Chic comfort

What we like:

Peppy engine; quality interior

What we dislike:

Slightly complicated infotainment system; doesn’t get many bells and whistles

Little else has changed on the outside so there’s nothing new to report.

However I wouldn’t be doing the quality department at Volvo any justice if I didn’t reiterate just how good the interior is.

Everywhere you look you’ll see quality materials; there are no sharp or nasty plasticky nonsense and the controls are laid out in a manner that’s not difficult to identify. Getting the basic controls down is as simple as it gets these days, but attempting to understand the Sensus infotainment system might require some time. You also get an interesting dashboard display that has gauges reminiscent of a certain El Primero powered Grand Carrera. Hmm.

There are quite a lot of buttons in the centre console, something you don’t see too much these days with all the integrated systems found on the various German makes. It’s not a bad look to me, and placed on the floating centre console that is a hallmark of Volvo’s interior design it really lends the brand a unique look of its own. The dial buttons are also actually a lot more logical to use; there’s no touchpad for you to attempt writing with your left hand while navigating CTE at peak hour. You simply punch in the number you want to dial and that’s it. Assuming of course you remember anyone’s number.

The seats are comfortable and supportive, also made of soft leather that could put some cars priced double what the V40 is to shame. Volvo makes some of the best seats in the business, so it won’t take long for anyone to find a sweet spot with the electrically adjustable driver’s seat.

Being a Volvo, safety systems are obligatory. You get City Safety as standard, where the car will stop itself when you’re going below 50 km/h before you hit the car in front of you pulling out of a slip road with your eyes to the oncoming traffic.

We already concluded that the V40 was a comfort oriented car that would also whet the appetite of young couples who want something chic looking in the R-design spec. With this new T2 engine in basic guise, the V40 still doesn’t get very far from that idea; only it’s a whole lot cheaper and doesn’t drive any worse.

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio