Even though they are fairly aggressively styled, the V40 manages to maintain a sense of beauty with its high shoulder rear, integrated LED lighting and soft Swedish contours. Competing squarely with its German hatchback rivals, the V40 is undoubtedly the better looking car than the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and even the newly revised Mercedes A-Class. Even though the Swedes have managed to get away with classing the V40 as a hatch, it is in fact replacing the previous model Volvo S40 and the V50.

The interior is typical of a car in this category and boasts premium leather and soft rubber with interior lighting being used cleverly to add to the internal ambience of the car. The build quality is definitely worth the price of the car and offers the driver a sense of security behind the double glazed glass and extra heavy doors. It is a Volvo after all and we’ve come to expect a certain level of warm cuddly feelings knowing that you’re seated in an incredibly safe car. So safe that it is also the first car that sports a pedestrian airbag and once again firmly placing the Swedish premium car brand at the forefront of vehicle safety innovation.

All 3 Volvo V40 models drive incredibly well and the car is pretty well planted onto the ground as a result of some clever weight distribution techniques and the placement of the engine in the front bay. The steering is responsive and as you’d come to expect from a car in this league it has adaptive powered steering to help keep things in check at various speeds. Boot space is pretty substantial for a car of this size and the usage of a very wide tailgate with low overhangs definitely helps with loading larger items. Rear passenger leg room is substantial enough to fit 3 large adults with the high design of the car helping to aid in shoulder space for rear passengers.

The highs:

• The styling. This is one hellava good looking car.
• The practicality of the car. The large boot with 60:40 rear split seats, the legroom in the rear & the solid built quality.
• The ECO mode. This was my favourite of the 3 themes that came with the car & I absolutely loved it.
• All Volvo V40 models come standard with with a 5yr/100 000km Volvo Plan.
• Volvo’s tend to be cheaper to insure.

The lows:

• The interior leather options. While I did have an all black version which I loved, I was also given a black & cream leather combo for the interior styling, which was probably the worst looking interior I’ve ever seen.
• Performance mode. These are not performance cars and theres absolutely no point trying to drive this car like a performance car either, so why the inclusion of a performance mode baffles me.

Here’s a link to the full spec brochure of the Volvo V40 including the Cross County and the Volvo V40 R-Design.

The VW Golf 7 model lineup & prices are:

• 1,2 TSI with Bluemotion Technology Trendline (77 kW) 6-speed manual – R233,800
• 1,4 TSI with Bluemotion Technology Trendline (90 kW) 6-speed manual –  R 246,700
• 1,4 TSI with Bluemotion Technology Comfortline (90 kW) 6-speed manual – R264,900
• 1,4 TSI with Bluemotion Technology Comfortline (90 kW) 7-speed DSG – R279,400
• 2,0 TDI Comfortline (81 kW) 5-speed manual – R282,300
• 1,4 TSI with Bluemotion Technology Highline (103 kW) 6-speed manual – R293,600
• 2,0 TDI with Bluemotion Technology Highline (110 kW) 6-speed DSG – R334,800

These prices include VAT and emissions tax.

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Best Buy

Coca-Cola: Superstition

Coca-Cola: “The Catch”

Bridgestone

Budweiser – Return of the Kind

TaxAct – Free to Pee

Happy Grad – The Movie

Doritos – Man’s Best Friend

John Carter by Disney

VW – The Dog Strikes Back

America’s Got Talent – Howard Stern

H&M – David Beckham for Him

Chevy Sonic – Stunt Anthem

The Avengers by Marvel

Teleflora – Adrianna Lima

Cars.com – Confident You

Doritos – Sling Baby

New E-Trade Baby

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Camry Effect – “Connections”

Hulu Plus – Hulubatory

The Voice – Vocal Kombat

Chrysler – It’s half-time in America

Smash Clip

Fiat 500 Abarth – Seduction

Toyota Camry – It’s Reinvented

Coke – “Aarrgh”

Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt

Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Acura NSX – Senfield – Transactions

Budweiser – Eternal Optimism

Bridgestone – Performance Basketball

NFL Timeline

2012 Honda CR-V – “Matthew’s Day Off”

MetLife – Everyone

Act of Valor – The Movie

Hyundai Genesis Coupe – “Think Fast”

Bud Light – Rescue Dog

Time Warner Cable – Enjoy Better Anthem

2012 Kia Optima – “A Dream Car. For Real Life”

Career Builder – Business Travel

Thursday Comedies – Crank

Samsung Mobile USA – Thing Called Love

Prudential Financial – Linda Gutherie

Swamp People

NFL Fantasy Million Dollar Fan

Awake – Which is Which?

Cadillac ATS – Green Hell

GoDaddy – QR Code

Suzuki “Sled” – Ben Kahle

Football – Chase QuickPay

M&M’s – Just My Shell

Pepsi – King’s Court

2012 Chevy Silverado

What do you think?

The Porsche Club Cape will be getting together on Sunday, 29th January 2012 at 8:30am to show off just the kind of beauty that I’m referring to as its members show off their cars. They’ve also been kind enough to extend an open invitation to Porsche fans to visit them at the 2012 Annual Porsche Club Cape Concourse.

Below is a map to the event which will be held in the V&A Waterfront, in Cape Town and the contact details of the organisers.

Lynda Wentzel
lwentzel@mweb.co.za
021 438-5006

F1 race calendar 2011

1.	13 Mar 2011		GP Bahrain	Bahrain International Circuit
2.	27 Mar 2011		GP Australia	Albert Park
3.	10 Apr 2011		GP Malaysia	Sepang International Circuit
4.	17 Apr 2011		GP China	Shanghai International Ciruit
5.	8 May 2011		GP Turkey	Istanbul Park
6.	22 May 2011		GP Spain	Circuit de Catalunya
7.	29 May 2011		GP Monaco	Monte Carlo Circuit
8.	12 Jun 2011		GP Canada	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
9.	26 Jun 2011		GP Europe	Valencia Street Circuit
10.	10 Jul 2011		GP Great Britain	Silverstone Circuit
11.	24 Jul 2011		GP Germany	Nürburgring
12.	31 Jul 2011		GP Hungary	Hungaroring
13.	28 Aug 2011		GP Belgium	Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps
14.	11 Sep 2011		GP Italy	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
15.	25 Sep 2011		GP Singapore	Marina Bay Street Circuit
16.	9 Oct 2011		GP Japan	Circuit Suzuka
17.	16 Oct 2011		GP Korea	Korean International Circuit
18.	30 Oct 2011		GP India	Jaypee Circuit
19.	13 Nov 2011		GP Abu Dhabi	Yas Marina Circuit
20.	27 Nov 2011		GP Brazil	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos