Loeb: Monte win means nothing here

Loeb believes the event, which is held in freezing temperatures on snow and ice, will be a tougher test for his Xsara WRC than last month's Monte.

"You have to understand that the Monte Carlo and Swedish Rallies are two very different events," said Loeb. " Nothing is comparable... neither the type of surface, nor the tyres, nor the studs. On Day One, I will be first on the road. I can't tell yet whether that's an advantage or a handicap. We will only find out on the day. My personal aim is to be consistently amongst the top five or six stage times and, above all, to do my best to ensure that my times aren't that far off the fastest."

Despite the adverse conditions, Sweden is one of the fastest events of the season and Loeb likes the rally.

"When you enjoy driving, you can only take pleasure from driving at high speed on snow and ice," he said. "You're permanently sideways, trying to control the power slides, juggling with the car's momentum to set it up for the corners. Sometimes that's done with gentle, fingertip precision, at others you have to be more brutal for the few sharper turns."