Volvo S40

Road test

In the '80s, turbos were the future. That decade saw a succession of superb turbonutter motors from the Audi quattro to the Renault 5 Turbo II, culminating with the too-fast-to-live Group B rally cars.

Mind you, in the '80s New Romantics, Sigue Sigue Sputnik fright wigs and red braces all seemed like the future too. And like those now-gone monsters of fashion, turbocharging became more than a little passé as the '90s came in. Out went big wings and wide arches, and out went the turbo as the bolt-on route to performance. Only it takes a while for such shifts in fashion to reach Sweden, the land where 'Living on a Prayer' is still played on every radio station and the mullet (spiky on top, long at the back) is the haircut to have. Never mind an '80s revival; as far as Volvo is concerned the turbo lives on - which explains why they've now gone and added a Dusty Bin-sized unit to the otherwise deeply sensible two-litre S40 saloon and V40 estate. Enter the T4...

You'd be hard pushed to spot this relic from the turbo age simply by examining its bodywork. All that's been added in the looks department is a set of plastic-wheel-trim-lookalike 16-inch alloys, a rear spoiler, titchy front side splitters and a pair of techno-frenzy reflector headlamps. But you can still spot the T4 from a distance - just look for the clouds of black tyre smoke. That turbocharged two-litre engine squirts out a fairly lunatic 200bhp, and it all goes to the tarmac through the front wheels. Gulp.

To tame the T4's tyre-smoking habit Volvo has added Dynamic Stability Assistance, a traction control system that works by reducing the fuel supply to the engine when a wheel is sensed to be spinning. Only thing is, a button on the centre console lets you turn the DSA off so you can sit there burning rubber until the tyres pop - and even with the DSA turned on, the fronts still squeal like a randy cat when you pull away quickly from a standstill.

However, the T4 isn't a beast in the tradition of all the loopiest old turbo cars. For starters there's little wheel-tugging torque-steer under acceleration, there's no mad induction suck or wastegate chuff (just a dull drone, actually) while unlike old school big-turbo motors there isn't time to boil an egg between putting your foot down and waiting for the turbo to do its stuff.

Instead, the T4 always feels fast, launching like a Saturn rocket, with a whopping 221lb ft of torque available right in the middle of the rev range. This otherwise seamless surge is interrupted only by a gearchange which at times refuses to join in the fun.

Bang it into a corner and the T4 is a reasonable laugh too. Despite being set up to maintain a comfy ride (which it does) the suspension keeps roll in check, while there's bags of grip under most circumstances - except for going in hard on the power in a tight turn, which sees the nose become rather keen to push itself wide. The T4 has meatier steering and stronger grabbing brakes than previous S/V40s; both are significant improvements and have, thankfully, been passed on to lowlier models in the range.

And of course, it being the '90s, even the T4 still has its sensible shoes firmly on - shared with other S/V40s is proven class-leading safety, with a full complement of driver, passenger and SIPS side airbags as standard, along with stacks of interior accommodation front and rear.

But don't let that brief trip to normality divert your attention from the fact that the T4 is as properly quick as the best of those '80s forced-induction beasties - and for close to twenty grand, little this side of a Subaru Impreza Turbo now provides more wallop for your wedge

Peter Grunert