Volvo S40

The Volvo S40 is a series of subcompact executive cars marketed and produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1995 to 2012, offered as a more mainstream alternative to the compact executive Volvo 850 and later the Volvo S60 to compete in a lower pricing bracket. The S40 was more or less positioned against premium-leaning small family cars like the Volkswagen Jetta, as well as some mass-market large family cars.
The first generation was introduced in 1995 with the S40 and V40 cars.
The second generation was released in 2003, and the estate variant became differentiated from the sedan, having its name changed to V50.
The range was replaced by the Volvo V40 five door hatchback in 2012.

First generation (1995–2004)

During August 1995, Volvo released its new series, intending to call the cars S4 and F4. However, as Audi had already reserved the "S4" name, Volvo opted to name the range S40, and V40. These cars were manufactured at the Nedcar factory at Born in the Netherlands and based on a common platform with the Mitsubishi Carisma, later used by the Proton Waja. They were also the last Volvos to be produced at the Born plant; a lineage that had begun in the early 1970s with Volvo's collaboration with DAF that had led to the Volvo 66 and the Volvo 300 series.
In the United Kingdom, it costs approximately 50% more than the related Mitsubishi Carisma. The car helped change perceptions of Volvo: "The S40/V40 range was the car that finally persuaded buyers that Volvo really could build a credible compact executive car", reported the RAC. For the 2000 model year, Volvo expanded the S40/V40's market to North America, where this range went on sale exclusively with the 1.9 liter turbo.
The V40, with a drag coefficient of 0.32, was the first whole model to be introduced under the direction of the British designer Peter Horbury, Volvo’s design director and was marketed in Australia, South America and the Far East. The V40 was named the "Most Beautiful Estate Car in the World" at an Italian award ceremony. The official premiere was at the Frankfurt Motor Showin September 1995, with the V40 premiering in December 1995, at the Bologna Motor Show.
In July 2000, Volvo updated the 40 Series, implementing several technical improvements, including improved engine management, diesel direct fuel injection, extra safety features, larger brake discs, new front suspension and steering, revised rear suspension, larger tyres and a wider track.
A minor facelift gave more streamlining, slightly different front wings and front bumper, and larger front indicators, as well as minor instruments and fascia redesign.
In late 2002, there was a subtle update to the range. On the outside, there was a new "egg crate" style grille and colour-keyed trim mouldings. Inside, there was a three-spoke steering wheel and new instruments with four dials. Other changes include improved fuel economy, new side-impact curtain airbags, updated seats and a new key with integrated remote.
The 40 Series cars were equipped with four-cylinder engines, such as a Renault-sourced 1.9 turbo diesel or 1.6, 1.8, 2.0T, 1.9 T4 or 2.0 fuel injected gasoline engines. All of the gasoline engines are derivatives of the Volvo Modular series, which started life in the Volvo 960 and was seen in both 5 and 6 cylinder layouts in Volvo's bigger FWD cars.
There was also a 1.8 L petrol direct injection engine provided by Mitsubishi as part of the platform sharing between the 40 series and the Carisma. The Volvo S40/V40 series was a completely new car from the ground up, only one engine – the 1.9 turbo diesel – carried over from the old 400 Series.
The low and high pressure turbo variants were positioned at the top of the motor range. The 2.0T was rounded down and badged as a 1.9T and was the only engine available in North America. The five speed manual transmission, widely available in Europe, was not certified in North American S40s, with the five speed automatic as the only option. No electric CVT was planned, unlike the 440 HTA / High Tech Auto CVT that had been released before the 400 series was completely phased out.
In the United Kingdom, trim levels were S, XS, SE and CD. Later on, trim levels offered were supplemented with SE Lux and Sport Lux trim designations. A limited edition 'Xi' trim level was also offered for a short run on Phase 1 and Phase 1.5 cars, often painted yellow with black bezel headlamps.
The Volvo S40 was the first car to earn a four-star Euro-NCAP safety rating.

