JotBlog

WARMING UP TO the car was difficult. It was a Volvo, after all, and I've never liked Volvos much.

Volvos, I thought, were too square, too slow, too politically correct -- and too hypocritical. The marketing and image of Volvo cars have always struck me as exceeding the actual value and performance of the product. There is, for example, the little matter of fuel economy -- it's less than stellar.

Anyway, I carried this baggage of biases with me to this week's test drive of the 1991 Volvo 940 Turbo. I was determined to dislike the thing, which was celibate in color, a passionless gray with a clear-coat finish. "Geeeez," I whispered in disgust when I saw the car. I was about to curse it, but stopped.

Something was missing: Sharp corners. Straight lines. Gone. Zapped. Something new was there: Curves. Roundness. A hint of sass. I checked the nameplate, again. Yep, it was a Volvo all right -- a fact also confirmed by the car's interior, which was still uptight and overwhelmingly angular.

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But I figured that if the 940 Turbo's developers had gumption enough to play with the car's exterior body, they might have also used some imagination in putting together its mechanicals. They did, and in doing so, they produced a super-smooth, very nice-handling machine.

I still don't like Volvos as a group, but getting to know the 940 Turbo opened my mind a bit. At least now I can say that one of my best friends is a Volvo.

Background: The Volvo 940 series replaces the super-straitlaced 760 models, which, I hope, will never appear in this life again. There was nothing fun about the 760s, nothing friendly or warm. Those cars were so self-consciously proper -- in styling and performance (performance being an oxymoron in this case) -- they were almost laughable.

At least the 940s -- the base GLE, sporty Turbo and luxury SE -- know how to smile. In the cases of the Turbo and SE, they know how to run, too. All 940s come in sedan and wagon versions.

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Complaints: The interior is still ugly as all get-out. But the instruments are logically presented and the seats are comfortable.

Praise: A generally excellent redesign of what had been a stylistic basket case. Kudos to Volvo engineers for installing adjustable shoulder harnesses for all five passengers, and for coming up with a terrific automatically locking differential (ALD).

The ALD, which operates at speeds up to 25 miles per hour, applies power to both rear driving wheels in the event that one of the wheels starts slipping on wet or icy roads. That extra traction helps to get you out of some tough spots -- say, a muddy road or an icy driveway.

Head-turning quotient: People at least look at this one.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent threesome. Handling gets special notice. The 940 Turbo is a joy around curves; and, though rated a "full-size" sedan, the car is quite maneuverable in city traffic, too.

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Acceleration comes from a turbocharged, inline four-cylinder, 2.3-liter, single overhead-cam engine rated 162 horsepower at 4,800 rpm.

Mileage: A rather disappointing 23 to the gallon (15.8-gallon tank, estimated 353-mile range on usable volume of recommended 92-octane unleaded), combined city-highway, running with one to four occupants and light cargo.

Sound system: AM/FM electronic stereo radio and cassette, Volvo factory installed. Excellent.

Price: Base price on the tested 940 Turbo is $29,985. Dealer's invoice price is $26,145. Price as tested is $31,398, including $895 for optional leather seats, a $380 destination charge and a $138 port processing fee.

Purse-strings note: The 940 Turbo is a good car that has lots of good competition. Comparison shop with the Buick Park Avenue Ultra, which is just as safe and just as fuel-efficient as the Volvo. Check the stickers carefully. You might be surprised.

Warren Brown covers the automotive industry for The Washington Post.

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