New 2013 Volvo V40 R-Design is a looker that can really perform

Volvo is continuing down the path of offering beautiful cars with a lot of design themes with the new V40 R Design. The very successful S60 is desirable to so many buyers in part because it can come in some many specific configurations ranging from an affordable near luxury sedan, to a wild near-sports car with solid sports sedan credentials. Today, Volvo showed the world its new Volvo V40 R Design and fans of the hatchback/station wagon body style cannot ask for more excitement in a premium automobile.

The New Volvo V40 R-Design is a fashion statement as much as it is a performance car. Blue is the theme of this car. The exterior paint is called “Rebel Blue” by Volvo in its press materials and it seems to work. The grill has a high gloss center in black with “silk-metal” trimming. Inside the dash lighting is also blue in theme and color. The seats are black with offset stitching in a light color. The usual waterfall style Scandinavian design center console has a silk metal styling and the whole package works very well together. The car seems to be of a single look. Six other color combinations are also available.

In terms of performance the Volvo V40 R-Design makes many changes to transform an affordable near-luxury car in to a premium grand touring car. There are actually a few engine choices depending upon the specific market the car is purchased in. One of Volvo’s best engines has always been its turbocharged and intercooled in-line five cylinder. Available with about 250 horsepower, in a car this size the V40-R Design would be a rocket. A very green diesel option is also among the choices.

Rounding out the changes are suspension modifications. Volvo tapped its Volvo Polestar Black R team led by racing expert Robert Dahlgren. The team used shorter springs the Volvo to lower the center of gravity. To make the car more responsive they chose stiffer, more advanced dampers in front and in the rear. The results are explained by Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Corporation: "The V40 R-Design is agile, responsive and fun to drive. Both chassis offer the enthusiastic driver a feeling of total control. You get both that connected response that makes a winding country road so much fun as well as the precise, nimble moves it takes to stay on top of busy urban traffic.”
The icing on the cake for the V40 R-Design by Volvo is that it is one of the world’s safest cars. Safe, stylish and fun is one way to describe a successful car formula.