Engines

Model	Engine code	Year	Power at rpm	Torque at rpm	Displacement
1.6	B4164S	1996–1999	at 5500	at 4200
1.6	B4164S2	2000–2004	at 5800	at 4000
1.8	B4184S	1995–1999	at 5500	at 4100
1.8i	B4184SJ/SM	1998–2001	at 5500	at 3750
2.0	B4204S	1995–2000	at 6000	at 4500
2.0	B4204S2	2000–2004	at 6000	at 4000
2.0 T	B4204T	1998–1999	at 5100	at 1800–4800
2.0 T	B4204T2	2000	at 5100	at 1800–4800
2.0 T	B4204T3	2001–2004	at 5250	at 1800–4500
2.0 T	B4204T4	2003–2004	at 5500	at 1800–5000
T4	B4194T	1998–1999	at 5500	at 2400–3600
T4	B4194T2	2000	at 5500	at 2400–3600
T4	B4204T5	2001–2003	at 5500	at 2500–4000

Model	Engine code	Year	Power at rpm	Torque at rpm	Displacement
1.9D	D4192T	1996–1999	at 4250	at 2250
1.9D	D4192T2	1999–2000	at 4000	at 2000
1.9D	D4192T3	2000–2004	at 4000	at 1750–3250
1.9D	D4192T4	2000–2004	at 4000	at 1750–3250

Sales

S40

Total produced: 576,543

V40 sales

Total produced: 423,491

Limited editions

Super Tourer (Australia)

A special edition of the S40 T4 and V40 T4 sold in Australia in 2000. These were available in Panama Yellow, black or silver and came with headlights with black bezels, leather upholstery and 16" "Ares" alloy wheels.

Sports Pack

Introduced in February 2003 was the S40 and V40 Sports Pack. These models featured the sports chassis with Nivomat body levelling, 17" "Arcadia" wheels, headlamps with black bezels, clear side side marker lights, body-coloured trim and chrome door handles.
These were available only in Silver, Sapphire Black and Virtual Blue, and featured side sills and the lower sections of the front and rear spoilers painted in Titanium Grey metallic. Interior colour was black with combination cloth/leather trim.

Motorsport

The S40 was homologated for racing in the Super Touring category on 1 January 1997. It competed in the British Touring Car Championship with Tom Walkinshaw Racing between 1997 and 1999 with Rickard Rydell winning the 1998 title. In Australia, Rickard Rydell and Jim Richards won the 1998 AMP Bathurst 1000. The S40 also competed in the Australian Super Touring Championship with Volvo Dealer Racing in 1998 and 1999, with Volvo winning the Manufacturers Championship in its second year. It also competed in the Swedish Touring Car Championship and the 2003 Norwegian Touring Car Championship.

Second generation (2003–2012)

For the station wagon variant, see Volvo V50. For the convertible variant, see Volvo C70. For the hatchback variant, see Volvo C30.
First shown at the September 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, with production commencing in October, the second generation S40 introduced a new design based on the Volvo P1 platform built at the Volvo Cars factory in Ghent, Belgium. Going on sale part way through the 2004 model year, it is sometimes known as the 2004.5 Volvo S40. 4,566 examples were built in calendar year 2003, with 16 cars having been registered in Sweden. A few months later, the V40 was replaced by the estate V50, also based on the P1 platform and built in Ghent.
The S40 was nominated for the World Car of the Year award for 2005, and won the Canadian Car of the Year Best New Sport Compact award for 2005. It was also elected the South African Car of the Year for 2005 by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists.
The chassis for this car and the majority of its components were developed by Volvo, however similar mechanical components can be found in the Mazda3 and the European Ford Focus. It had the latest generation of Volvo's modular five cylinder engines; the first of Volvo's smaller range to get more than four cylinders.
The inline-fives were frequently improved upon by Volvo since the engine's debut in 1991 for the 1992 model year Volvo 850. The top-of-the-line S40/V50 T5 AWD, as well as the 2.4 and 2.4i, powertrain is still made by Volvo. The transmission is developed with Getrag at Volvo's Köping Transmission Center in Sweden, and the AWD system bought from Haldex Traction of Sweden.
The S40/V50 T5 features the 2.5 L B5254T3 five-cylinder fuel-injected engine with a high pressure turbocharger. The valvetrain has four valves per cylinder and is a DOHC design.
The engine is transversely mounted at the front of the vehicle and was available with the M66W or M66C drivetrains. In the United States, the manual transmission was only available on the V50 in 2006, 2007 and 2010 and only with AWD and R-line trim.
The initial 2.0 diesel engine was the DW10, produced by PSA. A new range of engines and transmissions were introduced at the end of May 2010.
There was also 1.8 L petrol version available in the European markets.