{"id":22655,"date":"2018-01-23T09:22:21","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T09:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/?p=22655"},"modified":"2018-01-23T09:28:43","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T09:28:43","slug":"volvo-v40-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/volvo-v40-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Volvo V40 T5 R-Design Tested Ahead Of Successor’s Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is Volvo’s ageing family hatchback. A new V40 is set to be announced later this year. So before it\u2019s replaced, we figured we\u2019d take a drive in this top-of-the-range model to see what the new car has to live up to.<\/p>\n

Now, most of the time, Volvo competes with the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes but does away with sporting pretensions \u2013 you don\u2019t need a million horsepower and nine different suspension settings, the company says, you need a car that\u2019s been intelligently designed to offer a pleasant owning experience.<\/p>\n

You might wonder, then, what came over Volvo when it signed off the V40 T5 R-Design. It\u2019s a family-sized, four-door hatchback with a 2.0-litre, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine, good for 245 bhp. That means that this sensible, small family runabout will do the 0-100 km\/h dash in 6.4 seconds, and go on to a top speed of 240 km\/h. That\u2019s not sensible; that\u2019s bonkers.<\/p>\n

\"Volvo<\/p>\n

How does it drive? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The V40 T5 R-Design shares plenty of its components with the previous-gen Ford Focus ST. Ford used to use a Volvo five-cylinder engine in the Focus ST, and since then the two companies have been happy to sell parts to each other. That Focus ST was one of the most entertaining machines going, meaning that, if it shares the same components, the V40 should be pretty special, too.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press the start\/stop button and the four-cylinder growls into life, its tone deep and menacing. It\u2019s linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which you can change manually by pulling on one of the paddle shifters. We\u2019ll get to how that works later.<\/p>\n

First, though, let\u2019s go into how the car feels in its normal mode. Find an open piece of road, and the T5 will simply devour it. The 0-100 km\/h time doesn\u2019t do justice to how the car feels when you\u2019re actually accelerating. It\u2019s savage. The front tyres tug at the steering wheel, compelling you to grip hard as if you\u2019re hanging on for dear life atop a rodeo bull. The revs build incessantly, the gearbox smashing through larger and larger numbers. And the 350 Nm of torque propels you forward like a freight train at full speed.<\/p>\n

Good thing, then, that the brakes are pretty serious. Even in normal mode, they take a little getting used to \u2013 because they slow the vehicle with such force, you only need a light touch at normal speeds.<\/p>\n

So far, so sporty, and things only get better when you flick the gear lever towards the big \u2018S\u2019. In most cars, sport mode sharpens up the throttle response, makes the steering heavier, and firms up the suspension. And while you do get improved throttle response, sport mode often ruins the steering and ride. Not so in the V40, which certainly benefits from increased grunt in sport mode, but otherwise remains largely the same. This means that you get even more brutal acceleration, but the whole package is just so composed because the suspension and steering remain relatively soft.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t think, though, that this means the V40 is a wallowy pudding through the corners. Take a bend at high speed, and you\u2019ll note the absence of any body roll whatsoever. There\u2019s also an astonishing amount of grip \u2013 you really have to be going very quickly to find even a hint of understeer. Push towards those limits, and you\u2019ll eventually find yourself running wide around a corner, which is the car essentially telling you that you\u2019re being an idiot. The steering, meanwhile, is light and accurate. The front wheels do tug at you when you put your foot down, but it\u2019s totally manageable, adding to the excitement factor more than anything else.<\/p>\n

And the noise is something to behold. It isn\u2019t bad at all in normal mode, evoking an angry swarm of bees buzzing furiously around the engine bay. In sport, though, the swarm morphs into the growl of a great hound, teeth bared, ready to attack. There\u2019s a little turbo whizz on the downshifts, and every now and then, the exhaust emits little crackles, which send shivers down the spine. It\u2019s a bruiser, this thing.<\/p>\n

The one thing letting down the T5\u2019s sporting credentials is the gearbox. In automatic mode, it\u2019s flawless \u2013 smooth, quick and easy \u2013 but flick it to manual, and things don\u2019t go so well. Upshifts are slow and dim-witted \u2013 you\u2019ll pull the right paddle and it\u2019ll feel like an age before you\u2019re in the next gear. It\u2019s not a dealbreaker, because the automatic mode is so good, but if you like to be more involved in gear shifts, you\u2019ll find it frustrating. And, sorry, a manual isn\u2019t available.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Volvo<\/p>\n

