2008's subtle restyling was intended to bring the smaller Volvos more into line with the latest look of the flagship S80 sedan. These updates enhanced the S40 and V50, but didn't substantially change their character, and that's good. Both rank with the best looking Volvos ever offered.

The S40 remains subtle and original, but mostly very clean: sophisticated in its simplicity, but certainly not simple. Form follows function in this sedan, as a short overall length (for crisp handling and easy parking) was a primary engineering objective.

Rounded front corners (as well as a compact engine package) enable this shortness, and the rear corners are pushed in as well, giving the S40 a tight but still stylish shape. Sparse application of chrome creates a classy look, and last year's revisions took some of the black bits off the body as well. Lower door, sill and side moldings are color coordinated to match the paint. The doors are slightly convex, with high shoulders that add a sense of security for those sitting inside.

The S40 and V50 are Volvos from any angle, but it's most obvious head on, looking into the dark egg-crate grille with the diagonal Volvo slash through the center. Both the sedan and the wagon keeping the slightly larger grille from 2008, with its much larger Volvo badge in the center. Ditto the slightly reshaped headlights, with their more pronounced tear-drop downturn at the inside edges. The air intake under the bumper runs full width on the sedan, but is divided into three segments on the wagon.

Viewed in profile, a sharp rear end and softer front end give the S40 direction. The rocker panels are slightly wider in the rear, creating the illusion of forward rake and more motion. More dramatically, the sloping roofline quickly meets an abrupt rear deck. The distance between the bottom of the glass and the back edge of the deck is not much more than a foot. Yet all the lines, including the rear hips, cascade smoothly together. The now-standard 17-inch Spartacus rims, with their seven pair of elegantly thin spokes, fill the wheel wells nicely and enhance the S40's presence.

Viewed from the rear, the huge red taillights are trademark Volvo. They light with long-lasting LED elements rather than bulbs.

For 2009, T5 models are distinguished by a unique grille with the R-Design logo offset to the lower left. Aero extensions surround the bottom edge of the car, but they are small, body color, and tastefully subtle. More noticeable than any of these features are the T5's bold, five-spoke Serapis alloy wheels. Optional 18-inch Midir wheels are similarly five-spoked, but with rounder spokes that seem to stand out closer to the wheel's surface. (And they are available only on the front-drive sedan.)

In side view, the V50 wagon is created by extending the roof line and belt line back to the tail, with a slight diagonal angle from the roof down to the beltline. It's all very graceful, though from the rear the wagon's huge taillights add some gawkiness. They extend up the sides all the way to the roof, and we aren't necessarily consoled by the fact that they are nearly impossible for other drivers to miss.

With its smallest sedan and wagon, Volvo tried to provide the same sort of impact protection buyers seek in its larger vehicles. To that end, both the S40 and V50 apply what the company calls the Volvo Intelligent Vehicle Architecture, or VIVA. That means extra-sturdy anti-intrusion beams in the doors, and multiple crumple or deformations zones front and rear, built with different strengths of steel depending on that zone's location and function: conventional, high strength, extra high strength and ultra high strength. The idea is to dissipate or absorb the energy of a collision before it finally reaches the car's cabin, or the people inside it.