New engine makes V40 even more tempting to buy
Volvo continues to disentangle itself from a former owner with the introduction of new, more powerful and economical engines to its biggest selling range, the V40 hatchback.
For years Volvo was the prestigious, Swedish outpost of the Ford empire and, naturally, used Ford engines. Indeed a lot of other Ford bits too, in places where a buyer wouldn't see them, or care.
Now owned by Chinese company Geely, but with the same sensible, practical approach to all things mechanical that marks out Scandanavian design the world over, comes a set of new petrol and (much more important in the UK), diesel power units.
We're already the biggest buyers of the V40 line up in the world, with most UK sales going to company car users, and the extra tailpipe cleanliness of the latest diesel will only make the V40 an even more tempting buy, with lower pull on the monthly pay cheque.
Within the next 18 months every new Volvo will have an engine designed and built in-house. The new motors, called Drive-E, share enough design features to make them easier to build and mean a whole clutter of other designs can soon be ditched.
It's a change for the good, with the diesel putting out a class leading 190 horsepower and emitting few enough tailpipe nasties to qualify for zero road tax.
Against some seriously impressive opposition (think VW Golf, BMW 1 Series, Mercedes-Benz A-Class), the V40 impresses with its quietness, even from the cold start that usually has a diesel sounding like pebbles rattling round an empty oil drum.
It pulls well too, helped by a pleasantly positive gearchange and light clutch and recedes into a barely audible hum at a motorway cruise, where a lot of V40s are going to spend a lot of their working lives.
A mildly spirited drive showed an encouraging 54mpg on the nicely readable dashboard, where everything works the way you think it ought, in a very ordered Swedish way. You wouldn't believe how complex some car makers (think Japanese, often) can make the business of working a button or two.
The SE spec car seen here rode well on 17inch wheels, in contrast to the larger, fancier looking 18inch alloys on an automatic R-Design V40 tried later, which was not nearly as impressive.
That car's new eight-speed auto 'box took the toil out of traffic queues and changed with an imperceptible slur of revs and will be the perfect companion for citybound users. It showed 42mpg on test, still a decent result and worth the £1,550 asking price.
The latest V40 range starts at £18,995 but you suspect a lot of sales will centre on the well equipped, diesel engined SE Nav trim model, costing £25,770 before raiding an options list that tempts as much as any German prestige car makers range.
Every V40 has a pedestrian airbag hidden under the bonnet (a world first) and the range is the safest car ever tested by the respected EuroNCAP organisation. Very Swedish, that.
