Test drive Volvo S40 1996 - 2000 sedan

Two-class twins

The S40/V40 family is a new lineup of the Swedish company Volvo. Cars are produced at the Verkar factory in the Netherlands. The four -door sedan is indicated by the S40 index, a five -door station wagon - V40. Gamma of engines: gasoline with a working volume of 1.8; 2.0 liters and 1.9-liter diesel with turbocharged. Gearboxes - five -speed mechanical or four -speed automatic. Two suspension options are also provided - comfortable and sports.
Volvo rarely releases single models. Usually, Swedish twins - a sedan and a station wagon at its base simultaneously appear on the market. The latter are especially popular, not only in the West, but also in Russia. The S40/V40 family is a new pair of a Swedish company. Acquaintance with cars took place in Spain. And although it is not easy to imagine how the cars in difficult Russian conditions will behave on even highways, certain conclusions can be drawn. Moreover, the new generation S40/V40, which are strikingly different from the other Volvo, have already entered the sale in our country.
 
Body. The appearance of the car is impressive - it is beautiful and quite modern. It seems to be done to attract customers of different age categories. The S40/V40 family is the first -hander of the new direction in the design of Volvo. The outlines of the body are deprived of the angularity and conservatism of the family crew so characteristic of the Swedes for those who are over forty. Soft contours combined with brave swift lines now hint at the temperamental nature of the machine, but, fortunately, they do not make it lightweight, which is important to preserve the prestige of the brand. In general, the difference from previous models of the company is so significantly that only a few traditional elements in the design of the front line help to find out in the novelty. I will share my own observations. Both the sedan and the station wagon will not be lost in a dense flow of transport on foreign highways. Confirmation of this is the curious views of European drivers accustomed to beautiful cars. On Russian roads, even in the capital rich in foreign cars, the novelty looks directly an alien from space.
 
The manufacturer classifies the car to the CD, but by our standards, the baby S40 (sedan) is very voluminous. If the trunk is attached to the forty -first Muscovite, then he will still be a little smaller. Therefore, the dimensions of the Swedish machine salon will arrange even the most picky buyer, but there is no need to talk about the decoration - it is on top. It seems that the Scandinavians have studied these problems perfectly - no one has yet accused Volvo of cramped. The novelty does not fall out of the rule - placement inside, planting and ease are convenient for passengers of any complexion. The lower rear seat pillow is easily transformed, forming two miniature children's seats. Moreover, the younger generation uses ordinary adult seat belts.
Car trunk are quite spacious, especially in V40. The loading height is small - the trunk lid or the fifth door reaches the bumper. The backs of the rear seats are folded in parts in a ratio of 2: 1. The machines participating in the test were shod in the wide tires of the Pirelli 205/50 R15 (the equipment of 195/55 R15 is also found). A shallow substetrician in the floor of the trunk, alas, does not hold a spare of this size. The Swedes proposed a curious compromise: instead of a pancake that became ordinary abroad, a wheel with a tire of 175/70 R14 was laid in a niche - even the standard, the disk is smaller, but the external diameters of the reserve and main shoes in the collection coincide - most importantly, you can for a long time for a long time Go almost without reducing speed.
Unlike many companies, Volvo attaches an expanded set of tools - up to crocodiles for connecting two batteries with detailed instructions. However, Russian drivers will remember the cigarette procedure without cheat sheet, but they will be remembered for the tool more than once with a kind word.
Workplace of the driver. We have already talked about convenient landing. The driver’s seat is no exception: the adjustment range is quite wide - a person of any height and complexion will adjust it so that it is not crowded. The northern origin of the car gives out a full -time (!) Electric heating of the front seats. Despite four knitting needles and a bulky hub, the steering wheel lies well in the hands and losing it even with energetic rotation is quite difficult.
 
The brake and gas pedals are brought together - you can carry the foot from one pedal to another without tearing the heel from the floor. The clutch is pushed back to the left, next to it is a wide area for relaxation. But the impression of a clear inclusion of the programs somewhat spoils the unsuccessful plastic knob of the lever. It seemed a trifle, but it was convenient to take in any way. I involuntarily remembered the usual Zhigulevsky ball - put his palm on him, swept his fingers - and turn on any transmission. However, this small flaw is easy to eliminate.
There are three round dials on the dashboard - a tachometer, a speedometer and an indicator of a route computer. The latter is useful for those who are trying to save money or want to find out any additional data. Please: instant and average fuel consumption, coolant and oil temperature, daily mileage, average speed, fuel remaining in the tank. The rest of the information is highlighted by control lamps. Buttons, toggle switches, steering wheel switches are equipped with understandable iconograms, you get used to them in a matter of minutes. Much more important is visibility from the driver's place. When you look forward or sideways, there are no problems. External mirrors are also convenient. The internal, on the contrary, is too narrow and reflects mainly the head restraints of the rear seats and the shelf of the trunk. In short, you want to play peepers with passengers - leave the regular one, to observe the road, it is better to look for something else. When you serve the S40 sedan in reverse, wide roof racks, a small rear window, a high trunk, and in some modifications, the spoiler fixed on it also greatly limits the review. Sometimes you have to open the door when parking and lean out. External mirrors here help little - they are panoramic, and therefore distort the feeling of distance. The V40 station wagon is also not devoid of shortcomings, but contrary to expectations, you see more from it and you feel the rear size better.
 
