Hello S40 people! And other Volvo owners

I'm venturing into first gen S40 ownership, and I would like some info regarding the engines in these cars. Now, the cars I'm looking at are dirt cheap, so I don't expect perfection, but there was one thing I noticed when testing two separate - 1.8 and 2.0 petrol - cars, with 135k and 125k miles respectively.

Both ran smoothly and quietly, with no signs of problems, but both hit a brick wall at just over 4000 rpm. I didn't push them all the way to the redline, but it felt like they were really struggling for every rpm above that, completely losing power and getting louder & harsher than before.

Is this normal for these engines?

 

Welcome!

I would bet you could get a better answer on a UK Volvo forum. Mostly North American model owners here. Try Volvo Forums - Powered by vBulletin for more information closer to home.

My 2001 with a 1.9L turbo and 2005 with a 2.5L turbo both run freely to redline. Definitely not a racecar but they pull pretty well.

 

Thanks for the info! Didn't realize there were such differences from the US/EU market; I'll go check out the British forum.