the tyres around them being too low profile). The ride is only just acceptable on the 17's.
It is not the best handling car in the world, certainly you can feel the extra weight up front in mine with the D5, it seems to take a couple of 'bites' to get settled into a corner. The Focus was definitely better set up.
I went for mine because of the fact that it was the only non 4 cylinder Diesel on my company car list.
I find the 170ps VAG Diesel to be very "peaky" with what feels like quite a narrow power band.
The seats on the S40 are nowhere near as good as those on the larger Volvos, in fact I found the ones in my Focus to be more comfortable and better supporting.
It is not the best handling car in the world, certainly you can feel the extra weight up front in mine with the D5, it seems to take a couple of 'bites' to get settled into a corner. The Focus was definitely better set up.
I went for mine because of the fact that it was the only non 4 cylinder Diesel on my company car list.
I find the 170ps VAG Diesel to be very "peaky" with what feels like quite a narrow power band.
The seats on the S40 are nowhere near as good as those on the larger Volvos, in fact I found the ones in my Focus to be more comfortable and better supporting.
I'd agree with FIF and PF. I used to have a V50 SE and the seats in that were pretty comfortable, but that was the older model. When I was looking to change, I quite liked the look of the R-design but found the seats very uncomfortable and hard.
I'd say the the handling of the Volvo was safe and ok, but not that exciting, but wouldn't have though the Skoda was amazing either?
You didn't say which engine option you were looking for in the Volvo? As someone else said, it seems that from the on-line configurator, you can't get the D5 option anymore, but they are supposed to be upping the power output from the 2.0 diesel.
Finally, not sure if this should affect your decision, but Volvo are either already owned by the Chinese, all will soon be sold to the Chinese.
I'd say the the handling of the Volvo was safe and ok, but not that exciting, but wouldn't have though the Skoda was amazing either?
You didn't say which engine option you were looking for in the Volvo? As someone else said, it seems that from the on-line configurator, you can't get the D5 option anymore, but they are supposed to be upping the power output from the 2.0 diesel.
Finally, not sure if this should affect your decision, but Volvo are either already owned by the Chinese, all will soon be sold to the Chinese.
Well, I'm not sure if you have made your decision yet, however, I am now on my 3rd S40 of the current generation, a D5 R-Design SE and it is definitely the best yet. I took delivery in November 09 and I am very happy with it.
My 2 previous S40s were both diesel SEs, firstly the 1.6 then the 2.0. I found both to be very economical and refined on the move. The pulling power of the 2.0 for overtaking was particularly impressive, especially after having a tuning box installed. The D5 on the other hand is in a different league again when it comes to performance and the distinctive engine note above 2500RPM encourages you to explore these regions more often than with the 4 cylinder versions. Economy is down say 5mpg on the 2.0 and 10mpg on the 1.6. However, 43mpg overall is still very acceptable in my book for a 2.4 litre, 5 cylinder that has still to loosen up.
With regard to the interior, my two previous versions had the full off-black leather interior. I liked these interiors and considered going for it again with the R-Design because I wasn't sure how I would take to the two tone half-leather interior of the R-Design. However, after several months I have grown used to it and I'm now glad that I didn't opt for the more costly option. I am a lover of the larger 18 inch, 5 spoke diamond cut alloy wheels of the R-Design SE, however, they do make for a harsher ride than with the 17 inchers fitted to the SE versions. Having said that, I wouldn't class the ride as uncomfortable, just firm I would say. And, they are particularly easy to clean.
If you like your music, I would suggest that you opt for the High Performance audio system. It is so much better than the standard Performance audio and money well spent in my opinion.
I hope that the above is of help. If you want to know anything else, just ask.
My 2 previous S40s were both diesel SEs, firstly the 1.6 then the 2.0. I found both to be very economical and refined on the move. The pulling power of the 2.0 for overtaking was particularly impressive, especially after having a tuning box installed. The D5 on the other hand is in a different league again when it comes to performance and the distinctive engine note above 2500RPM encourages you to explore these regions more often than with the 4 cylinder versions. Economy is down say 5mpg on the 2.0 and 10mpg on the 1.6. However, 43mpg overall is still very acceptable in my book for a 2.4 litre, 5 cylinder that has still to loosen up.
With regard to the interior, my two previous versions had the full off-black leather interior. I liked these interiors and considered going for it again with the R-Design because I wasn't sure how I would take to the two tone half-leather interior of the R-Design. However, after several months I have grown used to it and I'm now glad that I didn't opt for the more costly option. I am a lover of the larger 18 inch, 5 spoke diamond cut alloy wheels of the R-Design SE, however, they do make for a harsher ride than with the 17 inchers fitted to the SE versions. Having said that, I wouldn't class the ride as uncomfortable, just firm I would say. And, they are particularly easy to clean.