Traffic. During the test, it was possible to test several models with gasoline engines of 1.8 and 2.0 liters. I admit, I did not feel a significant difference. In any case, when the trunk is empty, and in the cabin there is only a driver and a passenger, both motors briskly disperse the car - Volvo gains a hundred seconds in ten. This is confirmed by factory data. Even on a mountain road, where I had to storm the passes and climb steep climbs, the weakest lost a little more powerful. Probably, with full load, cars behave differently. I think that the lack of differences is not due to the fact that a two -liter power unit is bad. Rather, on the contrary, a 1.8 liter engine is very good.
The course stability is Volvo high - the car holds the road perfectly, barely reacts to strong gusts of wind, does not scour, overcoming irregularities. Although, of course, small potholes on those highways are not a couple to our pardins. But about the behavior of the car in critical modes, it was possible to hear unflattering reviews from colleagues. They complained of low information content of the steering with a hydraulic wiper. I agree, if you trust the sensations, Volvo does not seem so sharp as the Vazovskaya eight. In fact, the convenience of using a hydraulic power steering is the question of the habit and qualifications of the driver. They are used by most foreign motorists, including professional riders. It is easier to rotate the steering wheel on winding tracks, and also the tremors from the irregularities of the road surface are almost not transmitted to the steering wheel. As for Volvo, in the mountains you will quickly pass such turns in which I would have inscribed with great difficulty a reference to us at the same speed.
 
There are no complaints about the brakes (disk front and back). ABS, standard for all S40/V40, works efficiently. And in addition to it, you can order a system of support for dynamic stability (DSA), which prevents the slipping of the drive wheels when driving.
I drew attention to one more useful device - the headlight cleaner. This is not a jet washer, often found at foreign cars, but ineffective in our country, say, in the areas of the Black Earth Region. Volvo is equipped with powerful brushes with a washer. The algorithm for their inclusion is well signed by drivers of eights, five or NIVs. The headlights are cleaned whenever when the near light is on the washer of the windshield.
Comfort. The S40/V40 family is equipped with two types of pendants - comfortable and sports. The latter has changed the characteristics of the shock absorbers and the stabilizer of the reptile stability stabilizer is increased. When driving along a flat highway, the difference is almost invisible - sports equipment does not turn the car into a shaking cart. But on the mountain serpentine, the modifications are easily distinguished - the comfortable gives itself increased body rolls, a little earlier begin to sing tires. But then, as they say, in greenhouse conditions. On Russian asphalt, where gentle waves are adjacent to small zybu, potholes, tram tracks or railway crossings, the advantage of a tougher car over the impoverish will become obvious.
A whole strategy serves to create comfort. You can freely combine motors, the coloring of the body and finish, its materials in your taste and needs. The standard set of equipment in itself is not bad - individual elements have already been mentioned. But it can be expanded by choosing something from the rich list of options. There are ready -made configuration options: audio, comfort, family, sports, business, winter, leisure, as well as their combinations.
 
Tolvo is traditional to take care of security. Clus -class cars are shorter than older brothers - they have less space to absorb the energy of the blow in the event of an accident. However, the body is designed so that the machines of the S40/V40 family meet the same safety standards as the volvo of the 850th series. They are also equipped with pillows for the driver and passenger, the belts pre -tensioning system, protection from impact to board (SIPS), side pillows hidden in the backs of the seats.
Of course, comfort, assembly quality, safety, prestige of the Volvo brand are expensive. The factory price of the S40 sedan with a 1.8 liter engine is 20,000 US dollars, the V40 station wagon with a 2 -liter engine is 22,500. But despite the high cost, Swedish cars have long been in demand in Russia - a reputation of a reliable machine is stable. Judging by the first impressions, the new model inherited the best family features.
 
Vadim Kryuchkov
Photo by the author and Volvo
Technical characteristics of the VOLVO S40-1.8 car
(in brackets - different parameters of the station wagon
Volvo v40-2.0)
General data: number of places - 5; Equipped mass - 1200 (1224) kg; maximum speed - 195 (210) km/h; acceleration time from a place to 100 km/h - 10.5 (9.3) s; The average fuel consumption is 7.8 (8.4) l/100 km; Fuel supply - 60 liters. Dimensions, mm: length - 4483; width - 1720; height - 1392; base - 2550; Wheel track: front - 1450, rear - 1474; The volume of the trunk is 415 (949/1928) L; Loading height - 670 (510) mm. Engine: gasoline, four -cylinder, in order, 4 valves per cylinder; Located ahead transversely; cylinder diameter and piston stroke - 83x80 (83x90) mm; working volume - 1731 (1948) SMZ; compression degree - 10.5; Power - 85 kW/115 liters. With. (100 kW/137 l. P.) At 5500 (6100) rpm; The maximum torque is 165 (183) N.M at 4100 (4500) rpm. Transmission: drive - on the front wheels; gearbox - mechanical five -speed; Transporting numbers: I - 3.36; II - 2.05 (1.86); III - 1.32; IV - 0.97; V - 0.76; h. X. - 3.55; The main program is 3.87 (4.07). Suspension: the front is independent, such as McEferson, the back is an independent multi -link. Brakes: with an amplifier and ABS; Ahead - circular ventilated, behind - disk. Tire size - 195/55 R15.
Summary. Volvo CD -class is a modern, comfortable, attractive car that can withstand Russia's road testing. Those who want to get not only a prestigious, but also a practical car, we advise you to pay attention to the V40 station wagon.
 
 

Source: The magazine "Driving"