Blue Thunder

What we like:

Handling

Performance

Styling

Very easy to like and live with

What we dislike:

Infotainment is way too old school

18” rims are not the best for comfort

Boot could have been better planned

There is a good sense that Volvo engineers had planned the instrument binnacle well. The digital display is ideal for quick glances when driving at speed, with the large speedo digits smack-in-the-middle. Good when you are going past Singapore’s very sensitive speed cameras.

The facelifted car gets a bump in power by way of a 2.0 turbocharged T4 engine with a six-speed cog-swopper, the same one found in the Cross Country model. With 187bhp on tap and 300Nm of twist, available from a low 1,300rpm, we can be certain that the V40 is no Golf GTi, but it is certainly rapid enough in acceleration, with the century sprint timing clocked at a shade below 7 seconds. In other words, a mere 0.5 seconds slower than the Golf… close enough!

With a wheelbase of 2,647mm, just a wee bit longer than the VW’s, and a little shorter than say… the MINI Clubman’s 2,670mm, the Volvo, with its slightly more relaxed suspension travel provides for a very comfortable ride. Handling is also fabulous, with good feedback from the steering, and you always have a sense of where the rear of the car is headed.

Our R-Design package, though pretty, would mean that you get the larger 18” rim option, which delivers a rather jarring ride over more uneven roads, and the car seems to like to skip a little on them when push harder on these surfaces. The entry Momentum trim version of this car though gets a set of 16” rims, which we feel are more ideal for ride comfort, without much compromise on handling of the car.

Within the cabin, noise from outside elements is minimal; allowing you to enjoy the pretty good sound system, though there is a bit of a drone coming from the 2.0 working up in-front.

The V40 may not be the most perfect in every sense, but where it does make (plenty of) sense, at least for me, is that it is actually quite a value premium buy. And with some clever negotiation, the base Momentum could go for about $119k and fancier R-Design model for $10k more.

While you can consider the Mini Clubman, which boasts go-kart handling (and it does actually) and the much more expensive Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake, the V40 does the job very well, if you can get past its not-so-fab infotainment system.

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