What they said when the Volvo V50 was new… (Feb 25 2004)
THE super Swedes have produced another stylish stunner in the shape of the new V50.
Volvo gave us a flavour of this car when they launched its saloon sibling the S40 back in the autumn of last year.
It impressed with its slick design and fresh interior, and the V50 Sportswagon is just as good if not better.
With striking looks that are a blend of the new S40 saloon and the larger V70 estate, the newcomer continues the complete transformation of the Volvo image.
Indeed, it is so much better than the car it replaces, the V40, that you cannot compare them. It really is a question of night and day.
Now more of a trendy upmarket lifestyle vehicle than a load lugger, the V50 is very good looking and will provide real competition to its BMW and Audi rivals.
It may be easy on the eye and a joy to ride in thanks to its cracking interior, but what really impresses about this new estate is the driving experience.
It is light years ahead of the old model thanks to its new platform which is shared with the S40 and the forthcoming new Ford Focus.
It offers an extremely supple ride over any type of surface and is probably Volvo's best driving car to date.
The new electro-hydraulic power steering is totally accurate and combined with the responsive chassis it simply glides through corners.
Even when pushing extremely hard, the V50 refuses to understeer and it stays neutral all the way to its limits.
The ABS-backed braking system means that the Volvo stops quickly and in a straight line and the driving experience is improved even further by the use of the company's DTSC traction control system, which keeps wheelspin in check even on slippery surfaces.
And we certainly needed help on rain soaked Spanish test roads which also featured a large amount of mud from heavy lorries.
Being a Volvo, the car is of course packed with safety features and its strong construction certainly makes you feel safe.
Asked what NCAP rating he expected the car to achieve, Volvo's Director of Public Affairs John Lefley rather neatly pointed out: "We do not engineer cars to get stars in the way that some other manufacturers do.
"We engineer them to be as safe as possible and therefore we don't just build them to look good in certain types of test.
"With that in mind we haven't had the car tested yet but we are confident it exceeds our usual safety standards which are the best in the industry."
And we certainly got dramatic evidence of that the following morning when two Irish motoring journalists had a run-in with a Spanish truck.
The left side of the new V50 looked completely shredded but the SIPS system and the airbags and side curtains did their work and the shaken journalists were able to walk away without as much as a scratch.
I sampled two different versions of the new V50 which is being produced at Volvo's plant in Ghent, Belgium.
Some 74.000 will be built each year for global consumption, with around 8,000 of them scheduled to come to the UK.
My favourite of the two was the 136bhp 2.0-litre diesel which offers a fabulous blend of performance and economy.
This engine is the latest oil burner to be developed jointly by Ford and the French PSA group and can reach 60mph in 9.6 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 136mph.
It offers great surge through all its six gears and yet is still capable of returning 49.6 miles to every gallon on the combined cycle and 61.4mpg on the extra urban.
The diesel will cost £18,613 in generous S trim and £20,863 in the more lavish SE form. I also had a brief session with the 220bhp T5 which costs £24,963 and is a stunning performer in either six-speed manual or five-speed auto form.
It can sprint to 60mph in 6.9 seconds and doesn't run out of puff until it hits 149mph (apparently). The trade-off is that the combined mpg of the T5 is only 32.1, so you are paying for the performance.
Both cars were great to drive on all kinds of roads and both share the same excellent interior.
The cabin is a super place to be with some really clever touches, including that free-floating centre console which can now be ordered in a variety of materials to make it even more attractive and trendy.
There is plenty of room for five adults to sit in comfort and enjoy a really first class sound system. Surprisingly, although the vehicle is bigger than the car it replaces, the only downside is that there is less carrying capacity.
It seems that styling also has its price, as there is now 417 litres of space with the split/fold rear seats in position and 1,307 litres with them folded. This is actually 114 less than the current V40.
However, it is a worthwhile price to pay for great looks, a cracking drive and a superb interior.
The newcomer adds even greater style and desirability to Volvo's line-up and is sure to become a star in 2004.
Words: John Murdoch
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