Test drive Volvo S40 2004 - 2007 sedan

Volvo identification

It is said that a small company absorbed in a giant is hard to keep your face. Swedes succeed. Just look at the new Volvo S40.
The beginning of the press conference. On the catwalk there is a car with a broken front. The most interesting places for viewing are neatly cut with a hacksaw and painted. Good evening. We gathered in order to present you a completely new Volvo S40. Name the brand did not make sense. And so everything is visible.
Whatever they say about the previous magpie - but they said, neither much nor less, that this is not the most successful Volvo model - in 2003, every fourth -sold car of this brand in Russia was called S40. The reason, as it is seen, is simple - relative cheapness. In less than $ 20 thousand, you could purchase a car from the manufacturer with a very good reputation. What is there! During the presentation for the Russian market, it was generally said that the Swedes have only three main competitors: Mercedes, BMW and Audi. And in this situation, it turns out that the first place in the level of sales in Russia is occupied by Volvo - as the most popular brand of the premium segment.
The old S40 leaves the stage. The model disappears, in which it was possible to discern once a branded suitcase if desired. The new car did not lose the face. Just Volvo's face became different.
The piano in the bushes. Describing the lines and bends of the new S40 is an ungrateful business. And so you can see at once - this is Volvo. From the arrow -shaped hood in front to the lanterns in the form of a piano behind. You can even voice such a seditious thought: the designers did not burn at work, working on the appearance of this car. Looking at him, many will think: somewhere I already saw it! Having met on the S60 or XC90 street, they will remember where. It turns out that this phenomenon has its own name - Volvo Identity.
 
 
Everyone knows the concern of Volvo by the safety of its own products. As already mentioned, the Swedes rolled out the Sorokovka dissected after the crash test to the presentation. It is clear that everything turned out to her when hitting an obstacle, otherwise they would not have shown. It could hardly be different: with a relatively small production volume-about 400 thousand cars a year-Volvo has its own security center unique in many respects.
When creating the S40, the main task was formulated as follows: with small sizes and the shortest hood, it is necessary to ensure safety at the level of senior models.
A special person showed to reporters steel records with various properties: some, when bending, obediently took the required shape, others, like a springs, were extended back. The combination of these materials in the S40 structure should in the accident provide the best protection of people in the cabin.
To them, people inside the machine, only parts speak of increased security measures. In particular, a glove compartment resembling a pencil case in the form. It is convenient to store sausage in it, but not a different small thing. They say that his configuration was also dictated by some calculations of the consequences of an accident. We don’t know, maybe people lie. But plausible. Did you often meet the alarm on the machines of the unsastened rear passengers? And on the S40 it is. True, only for the European market. That is, not for us. And in fact: if you can skip the belt behind the back of the chair, put the tongue into the lock and thus plug the signaling device, then you will have to disassemble the sofa behind this. Or sit on belts.
Or here is the IDIS system. She does not miss the phone calls to the most responsible, in her opinion, moments - when the driver is especially actively twisting and presses on the pedals. Alas, it was not possible to try. The novelty with a new product, and the budget by the budget: no one suggested contacting the phone from the car by phone.
Purely, simple. The presentation of the car implies the communication of journalists with its creators. This usually happens at dinner. Those with whom the transmission experts are being planted at the table, they say all the way about altered gear rates; With the pendant, we are talking about the importance of reducing unsaved masses; With a marketer - about the enormous potential of the Russian market. At our table was a designer. When asked what Swedish design is, he answered in three words: Light. Simplicity. Honesty. And in peak he added something about the gloomy interiors of German cars.
Salon S40 completely confirms the words of the designer. Although no, not everything is so clear about simplicity. Here, for example, the ignition lock. It is not where a simple person will look for him, but is hidden under the wiper switch. Not that uncomfortable - unusual. The game with the ignition lock is probably national Swedish fun: on Saab, they thought of setting it on the floor, and nothing.
The second difficult detail is the central panel. She is as if suspended in the air. But in order to make sure of this, you need to look for it. There is a niche. Just enough to put a mobile phone. He is guaranteed to not roll anywhere. And with a probability of 90 percent will be forgotten in the car. The panel looks good in metal (real XIX century) and ridiculous in a tree - like a digital camera in a case from Karelian birch.
For the sake of another requirement - visual lightness - large fields are left on the panel - space free from the buttons. The keys eventually crowded and was bought. But in general, everything is very friendly. That's just the light fabric of the ceiling for only 6000 km of run that the car drove under journalists managed to get dirty in places. The material was beautiful, but mark. Beauty requires regular cleaning.
 
