2005 Volvo S40 T5

Serious sport sedan poise, without shunning the Volvo personality.

As a former Volvo owner, with several friends who currently own Volvos, I had to answer a few more questions than usual when driving Volvo's new S40 T5 sport sedan. Volvos, especially those from the past few years, have taken on a new luxurious and sporty character while not forgetting about the brand's roots in safety, utility, and all-weather ability. Being upright and boxy was the anti-style statement that many buyers were comfortable with, and not every owner of older Volvos is so comfortable with this new, overtly fashionable side.

But for attracting more buyers to Volvo, this gradual image change that Volvos are seeing is surely a good thing. Since 1999, Volvo has been owned by Ford Motor Co., and Ford and Volvo have since wisely coexisted, with Ford allowing the Swedes enough design and engineering independence while they can take advantage of Ford's global reaches.

So it shouldn't come as a great surprise that the S40 wasn't developed only in Sweden ; rather it's based on the same platform as the Mazda3 and the European-market Ford Focus. But for those die-hard Volvo fans, rest assured, it's readily apparent that Sweden still had a lot of control over this car.

The old S40 a very competent and comfortable small sedan, but it was a bit cramped inside and was just short of the standards of refinement and poise of compact premium leaders like the BMW 3-Series or the Audi A4. It was also the odd model out in Volvo's lineup, feeling quite different than the rest of the modern Volvos.

Worldly, but all Volvo

Design-wise, inside and out, the new S40 is all in the family. It looks like much like an S60 - with the proportions tweaked a bit. Some elements, like the headlights and front fascia are very sleek and Audi-like, hinting at what is to come style-wise in the larger Volvos. The dash and switchgear will feel very familiar if you've driven any Volvo from the past decade.

Underhood, the sense of family identity is also brought in. The S40 now uses Volvo's familiar family of in-line five-cylinder engines, originally introduced on the 850 nearly fifteen years ago. It's transversely mounted, and a crossways-mounted five in a small car would normally be a very difficult fit. But intake and exhaust manifolds, and many of the engine's external components, have been completely redesigned for compactness, with engine dimensions 7.8 inches slimmer and an inch shorter than the version installed in Volvo's larger cars. This, according to Volvo, also allows more front-impact crumple space between the engine and the cabin.

The new car is actually shorter than the previous S40, although the wheelbase is now more than three inches longer, allowing more cabin space than before. The new car is only slightly wider, but the beltline is noticeably higher.

Like the rest of the Volvo Cars lineup, the S40 has a four-wheel independent suspension, with a multi-link setup in the back. Chassis development and tuning was done in a similar fashion and layout as the S60, V70, and S80 models, which are all based on what Volvo calls the P2 platform.

"Flat-panel" dash

The centerpiece of the dashboard is a special thin control stack, allowing the footwell to pass through behind it. It reminded us of the snazzy flat-panel monitors that everyone's upgraded to in the past couple of years. The LCD displays for climate/sound system feature a gray/black lettering on a green background - not the best during daylight, but they look better with more backlighting at night.

Front seat occupants will be very comfortable in the T5. The seats are quite short - differing vastly from the long, supportive seats in the S80 - but it's easy to get into a decent driving position, and the telescopic steering wheel offers a wide range of adjustability compared to most small sedans. When the front seats are near the back of their travel, the back seat is extremely tight - definitely a kids-only space most of the time, which can be expected of a car this size. The trunk opening is narrow, but the trunk is surprisingly roomy.