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| Driven: Volvo C30
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Like Swedish rival Saab, Volvo has always been kind of an‘in-between brand’. Elevated above the Ford and Chryslers of this world, for sure, but not quite high enough to plant both feet in the premium territory inhabited by the likes of BMW, Mercedes and (in recent years) Audi.
The thing about being the quirky outsider, though, is that people expect the unexpected. Without the bland conservatism of Middle America guy roping your design down to the safest common denominator, you can afford to take risks, to have a pop at something fresh and interesting. Like the C30.
The C30 isn’t a three-door hatchback, asserts Volvo, but rather a ‘SportsCoupe’ in the vein of the Audi A3 Sportback and BMW 1-Series. It believes that the common selling point will be design, not practicality or affordability. It even cites the MINI and Audi TT as rivals. And to be fair, gazing at the C30’s 1800 ES-inspired sloping rear deck, 2001 Safety Concept Car-esque exaggerated shoulders and tapered roofline, it’s hard to see it mixing with anything as humdrum as Ford’s three-door Focus or the Dodge Caliber.
For starters, it’s way too expensive to attract your traditional Ford customer. In contrast to Europe, where the C30 is offered with a wide range of diesel and petrol engines, Volvo North America has adopted the Henry Ford principle of supply and demand: you can have any C30 you want, as long as it’s the T5. The price? An estimated $26,500, putting it somewhere between the S40 2.4 and T5 models when it hits American shores in June 2007.
This makes sense when you consider that the C30 sports coupe is effectively a re-skinned S40 saloon. Unlike the spiritual successor 1800ES, the C30 does not benefit from bespoke bodywork and interior. It uses the same front-wheel-drive platform as the Ford Focus, Mazda 3 and S40 – all from the corporate C1 platform. Some 8.7 inches have been lopped off the rear overhang of the four-door model, however, giving the car a compact, wheel-at-each-corner road stance. Twin exhausts, a roof spoiler and the distinctly coupe-like tapering of the windows also help reinforce the effect, creating an impression of agility and speed.
This all makes Volvo’s decision to saddle the car with its trademark corporate front end a bit disappointing. Understandably, the Swedish firm didn’t want to alienate existing buyers with a design that’s too avant-garde. But glanced at in a rear-view mirror, it could easily be mistaken for an S40 – even though it appears to share few parts other than the hood. Lights, fenders with their XC90 style lips, and unique front fascia and grille all look great, but to the casual observer might be seen as surprisingly similar to the 40 and 50-series platform mates.
Conservative it may be, but it still might be one of the most dynamic faces in the line, which Volvo is hoping will grab a few looks from the younger side of the market. Currently, just one in ten Volvo buyers are pre-family; a pool from which Gothenburg expects over half of C30 drivers are expected to be drawn.
There are other obstacles to Volvo’s goal to reinvent itself as happening brand for hipsters and up-and-coming execs. Like the steering wheel, indicator stalks and gearlever. These are your primary contact points in any car, and in this car they feel, well… ordinary. It’s more forgivable than finding out that your $452,000 Mercedes-McLaren SLR shares its wheel, keyfob and steering column controls with a humble A-Class (seriously, check it out for yourself – they’re almost identical), but dipping so obviously into the S40 parts bin netted Volvo some hardware a considerably more conservative than the component equivalents in the MINI or the TT.
While I’m on the bitching bandwagon, I might as well get it all off my chest. The smoked glass tailgate and pinched rear roofline might look great, but they don’t half take a bite out of practicality. The boot is tiny by class standards – smaller than anything bar the MINI’s – and the rear is too narrow to accommodate more than two seats. Getting back there is also a real drag; you have to pull the seat back release lever and then hold another lever forward to slide the base out of the way. That said, at least you get a decent amount of leg and headroom once you’re there. And it feels pretty light and airy inside.
