I never said I didn't do my research on this car. I spent countless hours at work :) looking at all the cars in that price range. Safety, performance, looks, past brand name quality, insurance, features, etc. I still think it's it great deal compared to what's out there for the money. Can't say there much to choose from! I just never expected to be spending every month at the dealer trying to work out bugs that Volvo should of work out a few years ago in Europe. The US X40 is setup to be a family carrying grocery getting car, nothing more nothing less. No T4's, No options, just silly packages like sport package? They should of called it appearance package! Leather steering wheel, Rear Spoiler, Fog Lights. What's that? Make my car heavier & slower package. Sport package should be, HPT Turbo, bigger rims & tires, better sway bars. Something along that line.

Maybe it's just me but that dang low torque fooled me when I was test drove the X40 in Nov. 1999. I don't rag on other people could be cars, nor mine when I got it. So 3k later, doing higher rpm revs was nothing to get exited over. All the power was already seen down low the day I test drove one. Sure it got somewhat better around 12k. Having a mild sedan I expected low maintenance I told myself, dang I spent 14 months fixing problems left and right. If they can't fix the rattles, squealing, ect, why don't I get a little more out of this car to make up for the annoying sounds. You could call it a compromise since I couldn't have a quiet nice car, why not get some excitement from it like a sport car. Most normal sport cars have harsh ride, lots of noises just like my car :0 So thinking the engine was the only thing without problems, why not juice it up some! Already having an IPD exhaust, Free Cat, K&N filter why not get a chip! After running this chip for a few weeks, they engine isn't so perky either. I notice

too much black residue on the muffler. Guess it could either be burning old more or just too rich in gas? A good 40hp to 25hp loss in power from peak. When chipped I would say it has 185hp w/o exhaust 195hp with it. Also non chipped I would say 145hp with or without exhaust. But day one of the chip I would say, 220hp 260tq easy! Felt like driving my father in-laws P Boxter S 6-speed :) OOyea now that's a car!