Hello this is my first post, so that makes me a noob! I read many S40 postings and notice most of them cover 2001-2002 S40s, a few 2004-2006 but so far I didnt see too many people talking about the 2007s. I have several questions about the S40.
My mom got a brand new Volvo S40 but she doesnt driveso I mainly drive her around. It is 2007 S40 2.4 liter Non-turbo, pretty much as basic as a S40 can get except for the Automatic trans. It is metallitic silver w/ black interior, 16" rims.

Im pretty sure, but does S40 non turbo use premium (gasoline 93-94 octane)? The salesman said I could use regular but he probably say anything to make a sale.
I read from many postings about people asking about wiring the car for their Ipods, but when I check the links for the product itsays that it connects to a CD Changer, the car we are getting has the standard cd player and not the Cd Changer and I wonder if it would still work or would I have to take out the manfactucer radio in order to put in an aftermarket radio with MP3 connection?

I compared my 1995 Bonneville 3.8 liter v6 non supercharged 205 hp / 230 torquewhich supposely reported goes from 0-60 in 7.1 seconds compare to S40 2.4 liter which goes 0-60 in 8.4 seconds, I'm wondering whatpossbilities I should do to increase horsepower. I'm not looking to beat a Ferrari, but I kind want something that help make merging into highways a lot easier.I am already thinking putting a K&N filter and cool air relocation kit, possibly strut tower bar to help with handling. I dont know if upgrading exhaust/catbacks would be worth the cost? Does anybody know if you can get a supercharger for S40 and if it may void the manufacter warranty? I read that superchargers are easier to install and less wear on the engine compare to a turbo.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum, I’m pretty new here myself. My name is Carey but I usually just go by my nickname Cbom. In regards to you question on the octane rating of gasoline, Volvo recommends an AKI of 91 or higher. The minimum requirement is AKI 87 according to my owner’s manual. Sounds like you have the same audio system that my car has and you don’t have the auxiliary input either. About the best thing I can recommend for this would be this site http://www.greggrocheford.com/volvo/audio_solution.html
I had to use this procedure to install my Sirius receiver in my S40. It will do the trick for your mp3 player. I don’t think there is anyway to install an aftermarket radio in these new S40’s and V50’s so that option is out for now. I’m not sure about the performance upgrades, haven’t really got to doing anything under the hood yet so I really can’t help you out too much with that. I did try searching one time for a cold air intake but didn’t have any luck finding one for the 2.4i engine. Let me know if you found one for it and where we can purchase them. I would love to start doing some performance upgrades to it.

 

Thanks Cboms40 for the help. Just wondering your located in US, because I read that octane rating is different in other countries. I'm guessing 87 Regular probably make the car even slower than it already is. When you installed your Sirius reciever did you have to do any modifications to the car or simple installation of wires.

I found there isnt too much for performance upgrades for S40, but I notice that S40 doesn't have a strut bar and is it worth installing one?

 

Yes the ratings are different here in the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating can give you an idea of the different rating types. The Sirius kit I installed was mostly all installing wires. Nothing really had to be modified to make it work. Check the S40 forum for the Sirius thread, yesterday I posted some pictures in there of what I did during the install. I've personally never drove a S40 with a strut bar so I couldn't tell you for sure if it's impact is worth installing or not.