I own a 1999 V40 and am very impressed with the vehicle. However the vehicle has manifested a very interesting problem. If I accelerate into the rev limiter in first gear and after having felt the rev limiter “kick in” change to second, quick enough to keep the revs above 4000 rpm, and continue to accelerate hard, the rev limiter does not disengage properly. The vehicles exact response under these circumstances varies, if the rev limiter is “just” reached or the change to second was a little low, the vehicle will jerk and hiccup and then continue as normal, however if you plant the revs well into the rev limiter and change quickly, the rev limiter will hold the revs at approx 4200 rpm only allowing a fractional increase in revs for between 5 and 10 seconds, thereafter it will power back up the rev range. This behaviour is not manifested in any other gear.

The Volvo agents here in South Africa say that this sort of behaviour is “normal”. I cannot accept that what I have described is normal, it would appear the rev limiter has a 2500 rpm hysteresis, which is not normal. In addition I believe that this “normal” behaviour could be very dangerous under overtaking situations.