Interior quality and tech<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The seats are body-hugging R-Design sport seats, clad in nubuck leather. There are streaks of aluminum around the cabin, and R-Design logos pop out in various places. The steering wheel is chunky and sporty, with purposeful, tactile paddle-shifters nestled behind it. This car wants you to know that it\u2019s a sporty car \u2013 don\u2019t let the Volvo badge at the centre of the steering wheel fool you.<\/p>\n

That said, there are plenty of nice Volvo touches to the interior that make it a really wonderful place to be. The \u2018floating\u2019 centre console is the party piece \u2013 it\u2019s a single, flatscreen-thin panel containing all of the AC and radio controls. It looks fabulous, and there\u2019s the added practicality of there being a little stowing area behind it. Likewise, the ergonomics of the entire cabin are extremely well thought-out. If you want to change anything about the cabin environment, from the position of your seat to the music on the radio, it\u2019s extremely easy to work out how to do so.<\/p>\n

The instrument cluster is entirely digital, displaying the R-Design logo when you climb in. You can set it to three different \u2018themes\u2019, which offer various takes on the designs and colour schemes of the read-outs. The themes also stretch to the screen nestled above the centre console, so everything matches up perfectly. If you want to get your boy-racer on, you\u2019ll be opting for the \u2018Performance\u2019 theme, which serves up an enormous, red digital speedometer, just like the one on a Lamborghini Huracan, along with a gauge illustrating how much of the 245 bhp you\u2019re using at any one time. We preferred \u2018Elegance\u2019, a classically styled theme that bathes the cabin in a relaxing, deep-blue hue.<\/p>\n

The V40 is a reasonably practical car \u2013 there\u2019s plenty of space in the back, which is able to accommodate two adults comfortably. The fabulous centre rear armrest adds a touch of class to the whole experience, too. The boot isn\u2019t the deepest in the business, but given it\u2019s quite long, you could fit two suitcases in there no problem. This is a Volvo, after all.<\/p>\n

And though the V40 has been out for a while, the gadgets on board provide an extremely modern feel. You\u2019ve got two-zone climate control, automatic wipers, automatic headlights, and an extremely good reversing camera with park assist. Pairing your phone to the car via Bluetooth is a cinch, and you can stream music wirelessly from your device. Really, everything you need is included.<\/p>\n

\"Volvo<\/p>\n

Running costs <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The V40 has proven to be a pretty popular car in the UAE, so we don\u2019t reckon depreciation will be much of an issue. Prices start at around AED 110,000, and you\u2019re looking at around AED 3,500 for a fully comprehensive policy. In terms of fuel economy, Volvo claims 5.9 l \/ 100 km. In real life, you\u2019ll probably get around 7 l \/ 100 km. That means you\u2019ll get a pretty respectable 850 km from the 62-litre tank, which\u2019ll cost you around AED 130 to fill up.<\/p>\n

\"Volvo<\/p>\n

Our verdict <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Using the V40 R-Design as a daily driver for just under a week, we struggled to find many faults at all. It\u2019s exactly what a hot hatchback should be \u2013 practical, comfortable, and, when the mood takes you, exciting. Forget what you think you know about Volvos \u2013 the V40 T5 delivers in spades on all counts. When it surfaces later this year, the new one has big shoes to fill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is it? This is Volvo’s ageing family hatchback. A new V40 is set to be announced later this year. So before it\u2019s replaced, we figured we\u2019d take a drive in this top-of-the-range model to see what the new car has to live up to. Now, most of the time, Volvo competes with the likes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2836,2666],"tags":[2695,2762,2595,2840,2815,2841,2839,2667,2838,2842,2559,2560,2837,2565],"class_list":["post-22655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hatchbacks","category-reviews","tag-car-review","tag-cool-cars","tag-dubai","tag-hatchback","tag-hot-hatch","tag-hot-hatchback","tag-r-design","tag-reviews","tag-t5","tag-test-drive","tag-uae","tag-united-arab-emirates","tag-v40","tag-volvo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}