I'm a long-time fan of Volvos and a highly satisfied former customer. I like Volvo's traditional emphasis on unstinting dedication to insanely great safety engineering, and that's enough to make me think I'd like to be Volvo's customer again. The question in my mind is: "Does Volvo have an insanely great driving, reasonably sized car, that's luxuriously appointed and looks great?"

A little subjective, I'll admit, so let me clarify. What I want is a car that's "right sized" for a young family...maybe something the size of a Mazda 3 but that's as nice as richly appointed and well-designed as a BMW 3-series and that drives like a Porsche Cayman. I vow to shun any stupid, oversize, fat, lumbering land yacht (i.e., all SUVs, CUVs, and any other V that comes down the pike...with the possible exception of a Cadillac V, but that's 400 horses of quite another color).

My quest might seem impossible, but BMW has already announced its forthcoming 135i --- a car that makes me drool like a fool --- and Audi has been selling its outrageously fun driving A3 for over a year now. But does Volvo have anything that comes close to these cars? Well, in the next few weeks folks will start seeing the first "for sale" C30s showing up in showrooms, and that's a car I look forward to driving. But if you're looking for something a little larger, a little more conservative, or with a more practical 4-door wagon body style, then the V50 is a pretty darn reasonable starting point. For what you'd pay for a mediocre, land lumbering small SUV, you can get a far superior handling vehicle with better safety and more practicality for about the same money. Given that equation, I'd sure rather have the V50 --- it's a cool little wagon.

Enough generalities though, let's take a closer look at what the 2007 Volvo V50 does well, and where it might come up just a tad short of expectations.


Looks Count When You're Talkin' Exterior Style...
The V50's curb appeal is undeniable. It's got a sleek, lean, long body with the distinctive Volvo front end that shows its obvious connection to its sister S models. It's got tapers and flares that stand in sharp contrast to the square boxes that resembled Volvos of a decade ago.

I like the looks of the car from the back end perspective as well. It's got the same kind of funky "up the pillar" taillights that you find on cars like the Honda CRV, but I do appreciate the safety perspective of having more visible (and redundant) taillights. I suspect safety is part of the reasoning behind the big rear window area as well. While some small wagons taper their rear ends downwards, perhaps giving you an aerodynamic boost or perhaps giving you a more distinctive styling flare, it comes at the expense of rear visibility. SUVs have been notoriously dangerous with respect to poor rear visibility causing backup accidents, and its obvious from the outside (as well as from the drivers seat), that cars like this V50 have dramatically better backup visibility.

From the sides, I like the body-colored door handles and side molding that give the car a unified appearance while avoiding the bullet of monotonous banality.

The Volvo V50 looks good from every angle and the materials and workmanship seem to be of very high quality. This is definitely one car that I'd be happy to have grace my driveway.

Interior Aspects...
The V50 interior has me either saying, "Wow!" or saying "Ugh!" It all depends. Depends on the trim level. Depends on the options.

The car I'm driving today is a basic, entry-level V50 --- the 2.4i. I'm glad it's not mine to keep. I detest the T-Tec fabric seats. Volvo's offered these in various models for several years, I've never sat in one that I liked. It's a tight-woven fabric that I'm sure wears well and cleans up like a champ. But it feels rough, institutional, and passionless to me. I owned a 2002 Volvo S40 (the S40 is built on the same platform as the V50) with all leather everywhere, and it was a wonderful feeling interior --- an interior with class, distinction, durability, and comfort. Volvo offers that same kind of leather interior on the V50, and it only adds $1200 to the price tag, so I don't know why anybody would go with the cheesy-feeling T-Tec interior.

Several Volvo models have featured the sleek, slim, oh so sexy looking center stack design, and though it's been around a couple years, it still looks fresh, innovative, and exciting. At least that's how I feel about the stacks that have the brushed aluminum trim. I think it looks kind of cheap when its done in the black matte plastic, but then, not everyone is endowed with quite the aesthetic taste of discriminating connoisseurs like myself (or so I tell myself, anyway). I notice that the center console is changed a bit from earlier years, though I'm not convinced that this is an improvement.

The steering wheel and center console have not changed much over recent years, and the design is still simple, uncluttered, and easy to use, though the proliferation of functions on the steering wheel is reaching overload proportions. When I look at the center console though, its clear that this is one area where Volvo is trailing some of its competitors --- the Audi A3, for example, has a much more refined look and feel to it than this Volvo.

