Hey Demon,
At this point I'd only call it a 3/4 upgrade. The power,braking,and fit/finish/features are an upgrade. I'm finding the suspension to be somewhat of a disappointment. I've been spoiled by the BAT kit
My well-connected-to-the-road suspension has been replaced with a computer-controlled mess. follow this
thread for some more details. Rocky The Squirrel is alive and well in my car and I'm afraid Volvo's fix might make it worse.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear you might be holding out for a possible V50R. I did read a rumour that it (S40R at least) might be a go for next year. I was thoroughly impressed with my sister-in-laws T5 S40. The ONLY thing I didn't like was that the gas pedal seemed too close to the console/transmission tunnel. Other than that, the car was perfect (except for no currently available "R" model).