 
Question with the roof. A person who got to the driver’s place will not feel that he was driving a golf-class car. And he doesn’t press in the shoulders, and the seat can be rolled up so far that the driver 190 cm tall will hardly squeeze the clutch pedal. And sitting behind, he will find that the knees are enough, but the head rests on the ceiling, at least in the position when it is pressed to the headrest. According to the results of a two -day acquaintance, this is the most serious claim. Strange, like S40 is not a compartment. Perhaps the fact is that the novelty is aimed at a relatively young public-30-40 years. Why at this age the back row with ceilings as in the St. George Hall of the Kremlin, huh?
Starting the movement, the driver will most likely note to himself that the rear -view mirrors could be larger. But these are also suitable. They do not affect speed.
Two five. For the test, two machines with gasoline five -cylinder engines were presented - 2.4 and 2.5 liters. 2.4 liters - an atmospheric engine, a reasonable and sufficient choice for most of the drivers. With an automatic box, he begins to sour only after 140 km/h, and before that he behaves very cheerfully.
The second engine - T5 is also a in -line five, only with a turbine. The T5 has a true power supply for gas pedal in almost any situation. The car receives quite a decent acceleration even in sixth gear if you are driving by car with a manual box. The machine gun has five steps. They can be sorted out in manual mode. The box is trying to portray an absolutely honest game. She herself does not switch up - the arrow will just come to the red zone. Downs - with great reluctance, only if in the fifth gear to lose speed up to 20 km/h. It was surprised that with a sharp click on the gas, the box does not stop the game. No kick downs. You rode on the fourth - here on it and accelerate or change your gear yourself. In general, there is one pampering.
Test machines were equipped with all possible electronic security systems. And if the function of monitoring the rotation of the car can be disabled so that, for example, to twist a wolf on the ice, then traction controls constantly. Which does not prevent the traffic light from leaving with a screech of tires. This number passes on T5 even with a machine gun.
Very pleasant in the S40 steering wheel. Light in the parking lot and dense on the highway. The tides on the rim only hint in what position the thumbs of the disciplined driver should be located, but they do not force anything. With a sharp acceleration, the steering wheel does not pull to the side - this drawback is often found in front -wheel drive cars, especially with excess power, in particular, on the previous S40 with T4 index. But that car was not officially supplied to us at all.
And the new magpie should appear in Russia closer to the summer. The prices for the car have not yet been lowered, but it is known that it can cost no more than S60 in a similar configuration. The position of the youngest obliges.
Text Sergey Sherestnikov, photo of the author and Volvo
 
Volvo S40 2.4 Volvo S40 T5
The engine 5-cylinder gasoline 5-cylinder, with turbocharged
Working volume (cubic cub) 2435 2521
Power (L.S. at rpm) 170 at 6000 220 at 5000
Moment (Nm at rpm) 230 at 4400 320 at 1500-4800
Front front drive
Automatic gearbox 5-speed, mechanical sequental type 6-speed
Length/width/height (mm) 4468/1770/1420
Wheel base (mm) 2640 2640
Equipped mass (kg) 1399 1419
Maximum speed (km/h) 215 240
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 8.9 6.8
Fuel consumption, average (l/100 km) 9.1 8.7
The price in Moscow has not yet been determined

 

A source: "Autopilot"