Volvo V50 RANGE
Volvos V50 Offers A Sophisticated Selection In The Compact Estate Sector. Andy Enright Reports
Say to most people that you drive a
Volvo estate and theyll think of you as some sort of automotive Lovejoy, wheeling and dealing with a pristine Queen Anne oak dresser nestling amid a four pillowfuls of dog hair in the back. Well forget all of that. The latest V50 is one of the new breed of Sportwagon style estates that offer a little of what icky marketeers would refer to as lifestyle versatility.
Now forgive us a little cynicism here, but when terms like lifestyle are wheeled out, were usually expected to believe that this car will be bought by twenty and thirtysomethings with pearly teeth, more snowboards, windsurfers and mountain bikes than they know what to do with and genetically perfect offspring who arent about to hick up a bunch of Dairylea over the upholstery. In reality it means slamming the eight foot loft ladder youve just bought from BandQ through the tailgate glass resulting in a moment of overwhelming personal inadequacy. Volvo are quite upfront about the V50s limited carrying capacity, gladly pointing those in need of more taxing load lugging requirements in the direction of the chunky V70 estate. Thats not to say the V50 is but a pretty face.
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It may be 2mm shorter than its V40 predecessor, but its a full 27mm taller and 54mm wider, giving a good deal more room to spread out inside. The packaging is also a good deal cleverer, the wheel at each corner design making the wheelbase a massive 78mm longer with the track (the distance between the wheel on an axle) 63mm wider. This planted, foursquare feel endows the V50 with a better handling balance than the V40 it replaces. A bodyshell thats a massive 34 per cent stiffer also allows the suspension to function more effectively given that the shocks and springs can concentrate on what the wheels are doing rather than a chassis thats also gurning about under load.
Volvo claim the V50 is designed to go head to head with cars like the
BMW 3 Series Touring and the
Audi A4 Avant, although pricing will pit it closer in reality to the
Saab 9-3 Estate in a niche just below these premium models. Its a wise choice and at first glance, the Volvo manages to marry the bulletproof feel of the top German cars with a keen price. As ever with Swedish cars, youll also get a good deal more horsepower per pound.
"BMW and Audi may get a rather shapely dent in their revenue stream when sales of the Volvo V50 take off"
The range opens at £17,853 with a choice of S, Sport, SE and SE Sport trim levels. Improvements for the latest model year see S and Sport models gain cruise control, steering wheel remote audio controls, a rear 12V socket and grocery bag holder. SE and SE Sport models gain a power driver
seat with memory as standard. New colours (including Brilliant Blue) and a choice of three new alloy wheels are also included.
Engine-wise, as before, there are 1.6 and 125bhp 1.8-litre petrol units, plus a four-cylinder 2.0-litre 136bhp diesel.
Plusher models come with five cylinder petrol engines, either a 170bhp 2.4-litre powerplant or the searing 220bhp T5 offered with either two or four-wheel drive. The V50 rides on the same basic chassis set up as the
Ford Focus C-MAX, the Mazda3 and the forthcoming Volvo XC50 compact 4x4, as well as Land Rovers latest sub-Freelander baby. Thats not to say the V50 is simply a rebodied Focus.
Although the underbody, subframes and suspension layouts are the same on all these models, theres vast scope for tuning of individual aspects so all will drive differently. Volvo havent skimped when it comes to safety, and they claim that the V50 is as good to crash in as the flagship S80 saloon. Making a small car as safe as a big un takes some doing and its only when you look at some of the finer points of how Volvo have achieved this that you realise quite what this commitment means. It involves casting the turbo housing as one with the exhaust manifold so that the engine is more compact when mounted transversely, giving more space for crush zones.
It means developing the Intelligent Driver Information System which monitors how hard youre using the throttle, brakes and steering and will hold incoming telephone calls or satellite navigation instructions until things have calmed down so as not to distract you in the middle of a manoeuvre. It means using four different grades of high tensile steel for crash protection. Would the V50 look a little sexier with BMW-style flame-surfaced concave flanks? Probably. But side impact protection involves having as much deformation space as possible which is why its slab-sided to keep its occupants looking good.
All too often, we hear about innovations in car design and what we really get is moderately incremental changes. The V50 and S40 models feature a number of styling touches which weve genuinely never seen before. The exterior wont get too many pulses racing, effectively resembling a shrunken S60, but the cabin is a delight. Volvo interiors are traditionally odd things.
Although they work supremely well, they are often clunkily designed with scant regard for the sort of slickness that separates them from rivals. Little of the design flair we usually associate with the Scandinavians has traditionally seemed to translate into their cars. The spaceball gear selector in the S60 showed that Volvo could come up with some neat ideas and the V50 takes the spaceball and runs with it. The key design feature is a centre console thats a softly contoured moulding featuring supremely easy to use controls and fresh air behind it.
You can specify wood, aluminium, plastic or semi-transparent plastic finishes and everybody who gets in will notice it. This is probably the neatest interior design feature weve come across since the Audi TT was launched. Like the TTs cabin. the V50s feels like it has just rolled off a motor show stand.
Not what youd expect from a Volvo estate. Something tells us that BMW and Audi may get a rather shapely dent in their revenue stream when sales of the Volvo V50 take off, as they surely will. Its about as far from antique dealer chic as its possible to get which is probably the stated aim. The V50 proves that small can indeed be beautiful when it comes to estates.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Volvo V50 range
PRICES: £17,853-£26,668 on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-15
CO2 EMISSIONS: 154-229g/km
PERFORMANCE: [T5] Max Speed 149mph / 0-62mph 6.9s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [T5] (combined) 31.2mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBA / DSTC traction control / WHIPS whiplash protection / SIPS side impact protection
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4468/1770/1452mm
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