The backseat is good for two kids, though a third passenger of any size would be an uncomfortable stretch. Leg room is quite good --- ample for two adults as long as the front seat isn't all the way back. I like the pull-down center console in the back seat, but it seems less well built than the one I had in my S40, though again, that may have been a byproduct of having leather rather than T-Rex fabric. With T-Yuk, the fit just isn't tight and right.

Power and Performance: The Driving Perspective...
When you're talking performance, there's a lot of aspects to consider. Some folks get fixated on horsepower and speed, and that's certainly one aspect, but it's not the only one --- and probably not the most important either. I've always been particularly focused on agility.

One of the best aspects of the V50 is its tight handling and the feeling of real road connection. The steering is responsive, not just in a quick turn situation, but its also tight in the real-world U-turn situation. I can spin the V50 around with maybe one lane and a decent shoulder of clearance, and in today's car market of bloated land yachts, that's tighter and better than you sometimes find on what should be better performing sports cars.

The one disappointing performance aspect of the V50 is the relatively lackluster power that you get on the entry level 2.4i. Although its a smooth and quiet competent performer in most driving situations, the normally aspirated inline 5 cylinder engine produces just 168 horsepower with 170 foot pounds of torque. Yes, it's certainly adequate for a soccer mom heading out to pick up groceries. More than adequate even. But the reality is that closely competing cars have engines that give you more power and they do it without any tradeoff in weight, mileage, or cost. While Volvo will pump up the power to over 200 horses when you go to the turbocharged T5 engine, the fact is that cars like the Audi A3 and the Saab 9-3 SuperCombi give you over 200 horsepower at the base entry level. I don't know about you, but if there's no cost or EPA mileage penalty for taking the added "get up and go", I'll take the bonus horses every time.

I've never been a shiftless fellow --- I've driven clutches most of my life, and I far prefer the exhileration and response that I get from a good 6 speed to an automatic anyday. That's another area where Volvo comes up short. The only way you can get the 6 speed tranny on a V50 is to also pony up the bucks for all wheel drive. Frankly, I think most drivers who buy the loaded down models and who opt for things like AWD are going to prefer automatics as well, so I think Volvo is shooting themselves in the foot with that strategy and that they'll do nothing but ensure that performance-minded drivers don't think "Volvo" when they think performance luxury cars. Just my opinion.

Fuel economy is becoming increasingly important to drivers, and I am a bit disappointed at the relatively lackluster fuel economy on the V50. It has an EPA rating of 22 city, 29 highway, which is marginally acceptable, I suppose. But consider that you not only get more horsepower for the same money by buying an Audi A3, but also get 15% better fuel economy (25 city, 32 highway, EPA estimates). Hmmm. I think you can see where I'm heading with this review...

Hauling Potential, Safety, Economy, and Other Practical Issues...
When you got kids, you gotta have room for duffel bags, beach toys, the dog, etc. With the V50, you get a fair sized cargo area behind the rear seat --- enough for maybe 6 cases of beer in there. You could pile more in if you stack the boxes above the seat level, but then you won't be able to use the snazzy cargo cover that's built in to hide your beer from thirsty thieves.

Volvo's reputation for safety is legendary, and the V50's washlist of safety features reads like a Whos Who of Paranoia. Front airbags, side curtain airbags, electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, this car has it all. Well, all except the rear backup detection system, but that's available as an option.

MSRP on the 2007 Volvo V50 starts at $26,690 for the 2.4i. With leather and turbo, you're looking closer to $30K, though you can probably dicker to around $28...maybe less if you nail a strong incentive program.

Bottom Line...
The Volvo V50 is a nice car. No bones about it. I don't care for it at the entry level though --- I feel that its base 2.4i configuration is underpowered for the money and feels cheesy. Especially compared to the bang for the buck that I see in the much more elegantly appointed and more performance oriented Audi A3. I like the V50, but I wouldn't buy one. I'd buy an A3, or I'd wait a few weeks and see how the new 2008 Volvo C30 and 2008 BMW 135i stack up. I'll bet both those cars give even the excellent Audi A3 a serious run for its money.

Until next time, see you on the road!
Amount Paid (US$): 30000
Condition: New
Model and Options: 2.4i