Thoughts on Volvo S40

V70s have no cooling issues.  AWD is nice in the winter, fwd is simpler, lighter, cheaper.  Pretty decent, rust free, nice seats, lots of electronics.

I have a 2008 S60 2.5T AWD.  I like it .  2005 up have fewer problems.  Are you looking new or used?  The back seat is only good for baby seats.  Turbo comes on around 2500 and pulls straight up.  No real torque steer with AWD. The main issue with cooling was the expansion tank and cap with mine. I have the automatic.   There are some suspension mods available.  The best bang for the buck is have a tune done on it, not much else out there for performance, unless you go for big $$$.

honestly, unless you are getting bumper height snow, FWD with good tyres is almost as good as AWD.

Unless you have a modded turbo car.

He's asking about the S40--smaller than the S60/V70.

I'd take your baby/child seats and see if they fit in an S40. Unless the front passenger and driver are very short I don't think the child seats will work. It's a pretty small car and baby/child seats are huge! 

I have no experience with the S40 but I've been quite pleased with the S60 AWD that my wife drives.  It's the first car we've bought for her that she and I both like.  In low traction situations the car has the FWD ease of drivability that she wife wants with the hoonability that makes me happy.

I like the way the Haldex AWD distributes power at (and a bit beyond) the limit both in low traction situations and on dry asphalt.  Torque steer is almost completely nonexistent and with up to a 60% rear bias power on oversteer is achievable in the snow although you do have to work at it.  I've used the car several times to give rides for HPD training.  The brakes aren't up to more than a couple of laps (especially with three passengers) but the chassis is stable and predictable and close enough to neutral that I can demonstrate both understeer and oversteer.

Having said (or typed) all of that if you're only looking at the AWD to reduce torque steer you should really drive the FWD version because Volvo generally does a good job of minimizing that in all of their cars.

i had a V40 for a couple years. it was great if you don't count the Exh cam wheel breaking and causing a $1600 repair, and then the oil leak that was progressively getting worse that turned out to be a cracked cyl head...so i sold the pile to the shredder. I cant say the 1.9T is a good motor, but i liked the built in child seat, im sure it stayed in reasonable shape as the crusher folded that car into a "stress cube" 

Isn't the S40 and Mazda3 a shared platform?

It is a shared platform with the 3 and the focus platform we didn't get in the US. In fact, the Focus RS used the Volvo motor as a base.  The larger brakes from the turbo S40 is a popular BBK upgrade for the Mazda 3 crowd. I had Volvo C30 sport springs and Billy struts on my old 3.

It's a small car inside so make sure everything fits in there. The 2.5L is a strong motor but pretty thirsty compared to the current stuff out there and it takes premium gas so keep that in mind. 

clutchsmoke said:

I'd take your baby/child seats and see if they fit in an S40. Unless the front passenger and driver are very short I don't think the child seats will work. It's a pretty small car and baby/child seats are huge! 

This.  The last generation shares platform with the Mazda3.  Previous generation shares an outdated Mitsubishi platform.  I'd go with at least an S60.  And, frankly, assuming you're looking at 8+ years old, the price difference will likelt be not that big.

racerdave600 said:

Isn't the S40 and Mazda3 a shared platform?

The 5 cylinder ones were.  The 4 cylinder ones were Lancers.  They were a completely different kind of car.  Altogether.

Duke said:

clutchsmoke said:

I'd take your baby/child seats and see if they fit in an S40. Unless the front passenger and driver are very short I don't think the child seats will work. It's a pretty small car and baby/child seats are huge! 

This.  The last generation shares platform with the Mazda3.  Previous generation shares an outdated Mitsubishi platform.  I'd go with at least an S60.  And, frankly, assuming you're looking at 8+ years old, the price difference will likelt be not that big.

S60s are far cheaper on the used market than S40s, which was kind of a shock when I was looking for a turbo AWD S40.

As far as "outdated" goes...  well, maybe, but they have been using that basic chassis at least up until the 2010s as it morphed its way into the Dodge Caliber.  More directly, it's basically a long wheelbase, front drive Evo III.   Most Mirage parts fit except for front suspension parts, which is the kicker - the stabilizer links attach to the struts like an EvoIII rather than to the control arms like a Mirage/Colt/whatever.

I had one for a few years... interestingly it had better brakes than the Evos did, and IMO the brakes were better than my S60R, but having around a thousand less pounds to work with kind of helps too...

The Volvo S40 is the only reason i know what a Mitsubishi Carisma is.  /irrelevant trivia factoid.

GRM moderators. Why would a brand new board member cut and paste my posting from six months ago as their own? I suspect some canoes are on the way.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/thoughts-on-volvo-s40-t5/137754/page1/

On the upside this thread had more replies than my original 

My wife loved her 05 S40.  Good size, decent interior room, no real issues other than it was a magnet.  When we traded it for her C30, the only undamaged panel on it was the passenger quarter.  She even managed to back it out of the garage with a partially opened door.  Some how, that became my fault.  I was at work at the time. :)

GTwannaB said:

GRM moderators. Why would a brand new board member cut and paste my posting from six months ago as their own? I suspect some canoes are on the way.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/thoughts-on-volvo-s40-t5/137754/page1/

On the upside this thread had more replies than my original 

That’s weird. 

Very weird. I was thinking this topic sounded familiar 

GTwannaB said:

On the upside this thread had more replies than my original 

...  That was the result the last time this happened, too.

It must be because the online GRM community is expanding.