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Hi, Bartek Urban, let’s test Volvo XC40. XC40 is the smallest SUV in the Volvo range it made its debut in 2017 and immediately became a hit This was also confirmed by automotive journalists who awarded it with the 2018 European Car of the Year At the end of 2021, XC40 underwent a facelift, which slightly changed the exterior new bumpers and a slightly different design of the headlamps, as well as a new multimedia system. I’m testing the pre-facelift model for testing, so you won't find Google system tests here However if you are curious how it works, I invite you to the Volvo XC60 test, you can see the link in the upper right corner Let's go back to the test of XC40 because in terms of mechanics it hides a lot of interesting solutions.

As you can see in the title, this is the recharge variant, you will know from the recharge inscriptions on the rear and the tiny recharge inscription under the T5 designation Of course, there are two flaps - one for fuel and the other for electricity Yes, this model is a PHEV version, i.e. plug-in hybrid, In fact, only a perceptive person will notice that we are dealing with a hybrid, because the differences are minimal XC40 is quite a nice SUV, matching the Volvo range - we have characteristic headlights with Thor hammers or vertical rear lamps We also have enormous optional rims that Volvo probably loves - those in XC40 are 21 inches! In my opinion, this is an exaggeration, the car may look good, but it loses comfort and practicality it’s scary to overcome the curb, and not to mention some terrain. It's time to check the trunk It has a capacity of 460 liters and, importantly it‘s exactly the same as in the non-hybrid variety. The manufacturer did his best and we do not have a reduced capacity, very nice. There is also a spare wheel under the floor and a place for wrenches or some small items Of course, the trunk can also be enlarged by folding the seats, which we do from the cabin. After folding, the floor is perfectly flat. In the trunk, you will also find two hooks for shopping and a cigarette lighter socket. We sit in the back XC40 is not a very big car, its dimensions are 4,425 mm long, 1,652 mm high and 1,863 mm wide but the manufacturer made it very practical I fit in the back, I have a few cm of free space for both legs and head, and I am 186 cm tall We have an armrest with two cupholders, separate vents, heated seats or C-type USB connectors, Unfortunately, at the back we have a large central tunnel, because of a plug-in hybrid In the usual versions there is no tunnel.

Ok, we jump to the front, where it is most convenient XC40 has seats known from other models that are really comfortable. Unfortunately, the quality of the leather is average, it looks ugly under the button on the passenger side But the position behind the wheel is good, we have good visibility As in an SUV, we sit high and it is easy to get in. Like the seats, the dashboard is very similar to that of other Volvo models Swedes like minimalism Visually, it is simple and minimalistic, which, however, at times slightly affects the ergonomics and thus the comfort of use. The control of the temperature or airflow is still on the main screen, which in my opinion is inconvenient. In the google system, we also change it on the screen, but it’s arranged a bit differently Now you can see the google system I had in XC60, and here the layout is slightly different But no matter if you have a google system or the one that I’m testing, the screen has a very nice quality, responsiveness to touch and speed. Well, it seems to me that this old system works slightly faster Although google maps are much better and easier to use. The facelift XC40 will also get new digital clocks, exactly the same as in XC60 Nice but they lack the classic views The ones I'm testing here are definitely better. Simple and nice with a few themes But perhaps in the future these new clocks will also get updates. When it comes to materials, apart from the leather on the seats, everything fits well and is pleasant to the touch Unfortunately, there is also piano black in the middle tunnel that is scratched, fingered, and dusty. Let's check the lockers.


Here, unfortunately, the plug-in hybrid also affected the central tunnel, we have a tiny hiding place in the armrest, instead of a deep one. The audio is also worth praising I had an optional Harman Kardon that played great. This is not the level of the Bowers from the higher models, but for this class, it’s very good. It's time to take a look under the hood because there is a surprise here Despite the designation T5, the engine is an inline-three Yes, tR3. Not an R5, as it used to be, and not an R4r, as is the case with other Volvo models. XC40 T5 is a 1.5-liter inline-three with a capacity of 180 HP. It sounds fairly normal as you heard, it's very hard to tell that it's a three-cylinder In fact, sometimes we will feel slight vibrations in the cabin and that's it. Apart from the combustion engine, there is an 82 HP electric motor and a small generator of about 30 HP The total power of the system is 262 HP, which is really a lot Only the B5 version is stronger because it has 264 HP So it looks good on paper, but there are still some problems The first is the front-drive Yes, in contrast to XC60 or XC90, here we have only the front-drive This is quite a challenge with such power and such a moment. The car loses traction, which should not be the case in an SUV Especially in such a strong one.


Additionally, the car is understeered. According to the catalog, the car should make 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds, which of course I checked: The result is 7.7 s and I could not do better. But the conditions were not perfect and, as you heard, the car was losing a bit of grip If it was dry, it would probably be 0.5 s better I also measured it when I ran out of electricity and my result was 8.1 s, which is quite a small difference In the range of 50-150 km/h, the difference with or without electricity is about 0.9 seconds, so quite little Oh, and XC40 T5 and other Volvos are limited to 180 km/h. Another difference to other Volvo hybrids is that XC40 has an automatic dual-clutch transmission, not a torque converter This doesn’t change much, because the gas reaction is very similar to XC60 or XC90 with an ordinary automatic gearbox. As you have seen, in power mode the reaction is very fast, in other modes, you can feel a delay It’s funny that the car has an offroad mode, which looks quite comical in a front-wheel-drive car. Although I have to admit that 21 cm ground clearance is really big. But we still do not have AWD in T5 Recharge Ok, it's time for combustion because it’s the most important thing in a hybrid. XC40 has a battery with a capacity of 10.7 kWh, which is enough for about 40 km of driving on electricity only In fact, I was able to do 32 to 41 km, depending on the driving style.

Such a battery can be charged from an ordinary 230 socket in about 5 hours, or from a 3-phase socket in about 3 hours So we leave the car overnight and it will always be charged. The electric motor allows you to drive up to 130 km/h, or at least I got so far and then the combustion engine turned on The internal combustion engine also switches itself after pressing the gas harder or in power mode Thus, up to 40 km in the city we have even 0 fuel consumption, and for 100 km we reach about 5-6 liters It’s different if we run out of electricity, then my car was burning 10 liters in the city On the road, I had 10 liters at 120 km/h, which is a very high result. At 140 km/h it was over 11 liters, so a lot. What's worse, even after the route, I was unable to recharge the battery with braking. Of course, you can force the batteries to be charged through the work of the internal combustion engine, but then the consumption increases to 17 liters per 100, so it’s completely not worth it. The only time I was able to recharge my batteries a bit was during a long downhill ride in the mountains, I recharged the electric motor so that it showed a range of 3 km The fuel tank is 48 liters, which is 6 liters less than in the regular version. Besides, XC40 drives quite specifically First of all, we have a powerful power steering, which makes the steering wheel move too slightly and it is difficult to feel it It’s similar to the brakes, which first regain energy and then brake.



Source: volvo





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