Ray

Volvo S40 is coming to America this winter with turbo charged I4 making 160 HP and 170 Lb/s. There are already chips out there that will make 195 HP. This is a real dilemma. I have liked both cars and until recently I was sure that I would get A4 since S40 wasn't even availbale in the states. Since I live in So Cal, I don't really need Quattro although I would get it if I were to buy an A4. I would appreciate any opinions and any tuning info on S40. I love the A4 but I also like the S40 that is cheaper and doesn't look all that bad for a Volvo. And if you dislike the S40 for any reason besides the styling and know of some short comings in capability or mechanics please tell.
Thanks in advanced.

DavidG

Volvo (1.9L, not 2.0L) is more softly sprung and available as auto tranny only.

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sbuck

I test drove a S40 last week and was quite disappointed. I don't think that you can put it in the same class as an A4. As far as expense goes, they're priced almost identically. I may have wanted to like the car to much, but being an A4 owner has set my standards quite high.

The car does feel faster than a stock 1.8T. But that’s where the pluses stop and the minuses tally up. The handling is horrible on the loaded version I drove. The steering wheel has a tremendous amount of play. There is a surprising amount of lean in the corners for ANY car. At highway speed it feels unstable---no railroad tracks under this car. This combined with the unsteady steering provides for a scary experience and I'm only talking about freeway on-ramps.

The build quality seems high but poorly executed. For example the dash seems of similar material to an A4 but the seams and corners are messy and have large gaps. The dials, radio, and buttons on the center console look (literally) as if they were taken out of a mid-80s Ford Escort. It reminded me of a friend's Corolla. I'm not exaggerating.

Wind and engine noise at highway speed would leave any A4 owner yearning for their A4's quite cabin even with mirror induced wind noise. The doors don’t have that reassuring “thunk” that tells you it’s a solid car.

The leather seats are wonderful and there is a more commodious back seat than the A4 but trunk space suffers.

I found it hard to believe that anyone would by this car especially if you consider the dismal reviews and reliability the model has had in Europe.

Many other cars offer similar or better build quality for far less. The Passat, A4, Legacy, Accord, Camry/Solara, etc. all offer equal performance, better build quality, better handling, better performance, and equal crash worthiness for the same or less money.

The more cars I drive the more I appreciate the overall quality, performance, handling, ergonomics, sensations, and feeling the A4 delivers.

My $.04 (sorry so long)

BB

The volvo is built in the Netherlands (nothing wrong with that) in a joint project with Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi Carisma is its sister car, this being a smaller euro only Galant type vehicle. Since a Galant V6 costs less than this smaller I4 mitsubishi clone - well you decide.
BTW the charisma was not well recieved due to its lack of, well, charisma. A very bland vehicle.