Driven: The remodelled Volvo S40 DRIVEe with start/stop

Volvo have redesigned the S40 and added start/stop technology to their diesel powered 1.6 engine but is it any good to drive? Matthew West takes it out for a drive in the Cotswolds.

The Volvo S40 has been a bit of a curious car since its arrival in the UK in 2004. Volvo initially said the car was aimed at taking on the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series but it's design always seemed more appropriately paired up against the compact saloons in the executive class, so more akin to the BMW 3-Series, Audi A4 and, well, the Volvo S60.

The problem is that Volvo's competitors always gave greater performance and were, well, not Volvo's. After all, we know the type of people that drive Volvos and they're pretty safe people. The latest TV ad with the tag line: "There's more to life than a Volvo, so why don't you drive one" is a little unfortunate. It is tempting, if a little cruel, to suggest it should have read: "There's more to life than a Volvo so don't drive one."

But Volvo has made an effort to improve the S40 significantly. It's had an extensive redesign including a re-profiled nose and chrome framed 'egg-crate' grille and the badge is not twice as big as on older models. It also has new clear-lensed headlamp units, reworked fogs and a central mesh section.

At the rear, the S40's new tail light units - fitted with LED light emitting diode brake lights - are now smaller, with new graphics, and sit 30mm higher than previously. It also has a new rear bumper, revised boot handle design as well as a more sporting exhaust pipe layout.

But what of the new lower CO2 emitting 1.6D DRIVe diesel engine with this new start/stop technology? Volvo says the current engine produces 62.8 miles per gallon and is available across all trim levels. But with start/stop, the diesel engine gives even more fuel economy up to 72.4 mpg and only 104 grams per kilometre of CO2. This is a significant leap forward in fuel efficiency and CO2 emmissions, no doubt about it, in fact the new S40 DRIVEe is more environmentally friendly than most, if not all, hybrid cars.

The start/stop function essentially allows the engine to switch off when the car is at a standstill, the idea here being that the engine isn't producing CO2 and wasting diesel while running in idle.

Volvo says its new start/stop technology can cut CO2 emissions by 4-5 per cent in mixed driving conditions and is particularly effective in "urban traffic", presumably this is a polite way of saying traffic jams, when the saving can be as much as 8 per cent.

All the driver has to do to make the start/stop technology work is come to a stop and put the car in neutral. The second the driver wants to move on again all they do is press the clutch down and put the car into first gear – the engine will do the rest.

All well and good but the car needs a second battery in order to restart and to keep the audio system going.

And the start/stop function itself takes more than a little bit of getting used to.

In fact, it feels downright weird to drive a car that turns itself off when you come to a halt and take it out of gear. And it feels slightly gimmicky to boot.

After all, how many drivers out there, even Volvo drivers, are going to be that conscientious to put the car in neutral every single time they hit a queue of traffic?

Once upon a time, the only reason you turned the engine off was to stop it over heating on a particularly warm day. And therein lies the problem with start/stop. Every time the engine turns itself off you can't help wondering if there's a problem and, despite the engine always turning itself back on during my drive, I grew slightly concerned the engine's computer might just throw a wobbly, leaving me as the idiot who created the very traffic jam the technology was designed for.

Then there's the inside of the car, which feels a little cheap. There's quite a lot of plastic and a couple of pointless cup holders that if you actually have anything in them get in the way of changing gear.

Meanwhile, it's not a particularly responsive car. Volvo says the five-speed manual 1.6D DRIVe produces 0-60 mph in 10.8 seconds and can go on to reach 118mph. Quite simply; that's slow. And it feels it. The engine takes a good second or so to respond. Sitting at a junction it was annoying to put my foot on the accelerator and find nothing happen for a second or so before the engine seemed to come to life in a slightly uncontrolled manner. Once it gets going its fine and the S40 handles reasonably well. But the initial start off the line is sluggish.

It may not be particularly fair to make this criticism of a diesel powered car given the Volvo S40 is bound to be driven on motorways by sales executives booting from one meeting to the next on the M1. Even when its fleet days are over and it's in the hands of the conservative, yet environmentally conscious, family man, it's never likely to be asked to do anything that requires a quick get away. But then that's probably why, to my knowledge at least, Volvo's have never been favoured by bank robbers or their getaway drivers.

Overall, it’s a good family saloon that will probably save you money, not least because the road tax will only cost £35 a year.

However, if you like to drive your car, don’t want to save the world and don't need to save the road tax, don't opt for the diesel version of the S40. Get the petrol version at least, it's a far superior car according to many others. I'm probably going to make myself rather unpopular over at Volvo but there really is more to life than than the S40 DRIVEe.