An Ideal Road Trip Companion |
| What strikes me most about the new S40 is its very attractive exterior. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
Finally, a mini vacation! I wouldn't count my trip to Maui, Hawaii for four days in May because it was due to my best friend's sister's wedding and it was more stressful than relaxing. A vacation planned around a wedding somehow seems like an oxymoron. Nevertheless, a girlfriend of mine from New York was in town so I went up to visit her at her cabin on the lake. I'm glad I had Volvo's 2006 (a carryover from the restyled 2005 model year)
S40 to escort me on the four hour drive there and then back, because not only does it look superb, it's extremely stable at highway speeds, has adequate power and a fabulous interior - winning combination all around.
What strikes me most about the new S40 is its very attractive exterior. I would almost call it beautiful because it's so classy, sporty and well proportioned, but I'll have to reserve the 'b' word for some other subject matter. Nevertheless, its lines and curves fuse together to create an eye-catching body shell that beckons to be stared at. I, for one, loved the Passion Red paint scheme, not only because red is my favourite colour but also because it just matches the cars peppy personality.
Powering my spicy S40 tester is an all-aluminum, 2.4-litre, 20-valve, DOHC, normally aspirated, 5-cylinder engine with CVVT (continuous variable valve timing), which produces 168-horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 170 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. In all honesty, the engine wasn't the
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| While 168-horsepower seems like a sizeable herd of horses, it really wasn't as snappy in real life. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
main source of pep because I thought the S40 was a little underpowered. While 168-horsepower seems like a sizeable herd of horses, it really wasn't as snappy in real life, especially while I was driving up the highway to the lake. Passing power was minimal and I found that when I dropped from 5th to 4th gear, I still didn't get that much response from the engine. I really needed to drop it down into 3rd gear to pick up the pace, although this caused more commotion than I would have liked. There is, however, a turbocharged version available dubbed the T5, which generates 218-horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. I think this would be more suited to my driving style (wink, wink)! Not to mention the tuner-prepared Volvo S40 Evolve with a screaming 425-horsepower. You can't see this, but I am salivating!
