1997 Volvo S40 CD review from UK and Ireland

Nothing so far.

Very comfortable, heated leather nice.

Air con ice cold.

Genuine feeling you're in a safe and well-built car.

3-series quality on the cheap.

Carries 5 adults in relative comfort.

Top notch brakes.

Big boot and good size entrance for a saloon.

Good quality stereo as standard.

Cruise-control works at silly speeds (not like the 100kmh limit on import preludes) :)

I bought this car after having owned 3 Prelude 2.2 vtecs, so obviously the performance is far from comparable, although I was pleasantly surprised by the little touches.

The standard stereo is very good and plenty bassy enough.

The bonnet used hydraulic supports for holding it up, no fishing about for the bonnet rod thing in the dark!!!

The performance isn't too bad though considering the weight of the thing. It will accelerate quickly enough and will do 130mph (on a private test track of course!), and the brakes are excellent. Only the handling lets it down, can feel scary if a corner appears tighter than you expected it on those 60mph B roads... My car does have the 15" steelies on though, so perhaps some nice low-profile 17's and a shocker upgrade would help...