Through courtesy of Hi Class Autos in Chonburi, I was
given the opportunity of an extended road test on the new Volvo V40 Estate
5 door. I must admit that I was never a great fan of the Volvo marque,
finding their previous offerings boxy and dull. Perhaps very safe, but in
the end you’d get bored to death!
However, the company realized this was the impression
in the minds of the majority and a few years back began to do something to
change the image. The first was to enter the old boxy Volvo estates in the
British Touring Car Championship. All of a sudden, Volvo were racing at
the pointy end of a very competitive championship! While this may have
impressed some people, old cynics like me were not. A race driver knows
just how little is left in common between a racing saloon and its every
day brother that takes Mum and the kids to the supermarkets.
The
Volvo V40 T4 estate has changed all that. Suddenly, here is a Volvo that
does not look like an enlarged cardboard box. It has round sweeping
curves! It looks smooth and svelte! It even looks sexy! And in the T4
version, the 2 litre turbo engine produces 200 bhp. All of a sudden Volvo
have produced on paper, a good looking rocket ship.
Driving down the streets, this car was certainly a head
turner. In gleaming midnight black, initially many people did not believe
that this was a Volvo. It was one of the few cars (especially estates)
that looks good from every angle. The slightly rear high hip line with its
dropped nose looks purposeful, and the very rounded aspect of the rear of
the car is the best tail treatment I have seen on an estate.
So how did it perform? Well, the factory claim a 0-100
kph time of 8 seconds, and even though I did not put it up against the
watch, it felt quicker than that. Again, the quoted top speed is 230 kph
and I am happy to believe them, Sukhumvit Road is not the place to test
that side of things.
Of course, safety is still an important selling point
for Volvo, and they have attacked the problem in the correct way, with
Active and Passive safety. I define Active safety as a fence at the top of
the cliff, while Passive safety is an ambulance at the bottom! On the
Active side there is an excellent ABS system on the 4 wheel disc brakes.
This is enhanced with an EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution) system that
apportions the majority braking effort to either end of the car. There is
also what Volvo call Dynamic Stability Assistance (DSA) that monitors the
grip of the front driving wheels and will reduce engine torque within 25
milliseconds if either wheel begins to slip.
On the Passive side, the air bags are now dual stage,
and there is an inflatable curtain inside the head lining to protect the
heads of the occupants. All excellently developed from the original air
bag concepts.
Highway driving was a breeze in the Volvo. The almost
complete absence of wind noise or engine noise was excellent. The only
time you could hear the motor was with full turbo assist acceleration, and
even then it was not intrusive. And with the full boost of the T4 engine,
passing was also very easy. However, there was the usual turbo “lag”,
so you had to depress the go pedal just that little bit before you
normally would with a non-turbo engine car. This sounds more complicated
than it really is - it’s just something you get used to driving turbo
cars.
All the niceties and driving comforts were there,
including adjustable lumbar supports in the electrically operated seats,
and little washer/wipers on the headlights when you operate the screen
washers. First time you use the screen washer at night can take you aback
however, with ghostly shadowy “arms” waving on the road in front of
you, till you realize the headlight wipers are working too! Of course,
there’s air-con, trip meters, fuel consumption readouts, music and
everything else you would expect from a car with this price tag.
But I was more interested in the handling and feeling
of the car, and quite frankly, this Volvo V40 T4 opened my eyes. It is a
very fast, sporty estate that can carry five adults and plenty of luggage,
or two adults and a humungous amount of luggage with the back seats folded
down, at high speeds and great comfort.
In retrospect, that was probably the high point of the
car - even with all the delivered performance factors, the comfort of
driver and passengers had not been compromised. In a word, I liked it very
much and it has changed my attitude towards Volvos. They are a driver’s
car after all!
Last week I asked which Japanese sports car started off
life as a Nissan, but then was built by Yamaha and called a Toyota and was
styled by an American famous for his BMW’s?
The
answer was the Toyota 2000 GT. This had been commissioned by Nissan from
the styling house of Goertz in New York and a running prototype was built
for them by Yamaha. However, Nissan backed out of the deal and Yamaha sold
it to Toyota. However, Toyota farmed the work back out to Yamaha who built
the first production models. I always said the motor car business was
incestuous - but that one almost takes the cake, but still not as
convoluted as the STD - Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq cars which were all
marketed under different names, depending upon which country you bought it
in!
And so to this week’s quiz question - and it’s an
easy one. The Sunbeam Tiger was the Ford V8 engine car, whose prototype
was built by Carroll Shelby (yes, the AC Cobra Shelby). Why was it given
the name “Tiger”?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email automania@pattayamail.com
