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Volvo V50 2005 4dr Station Wagon T5 A SR Reviews Impression
Volvo V50 2005 4dr Station Wagon T5 A SR Reviews Impression
2005 Volvo V50 T5 4dr Station Wagon T5 A SR
- Original MSRP:
- $30,010
- Vehicle Class:
- Small Station Wagon
- Fuel Type:
- Premium unleaded
- MPG:
- 21 city / 29 hwy
- Warranties
- Basic:
- 4 Years / 50,000 Miles
- Drivetrain:
- 4 Years / 50,000 Miles
- Roadside:
- 4 Years
- Rust:
- 8 Years
2005 Volvo V50 T5 Reviews
- Body Style: Wagon
- Vehicle Size: Compact
- MSRP: $30010.00
- Mileage: 21
- Fuel Type: Premium unleaded
- Fuel Capacity: 16.30
- Horsepower:
- Seating Capacity:5
- Build Location: Ghent, Belgium
Overview:
The Volvo S40 is all-new. It comes loaded with features for a very competitive price. For starters, the base price of $24,190 is $510 less than the current S40. Standard equipment includes a 2.4-liter five-cylinder engine, curtain and side-impact airbags, projector-type headlamps, and ABS with EBD, which electronically balances the braking.Volvo says the primary engineering challenge was to get the same safety in the S40's small package that's in the flagship S80 sedan. To that end It has been designed using something called VIVA, for Volvo Intelligent Vehicle Architecture. What appears to be an unprecedented amount of time, research, testing and detail has gone into the construction of the chassis and body in the interest of crash protection. There are several zones of deformation upon impact, built with different strengths of steel depending on that zone's function: conventional, high strength, extra high strength and ultra high strength steel.
The S40 was launched as a 2004 1/2 model in January 2004, but it's essentially a 2005 model. The previous S40 line (2004 and older) was vast and the new S40 line will likewise grow over the next couple of years. The all-new 2004 1/2 models come with front-wheel drive and a five-speed automatic; 2005 models offer all-wheel drive and a six-speed manual gearbox as well. Also available for 2005: a V50 sport wagon.
The new S40 looks like a sports sedan, particularly when fitted with the optional 17-inch Saggita alloy wheels. The design is clean and elegant, Scandinavian simplicity. Inside, the S40 represents a sharp departure from previous Volvo designs, and the new interior is comfortable and convenient.
On the road, the S40 is stable and relaxed. Even at high speeds, it can easily run with expensive sedans from BMW and Mercedes. The turbocharged T5 engine is wonderfully smooth, with quick but linear acceleration performance. The entry-level 2.4i engine feels nearly as quick and is just as smooth. The five-speed automatic is smooth and responsive. The suspension is firm but not jarring, offering an ideal balance of ride and handling, and the brakes are excellent. The all-new Volvo S40 is a superb sports sedan.
It's easy to put the new S40 in a nutshell: it's a smaller version of the S60. The old S40, with its four-cylinder engine, was nothing like that. But the five-cylinder engines in the new S40 allow it to be built just like its big brothers, including even the S80. And because it was designed on the heels of the sensational S60R high-performance sedan, a lot of what was learned with the S60R was applied to the S40.
The engine used in the S40 2.4i is not quite the same dual-overhead-cam five-cylinder engine with variable camshaft timing that Volvo uses in its current sedans, wagons and SUVs; most of the external components, from alternator to manifolds to air conditioning compressor, have been designed for a compactness that makes the transversely mounted engine package 7.8 inches thinner and 1 inch shorter. This was all done in holistic pursuit of building the frontal deformation zone for crash safety.
The turbocharged engine in the S40 T5 is wonderfully smooth. Its acceleration is quick and linear, with a broad power curve allowing it to evenly gain speed throughout the rev range. But it should be good; it's the same size as the S60's, but it's being asked to make less horsepower. At 80 miles per hour, with the five-speed automatic transmission, it's only loafing along at 2500 rpm, so there's a lot of power to spare.
We drove the T5 for more than 200 miles, many of them in the wide-open California desert where we were able to open 'er up. The T5 is comfortable at high speed, very stable and relaxed. In fact it's ready and even eager for more. This is one small car that can be a great Autobahn cruiser, able to run with the big boys, the expensive 130-mph BMWs, Mercedes and Audis. It was so stable at high speeds it didn't feel like a front-wheel-drive car at all.
Our test model had the electronically controlled five-speed automatic transmission, which features a manual shift mode, and we couldn't have been happier with it. The upshift from fourth to fifth gear was so smooth that we only knew it was happening by observing the tach needle drop. And in the manual mode, it actually let us control what gear we wanted to be in, without stepping in and overriding our wishes. It's the same transmission that's used in the 300-horsepower S60R, so it's bulletproof in the S40.
The S40 uses the same suspension design as the S60 and S80, with geometry that has been calculated for quickness and precision. We drove for a stretch at 30-40 mph over a terrible surface with a lot of big rough patches, and it was clear the suspension was firm but it was never jarring. We could feel the wheels moving, but it wasn't getting to our hands or butt, or the body of the car.
We drove up into the mountains over a fast, smooth and winding road, with lots of hard braking and abrupt changing of direction. In that situation the suspension approached its limit and stiffer would have been nice; but that situation was already faster than 95 percent of drivers will take even the T5. The S40 suspension wasn't made for that, as it shouldn't be; if it were, it would have been uncomfortable on the slower and rougher surface. Every suspension has a range, and the S40's range is right on the money. The available Dynamic suspension has slightly stiffer springs and bushings (about 20 percent, according to Volvo).
The steering is electro-hydraulic with light, distinct and controlled feedback. We took those words verbatim out of the S40 press kit. This is something we wouldn't normally ever do, but it's perfectly true. Our own notebook words were: 'firm, tight, the right amount of resistance.'
The torque steer normally inherent in front-wheel-drive cars was minimal to the point of insignificance. Years ago it was a problem in Volvos, but engineers have been whittling away at erasing it with improved halfshafts and universal joints.
We used the brakes a lot, and they were.
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