Like all true sports coupes, the C30 is configured around the needs of the driver. The seats sit lower than in the S40 and do a fine job of holding you in place during cornering. The addition of vinyl wetsuit-style seat upholstery (called T-Tec) on SE-spec models is also a nice touch, as is the optional, iMac-aping ‘Virtual White’ finish on the floating centre console. The C30 is no MINI, but it’s a great deal more customisable than anything else that Volvo builds.
It’s also jam-packed with standard equipment. All cars will come with 17-inch alloys, climate control, electric windows, heated door mirrors, an exterior temperature gauge, DSTC traction and stability control, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Assist (EBD & EBA), curtain airbags, steering wheel controls, cruise control, front fog lamps, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, rain sensors and a rear spoiler. A iPod-compatible, six-disc Dynaudio/Alpine sound system with 10 speakers and Dolby Prologic surround is also available as an option, as is a gadget called the Blind Spot Information System (BLIS). This uses cameras mounted in the door mirrors to warn drivers that a vehicle is in their blind spot, via a green light at the leading edge of the doorsill.
Meanwhile, you can ensure that you don’t slip into anybody else’s blind spot by opting for the eye-catching ‘Cosmic White Pearl with Brown Java Pearl body kit’ and 18-inch wheel combo pictured in some of the press photos. This is essentially a production version of the C30 Design Concept that appeared at the Detroit Motor Show in January, and comes complete with more pronounced side skirts and louder-looking fenders finished in a chocolaty brown. Some say Brown is the new in-color, but to my mind it looks a little too much like the kind of colour scheme that Eugene Levy from American Pie would go for. But that’s just my opinion.
What isn’t a matter of opinion is the fact that the T5 is one seriously sweet engine. The Europeans can keep their diesels and four-cylinder petrol powerplants – this is the unit to go for, no question. The transversely mounted unit identical to the 217bhp 2.5-litre five-cylinder fitted to the ballistic Ford Focus ST (sadly not offered in the USA), and pushes the C30 to 62mph in just 6.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 145mph.
A word of warning: don’t even think about splashing out on the five-speed Geartronic unless you are seriously allergic to stick-shifters. Not only do you lose a gear and add 0.4 seconds to the benchmark sprint, but you also strangle the spirit of adventure out of that charismatic five-pot engine. The offbeat warble at idle escalates into a muted roar as the engine spins round to its 6,500rpm rev limiter, causing the front tyres to scrabble for grip and prompting intervention from the DSTC traction control system at full throttle in the lower gears. With 235lb ft of torque to distribute through the steering wheels, you could argue that this flagship C30 suffers from the lack of a limited-slip differential. But if, like me, you relish mastering that delicate balance between torque and mechanical grip, this merely adds to the sense of involvement.
The six-speed gearbox also pleasant enough to use, if not exactly of Golf GTi calibre in terms of precision and weight. The ratios are also well spaced, allowing you to cruise comfortably at high speeds. A claimed average consumption of 32.5mpg on the combined run is within expectations of a car of this size and performance.
Volvo has long been associated with fast, comfortable saloons and estates. But when it comes to making its cars exciting to drive, it has sometimes fallen wide of the mark. Does the C30 T5 set the record straight? Not quite. It’s quick, no question. And despite an abundance of grip and torque, it’s remarkably easy to drive fast; the steering is precise and well weighted and the chassis quite neutral at the limit, gently nosing into understeer as the front end loses its bite. Three suspension packages are offered in Europe: Comfort, Dynamic and Sports – and of the three, Dynamic seems to offer the best compromise.
In this guise, the C30 is undoubtedly the most driver-orientated Volvo yet; offering a more finely honed balance between body control, ride quality, grip and refinement than any of the company’s high-performance R models. The steering is a little numb, however, and the overall drive lacks that certain ‘X factor’ that makes the sporting Audi A3s, Golf GTI, MINI Cooper S and TT coupe so desirable.
Hopefully the rumoured C30-R will redress the balance.
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11-27-2006, 02:25 PM
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