SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


We have designs on Volvo's uprated V40 T5 R-Design for 2015

New engine, new gearbox, new vigour

Posted: 24 May 2015

The cheat sheet
Price: R454 800 (basic)
Engine: Volvo B4204T11, 1969 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 180 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1500 and 4800 rpm
Zero to 100 m/h: 6.3 seconds
Fuel index: 7.1 l/100 km
Tank: 62 litres
Luggage: 200-896 dm3
Warranty and maintenance: 5 years/100 000 km; with roadside assistance

Same-old isn’t always same-old; sometimes it’s different-new…

We drove a Volvo V40 T5 R-Design in 2013. Since then very little, or possibly even nothing, has changed as far as bodywork, safety kit and standard fittings are concerned. But there are two important differences for 2015 – the new, smaller and slightly less powerful Drive-E engine and a subtly revised Aisin-Warner twin clutch gearbox. Together they transform Volvo’s V40 T5 flagship car from a hands-full street fighter, with thirst for organic fluids, into an executive express with conscience.

Let’s look at the mechanicals:
The old, 2497 cc Volvo / Ford T5 turbopetrol motor produced 187 kilowatts at 5400 rpm and 360 Nm of  torque between 1800 and 4200 rpm, it sprinted from 0 – 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds and Car magazine calculated its average fuel needs at 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres.

The new, 1969 cc Drive-E turbopetrol engine produces 180 kW at 5500 rpm and 350 Nm of torque between 1500 and 4800 rpm, powers through the dash in 6.3 seconds and uses 7.1 l/100 according to the same source’s miraculous abacus. Car and Driver says the new engine weighs about 45 kg less than the old one, implying that the 2015 car should be less nose-heavy than its predecessor. So there you have the basics; a touch more vigour, better front-to-rear balance and a lot less appetite.
 
But the secret part of the formula is in the transmission. Aisin-Warner added a further two-ratio clutch pack and front double pinion, widened the spread slightly in the lower gears and brought upper sets closer together for smoother power delivery and better economy. Then, to cap it all, they fitted it into a casing the same size as the original.

Outwardly, the Geartronic shifter is the same as before; stick-only, no paddles and you slide the lever to the left for Sport reactivity with manual override selections forward and backward from centre. Like most such modes, its first reaction is to gear down a cog or two, kickdown becomes quicker and throttle response sharpens. A neat feature is that Eco driving style, if selected previously, switches off automatically.

Regardless of mode, the gearbox seems to instinctively maintain the best ratio for whatever is going on at any given moment, so the car is always ready to react. This is as it should be, of course, but not every manufacturer gets it right. The point is that, treated appropriately, it’s quick, responsive and ego-balm to drive.

While still nicely weighted, the steering felt lighter than we remembered from the previous T5 –a bonus courtesy of the svelter engine. Then the suspension; it’s still pretty harsh, as probably fancied by boy racers everywhere, but new technology means it’s no longer strictly necessary. Perhaps it’s time to tame it.

There isn’t much point in re-describing the fixtures, fittings, safety kit and spatial accommodations in this vehicle because we have been over those already. They’re in our articles on the previous R-Design car and the V40 Cross Country, so please just follow the  highlighted links.

Finally, a public service announcement: Wide, low-profile tyres with high speed ratings, like the 225/40 ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport3 rubber fitted to our test rig, are often hard to get. That’s especially true on the day you hit a pothole far from anywhere and the supplied spacesaver isn’t up to the long journey home. Gregory Lawson, our local Tiger Wheel and Tyre store manager, told us that the ruling price was R2611 each including VAT but balancing and alignment is extra. Michelin SA had a dozen in stock that day, he continued, while Tiger had “sufficient” on hand nationally.

Test car from Volvo Cars SA press fleet


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.