2013 Volvo V40 D2 Review
After spending two weeks with a Volvo V40 and covering over 3,100 km, I felt like I well and truly knew what this car would be like to own.
The Volvo V40 was owned by Hertz, and I rented it from Oslo, Norway to Brussels, Belgium. Hertz were the only company I could find willing to do this rental.
Overall the car is pretty good. The styling is crisp, and it is different enough that it doesn’t look like everything else on the road. Like many modern cars, the visibility (both front and rear) is pretty poor, and while a reversing camera and sensor does help, it is no substitute for actually being able to see out of the rear of the vehicle. From the front, the long and thick A pillars interfere with your view, and the high waistline means you have less viability from the side too.
Unlike most cars I’ve rented, the interior is actually quite nice – the plastics are good quality and the seats are quite supportive for long drives. As it is quite a small car, you do sometimes lack for elbow room when you are carrying a passenger, but the passenger soon gets used to giving the driver enough space. Rather amusingly there is a slot where you’re supposed to put the key that says ‘keyless’ and while the key doesn’t have to be there, it is still required to use the car. It is also impossible to start the car unless the clutch is fully depressed, even if the car is in neutral.
There is not much rear legroom, but the rear seats to fold down, and there are nice touches such as when you do so, the headrests easily fold out of the way to create a level carrying surface. Boot space is decent, and can be extended by folding down the rear seats in a 60/40 arrangement.
The Volvo V40 is equipped with auto stop/start which I found rather irritating, and while I think it can be switched off, the on board computer was all in Norwegian, and I couldn’t find how to change it to English. Having said that, I was able to work out all the important functions of the car (headlights, wipers, radio, etc) without English, and was even able to pair my bluetooth phone. One minor annoyance was that there was no 12v port near the dashboard where you would put a GPS, they were both down hear the handbrake – one in the drinks compartment and one under the arm rest.
Driving the car – it felt sure footed and with the 6 speed manual gearbox it had adequate power. You do have to use the gearbox – The car is not light and the engine has zero power below about 1800rpm, so you’re changing gears a lot. The electric steering isn’t too bad – it has a bit of a lack of feel, but not in a hugely noticeable way. The engine is quite smooth and does not have much of the distinctive diesel sound that diesel cars had even a few years ago – in fact you don’t really hear the engine at all above the tire noise which is substantial. Despite being a 1.6 liter diesel powering a heavy car, I was able to reach 199km/h on the autobahn, but hit even a minor incline and you’ll drift down to 180km/h. I never was able to crack the 200, even after repeated attempts running for long distances flat out.
The best thing about this car though is the fuel consumption. We got around 800km out of the tank even with autobahn and city driving at times. Much better than a hybrid.
To sum it up, this car was much better than I was expecting as a rental!