If you like your music, I would suggest that you opt for the High Performance audio system. It is so much better than the standard Performance audio and money well spent in my opinion.
I hope that the above is of help. If you want to know anything else, just ask.
Edited by MASS1 on Tuesday 6th April 20:25
Good point about the High Performance audio upgrade. I have found the standard one very 'average' when I've had a courtesy car. Definitely worth upgrading in my opinion.
I'm going to miss my V50, as I've only got it till 80k miles and Volvo are no longer on the car list at work
It hasn't missed a beat in the 56k I've done over the last 19 months, unlike the previous two company cars I had!
In terms of fuel economy, I tend to get around 38mpg average, with that rising to 40mpg or so with mainly motorway driving. Not the best, but not too bad for the performance.
I'm going to miss my V50, as I've only got it till 80k miles and Volvo are no longer on the car list at work
It hasn't missed a beat in the 56k I've done over the last 19 months, unlike the previous two company cars I had!In terms of fuel economy, I tend to get around 38mpg average, with that rising to 40mpg or so with mainly motorway driving. Not the best, but not too bad for the performance.
Edited by plfrench on Tuesday 6th April 18:15
MASS1 said:
Well, I'm not sure if you have made your decision yet, however, I am now on my 3rd S40 of the current generation, a D5 R-Design SE and it is definitely the best yet. I took delivery in November 09 and I am very happy with it.
My 2 previous S40s were both diesel SEs, firstly the 1.6 then the 2.0. I found both to be very economical and refined on the move. The pulling power of the 2.0 for overtaking was particularly impressive, especially after having a tuning box installed. The D5 on the other hand is in a different league again when it comes to performance and the distinctive engine note above 2500RPM encourages you to explore these regions more often than with the 4 cylinder versions. Economy is down say 5mpg on the 2.0 and 10mpg on the 1.6. However, 43mpg overall is still very acceptable in my book for a 2.4 litre, 5 cylinder that has still to loosen up.
With regard to the interior, my two previous versions had the full off-black leather interior. I liked these interiors and considered going for it again with the R-Design because I wasn't sure how I would take to the two tone half-leather interior of the R-Design. However, after several months I have grown used to it and I'm now glad that I didn't opt for the more costly option. I am a lover of the larger 18 inch, 5 spoke diamond cut alloy wheels of the R-Design SE, however, they do make for a harsher ride than with the 17 inchers fitted to the SE versions. Having said that, I wouldn't class the ride as uncomfortable, just firm I would say. And, they are particularly easy to clean.
If you like your music, I would suggest that you opt for the High Performance audio system. It is so much better than the standard Performance audio and money well spent in my opinion.
I hope that the above is of help. If you want to know anything else, just ask.
I'd definitely agree with the loosening up thing. I think my D5 got definitely got better when I got throught about 20-25K miles. And the noise is strangely pleasing (for s diesel)My 2 previous S40s were both diesel SEs, firstly the 1.6 then the 2.0. I found both to be very economical and refined on the move. The pulling power of the 2.0 for overtaking was particularly impressive, especially after having a tuning box installed. The D5 on the other hand is in a different league again when it comes to performance and the distinctive engine note above 2500RPM encourages you to explore these regions more often than with the 4 cylinder versions. Economy is down say 5mpg on the 2.0 and 10mpg on the 1.6. However, 43mpg overall is still very acceptable in my book for a 2.4 litre, 5 cylinder that has still to loosen up.
With regard to the interior, my two previous versions had the full off-black leather interior. I liked these interiors and considered going for it again with the R-Design because I wasn't sure how I would take to the two tone half-leather interior of the R-Design. However, after several months I have grown used to it and I'm now glad that I didn't opt for the more costly option. I am a lover of the larger 18 inch, 5 spoke diamond cut alloy wheels of the R-Design SE, however, they do make for a harsher ride than with the 17 inchers fitted to the SE versions. Having said that, I wouldn't class the ride as uncomfortable, just firm I would say. And, they are particularly easy to clean.
If you like your music, I would suggest that you opt for the High Performance audio system. It is so much better than the standard Performance audio and money well spent in my opinion.
I hope that the above is of help. If you want to know anything else, just ask.
Edited by MASS1 on Tuesday 6th April 20:25
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