2003 Volvo V40 Wagon

From The Driver's Seat

Volvos as a rule were never luxurious cars to sit in.

The IKEA image fits--comfortable, spacious, spare. That image is changing with the new XC90 and the Cross Country version of the V70 wagon, but the V40 is more like the old-school Volvos. Yes, our tester had heated front seats and aluminum trim on the dash and doors, and metal door pulls (this metallic trim, by the way, is called the Cyborg package), but the fabric seats with leather bolsters were decidedly un-glam.

Supportive, and comfortable, yes, with lumbar adjustments, but we're not talking Audi- or BMW-level luxury. You can get leather seats in the V40, and given that the fabric ones--beige with a gold crosshatch pattern--reminded us of a 1970s pantsuit, we'd recommend springing for the more upscale attire ($2,495 buys leather perches and lots of other extras such as an audio system upgrade).

One thing worth praising is the seating position itself. Volvo really focuses on the driving posture, allowing you to sit upright, arms slightly bent, but still far enough from the dash and the pedals to be safe and comfortable for long hours.

Yes, other cars with steering wheels that tilt and telescope make this possible as well, but Volvos seem to fit more drivers more comfortably, which is probably an outgrowth of the company's obsession with safety. Smaller women, especially, usually have to sit too close to the airbag. If you can design a car from the start with the pedals closer but a wheel that telescopes far enough, even a smaller driver can sit at a safe distance from the wheel.

Volvo should also be praised for not skimping on safety. Although the V40 is its cheapest wagon, it still gets standard dual front-passenger airbags, side bags, full-length ceiling airbags (in case of rollover or an SUV riding up on the side of the V40), anti-whiplash seats (that move with the impact so there's less rebound) and pretensioning safety belts that prevent the driver or front passenger from moving forward on initial impact.

Often, Volvo says, such standard safety provisions woo customers the way other brands capture buyers with higher-grade leathers and plastics.

That might be true; BMW still doesn't sell that many of its ($31,095) 3 series wagons, even when compared with Volvo V40 sales. But VW Passat wagon sales are stronger, and we think that's because the VW is comparably sized but can be had for about $23,000 with decent interior amenities. And both the Volvo and Volkswagen look several degrees swankier inside than the affordable but bare bones $19,495 Subaru Legacy wagon. Also, these European cars offer a bit livelier handling as well.

For its part, the 1.9-liter turbocharged V40 is surprisingly quick. Its torque, at 177 foot-pounds, arrives at only 1,800 rpm, so there's very little turbo lag, and acceleration is smart and engaging. Grip is also impressive; our tester came equipped with four snow ties, which usually makes for degraded adhesion on dry roads, but the V40 still handled a lot more tightly than you might imagine. This isn't a Porsche, but there's no chassis roll even during aggressive driving.

An intelligent addition to check off when ordering the V40 is the $850 Value Package that includes heated front seats and headlamp washers--and stability control. The latter uses the antilock brakes to selectively slow the rotation of any single wheel in case of skid, which in turn will pull the car out of a slide more quickly. This feature is also available on the Passat, and it's something we would purchase on any car because it just makes for safer driving.

Three niggles about the V40.

First, the 1.9-liter engine isn't well mated to its transmission. The latter doesn't downshift quickly enough, so when climbing a winding hill you're constantly stabbing the gas to engage a downshift, then backing off when the turbo kicks in and gives you more acceleration than you wanted. A quicker-downshifting transmission or one with better grade algorithms (many transmissions today sense the steepness of a hill and won't upshift to a higher gear until the car's cleared the hill) would be smarter for this small motor.

Also, the steering is a bit darty. The weighting is fine during highway jaunts and around town, but during acceleration it grows imprecise, with all that sudden torque spinning through the tires fighting any feel and producing an uneasy vagueness.

Lastly, dual front cupholders aren't large enough for a big Poland Spring bottle, somewhat of an oversight on Volvo's part if it wants to catch buyers who might otherwise go for a small SUV, where we all know cupholders are big and plentiful.

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