FOR the first time, Volvo has entered the small car arena with a car that caters to mainstream tastes.

Volvo purists fear not, for this is still a proper representative of the famous Scandinavian marque, with three out of the four engines offered in Australia having five cylinders and all variants benefiting from thoughtful Swedish design touches.

Those put off by the pipe-and-slippers image that Volvo is so desperate to shed might have their interest piqued by the presence of a ridiculously rapid T5 R-Design variant in the range, which can dash to 100km/h in just 6.1 seconds and carry on accelerating to 250km/h.

But is all this enough for Volvo to compete in the increasingly tough premium small segment that will soon hot up with the arrival of all-new rivals from Mercedes-Benz and Audi?

Click the Our Opinion link to find out...