My new car

[hammer]

Finally pulled the trigger on a new car...after numerous test drives, we settled on a Volvo S40.

We were looking for several months...main aspects of the car that settled it for us were:

• Exterior look...matter of personal taste but we like a car that has some lines
• Interior fit/finish and materials...feels nice and solid
• Simple yet functional interior layout
• Nice amount of interior space for a smaller car...not sure we'd take the whole family for a 4-hour drive (we have a bigger car for that), but the amount of interior space is not much different than our Subaru Outback.
• Decent power/pick-up with the 5-cyl turbo engine...not a rocket like a G37 or a BMW 335 but no slouch either
• Long warranty and included maintenance

I do admit that I have some concerns about long-term reliability...Volvos are OK (some better than others), but not at the level of Japanese cars. Just going to hope that we have one of the better cars off of the assembly line. Luggage space is also limited, but the rear seats fold up so there's plenty of room for 1-2 person ski trips.

Is it the best car? I doubt it...but it seems like the right car.

Now to get all of the paperwork set before the MA sales tax increase...

 

[deadheadskier]

I like the S40

My uncle has driven an S60 and S80 for his past two cars with very minimal maintenance issues. While maybe a touch short of the Japanese alternatives, I think it will do better for you than BMW or Audi in that regard.

 

[bvibert]

Nice looking car, congrats! I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice.

 

[Trekchick]

Sharp looking car.
Not trying to be a wet blanket, but it doesn't seem to be much of a ski car, you may want to find out what you can get for tires before you suffer a season. That car is spec-d for 16 inch rims but those almost look like 17's if my eyes aren't deceiving me.(I've been wrong before, and probably will be again)
Overall, I'm sure you'll really enjoy the Volvo. Sure looks like its fun in the twisties!

 

[hammer]

Sharp looking car.
Not trying to be a wet blanket, but it doesn't seem to be much of a ski car, you may want to find out what you can get for tires before you suffer a season. That car is spec-d for 16 inch rims but those almost look like 17's if my eyes aren't deceiving me.(I've been wrong before, and probably will be again)
Overall, I'm sure you'll really enjoy the Volvo. Sure looks like its fun in the twisties!

You're right, those are 17-inch rims. Main hope is that the AWD will help to compensate for tire limitations, but I'll see how that goes.

On the test drive, the handling was pretty balanced...not at the level of a BMW but no complaints. We also test-drove an S60, which would actually have cost less but the car didn't have quite the pick-up and it was not as sporty.

Main thing I'm glad about is that it doesn't have the run-flat tires. I read a lot of horror stories about the run flats on BMWs.

 

[deadheadskier]

what would the advantage be to having 16 inch rims over 17 inch rims?

couldn't you get a spare pair of 16s to mount snows on?

 

[Geoff]

You're right, those are 17-inch rims. Main hope is that the AWD will help to compensate for tire limitations, but I'll see how that goes.

AWD does not help when braking. You really want dedicated snow tires on smaller rims. They'll pay for themselves the first time you avoid sliding into a granite curb driving around town.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

nice..my brother in law has an S40 and it's a dependable vehicle..

 

[hammer]

AWD does not help when braking. You really want dedicated snow tires on smaller rims. They'll pay for themselves the first time you avoid sliding into a granite curb driving around town.

Good point...it always amazes me how few people realize that.

I agree on the value of snow tires (regardless of whether you have AWD or not), but I usually don't want to go through the hassle factor of swapping out rims and keeping a full set of tires in my basement. May reconsider, though...

 

[Geoff]

Good point...it always amazes me how few people realize that.

I agree on the value of snow tires (regardless of whether you have AWD or not), but I usually don't want to go through the hassle factor of swapping out rims and keeping a full set of tires in my basement. May reconsider, though...

TireRack.com will sell you a complete bolt-on package that the UPS truck drops at your front door. I presume Volvos, like most European cars, have the Bosch tire pressure monitoring system in the valve stems. They'll include those, too. I did cheap 16" alloy wheels on my GTI. I wouldn't consider running my summer tires in the snow. It's pretty frightening.

 

[Trekchick]

You're right, those are 17-inch rims. Main hope is that the AWD will help to compensate for tire limitations, but I'll see how that goes.

On the test drive, the handling was pretty balanced...not at the level of a BMW but no complaints. We also test-drove an S60, which would actually have cost less but the car didn't have quite the pick-up and it was not as sporty.

Main thing I'm glad about is that it doesn't have the run-flat tires. I read a lot of horror stories about the run flats on BMWs.

what would the advantage be to having 16 inch rims over 17 inch rims?

couldn't you get a spare pair of 16s to mount snows on?

The AWD will help but you can't usually find a good snow tire for 17's and if you do the wear life is minimal.
You usually can't put 16's on those because they have larger brakes(stopping power for a sporty car) and won't allow a smaller rim.

A good aggressive tread will help a lot but they will not be cheap and the wear life will not be as good as if they were 16's.

AWD does not help when braking. You really want dedicated snow tires on smaller rims. They'll pay for themselves the first time you avoid sliding into a granite curb driving around town.

