Just bought an S40...again

[RollingThunder]

Hi all, after a brief (painful, expensive, aborted) foray into Honda ownership, I' just bought a new daily.

I had an S40 D5 about 5 years ago, and while it was a lovely car I don't really like diesels so we only had it for about a year. I dabled with a few other cars, including acquiring the 940, but I wanted a petrol ULEZ compliant car this time, so it had to be another Volvo.

Having a whiteblock already it made sense to get an S40 with a whiteblock... so when I saw a genuinely mint one owner S40 with a 2.4i engine come up for sale I was interested. It also turned out to have just 82k miles up, and had been maintained by the same main dealer throughout its life - right up to its last service last December! Needless to say, it runs brilliantly, nice and taut, and feels like a new car.

I must admit I wasn't sure about the colour (an olive oil green) when I saw the advert, and the fact that it was an auto, but the colour has quickly grown on me, and all my other cars are autos, so no great shakes there either - its a super smooth, super quiet cruiser that came go for a sprint every now and then.

I haven't got any pics of it yet - we got home after dark last night - but I'll take a few later on.

Two questions for you S40 experts already sorry:

1. As I've never had a later generation whiteblock, what is the timing belt change interval? I usually just change it as soon as I get a car, but it seems to be a right royal PITA to do this one. I *believe* its around 100k miles or 10 years - is that right?

2. The car has 17in wheels with 205/50x17 tyres. Will any other size tyre fit without any issues/mods? That size seems very expensive!

Thanks

[andy_d]

100k/10 years whichever is sooner on the 2.4i 5 pot lump, same with aux belt i believe , (tensioners as well is best practice water pump Not needed (usually))
yes its a "Royal PITA",, i hoofed mine off to a volvo indy level of PITA the 5pot lump leaves,, not a lot of room between the block/inner wing and my paws Aint that small


IF its the geartronic, also "best practice" to change the atf @ 100k miles mark , less/more depending how its driven/taxi/towing etc,, its a JWS spec atf not "dextron" ala older autos


yes the 2.4 5pot is a "sit back relax oh we are there" motorway muncher of an engine, stress free with the geartronic box, ,, midlands to cornwal, in one hit comfy/relaxed and fresh at the destination

And Enjoy it

[BBA]

2. The car has 17in wheels with 205/50x17 tyres. Will any other size tyre fit without any issues/mods? That size seems very expensive!

Thanks [/QUOTE]

Try Rapid tyres maybe some people will disagree but I was have them on my Merc and now I have them on my Volvo V50 I do not have complains about them and they reasonable cheap.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks Andy. The belt was changed at 60k miles about 8 years ago so isn't strictly due yet then. I'll wait until the autumn and get it changed then. Thanks 👍

Thanks BBA, but I want to fit Goodyear Vector 4 Season tyres. I've had them on two cars now and I love them.

My 850R is supposed to have 205/50x17s but it is normal to fit 215/45x17s partly because they are substantially cheaper. Is anyone running 215/45x17s on their S40? I don't think the tyres will be running that close to the struts etc...? Or do they ????!

Thanks

[Kev0607]

Best wishes with your new purchase. It sounds like a lovely car.

May I ask, what Honda did you have the unpleasant experience with and what went wrong? I thought Honda’s were supposed to be reliable!!!

[RollingThunder]

Managed to grab a few pics of the car from the advert. The car is dirty already so I need to wash it before taking more pics

The colour is Gekko Green, code 488 btw. Love that name

[RollingThunder]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Best wishes with your new purchase. It sounds like a lovely car.

May I ask, what Honda did you have the unpleasant experience with and what went wrong? I thought Honda’s were supposed to be reliable!!!

Thanks Kev. It was a 2013 Honda Civic 1.6 dtec diesel. It developed a DPF issue within weeks costing over £1k to fix; its also had random warning lights appearing but disappearing when the car is restarted; its had rear brakes; a rear wheel bearing; a front wheel bearing; the usual rear ABS cable replaced; a rear window failed; a front window failed but then fixed itself; its had a misfire on the ECO mode but not in normal mode; and thats just what I can remember offhand.

Its passed its MoT with no advisories and everything is working correctly now, so we decided to offload it before something else goes wrong!

[Teddy1975]

The summer tyres on my V50 are Michelin Primacy 4, 225/45 R17 and I've had no issues at all with rubbing.

I wouldn't recommend these tyres to anyone as they, despite being bloody expensive, are rather poor in rainy conditions and want to aquaplane from around 110 km/h with not much water on the road.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks Teddy, thats good to know. 215s should be fine then. I was a bit worried as there doesn't seem to be much space between the tyre and the strut/spring - I had a feel when I was washing the car and even the std 205s seem a tight fit!

Re the Primacy tyres, about 5 few years ago I fitted some Goodyear EfficientGrip tyres to a 940 and they were horrific. No traction on road paint/lines, no grip on the metal strips between bridge sections, but by the time I found out they had been fitted of course, so I was stuck with them.

I was concerned about buying the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons, but after them getting a lot of good reviews (especially on https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk) I took the plunge and I'm glad I did - they are genuinely excellent, all year round. I did fit a different all seasons tyre to an S70 a few years later, the Hankook Kinergy 4S2, and while that was really good in the winter it became almost undriveable in hot weather - above around 25-30 degrees it just lost all traction and it was like driving on ice. The Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons I replaced them with weren't affected at all which was a relief, hence my loyalty to that particular tyre.

[Kev0607]

I like that colour, suits it well in my opinion!

What's the rear passenger space like? Would a rear passenger sit behind a 6ft driver with some space, or would they be squashed like sardines?