Good point...it always amazes me how few people realize that.

I agree on the value of snow tires (regardless of whether you have AWD or not), but I usually don't want to go through the hassle factor of swapping out rims and keeping a full set of tires in my basement. May reconsider, though...

^^^ Tires make a huge difference.
Check and see if the brakes will allow a different size rim for your winter switch. That would be helpful.

 

[deadheadskier]

Interesting, I had snows on my 17 inch rims this winter and they seemed to do pretty well and not wear down all that much. I was considering getting a spare pair of 16 rims, but elected to save a couple hundred bucks at the time.

 

[severine]

Nice looking car! I don't know much about Volvos but they do look snazzy. Congrats!

 

[RootDKJ]

congrats on the new ride

 

[mondeo]

The AWD will help but you can't usually find a good snow tire for 17's and if you do the wear life is minimal.
You usually can't put 16's on those because they have larger brakes(stopping power for a sporty car) and won't allow a smaller rim.

A good aggressive tread will help a lot but they will not be cheap and the wear life will not be as good as if they were 16's.

^^^ Tires make a huge difference.
Check and see if the brakes will allow a different size rim for your winter switch. That would be helpful.

S40's front brakes are 11.8" diameter, a 16" wheel will fit fine; the larger wheel is mostly looks with 205/50 tires, steering response will be slightly improved. It isn't until you get to performance cars that you start getting into brakes that require 17" wheels (I'm guessing around 12.5" rotors with beefy calipers and up given the lack of clearance with my 13.4" brakes.)

The problem with 17" wheels is that you're basically forced into wide tires, which makes a big difference. Going down to 16s gets you into much narrower tires, which will work much better in the snow. Plus you can get steel wheels, making the wheel+tire package cost about the same as tires without the unmount/mount costs ever spring/fall.

 

[andyzee]

Good Luck!

 

[Philpug]

IIRC, they are a 5x100 (or 114.3?) either way keep an eye on Craigslist for people selling 4 snows, that is how I got a few pair of mine. I like the S40, actually, I like the V50 better, there are a few cool little things that you can program to personalize the car.

 

[Johnskiismore]

Sharp looking car, nice!

 

[Geoff]

The AWD will help but you can't usually find a good snow tire for 17's and if you do the wear life is minimal.
You usually can't put 16's on those because they have larger brakes(stopping power for a sporty car) and won't allow a smaller rim.

A good aggressive tread will help a lot but they will not be cheap and the wear life will not be as good as if they were 16's.

That's not how I understand it.

The tire life should be almost identical on 16" and 17" rims. The outside tire diameter is identical. You'll probably try to go a little narrower on the 16" winter setup but it will only be a few percent less width so it won't impact tread life. Tire life on snow tires is mostly impacted by driving style and whether you expose the tire to warm weather. I drive like a grandma all winter. No hard cornering at all. I always try to wait as long as possible to put the tires on and pull them off by April 1. If you have your snows mounted on spare wheels, it's pretty easy to get the car up on a lift somewhere to bolt them on with short notice. I've swapped mine in the driveway with a floor jack quite a few times when I couldn't get in to a tire dealer. It only takes about 5 minutes per tire and you at least know some gorilla didn't cross-thread your lug nuts and weld the wheels to the car. I own a torque wrench and I get out and re-torque them after an hour anyways even if somebody else is changing them.

The reason you go with a higher profile 16" wheel is to give yourself more sidewall to protect yourself from pot holes. I have 18" rims and low profile tires on my GTI. I'd destroy the rims with typical winter driving where you invariably plunge into pot holes all winter no matter how carefully you drive. With 16" wheels, I have an extra inch of cushion.

With 17" wheels going down to 16", I'll bet it helps some but probably isn't essential to go smaller if you want to re-use your stock wheels and tire pressure monitoring system. If the Volvo came with the 18" wheel option and performance summer tires, you'd definitely want to at least run 17" wheels in the winter.

With the typical winter tire you'd want to run on an AWD Volvo that was seeing ski country duty, they are definitely available in 17". For example, you can get the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta R, the Hakkapeliitta RSi, and the studded Hakkapeliitta 5 in a 205/50R17. You can also get the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 and the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 in that size and you can get them shipped from Tire Rack if your local dealer is price gouging. If you have a tire dealer willing to swap snow tires on and off your stock wheels without charging you an arm and a leg (and without damaging your wheels), that's the cheapest way to go.

 

[mondeo]

Going down to 16s gets you into much narrower tires, which will work much better in the snow. Plus you can get steel wheels, making the wheel+tire package cost about the same as tires without the unmount/mount costs ever spring/fall.

Ok, not much narrower, only 195s available in 16", but still a little better than 205. For the WS-60s, 205/50-17s are $133 vs. 195/60-16s at $104, and as I remember it, steel wheels off Tire Rack can be had for around $25-50 (though that's going back a few years, for 15" wheels at $25 per.) So you're just about breaking even going down a size with new wheels, plus no mounting/balancing every change.