New Car Review – By Peter Sokolowski from VSVCARSALES.COM.AU – Register Captain Moderns Volvo Car Club of Victoria. Written 10/08/2009
Review – Volvo C30 
Let’s start with a word that was bandied around as if this was the only design feature the car had at the launch of the C30. I think I heard the word RETRO mentioned in just about what seemed like every sentence. After the razzmatazz and the car being unveiled I sat their looking at it thinking “apart from one glass panel what were they hammering home on the RETRO front”? Well the C30 was all about a by gone era that Volvo had with the P1800’s back in the 60’s and early 70’s. But the C30 especially apparently took its design inspiration from the early 70’s P1800 ES wagons. World wide the P1800’s were a great success (not so much the ES wagons), but in Australia it was a rare car so I am really not sure that the Australian buyers, especially the ones new to the brand would get the point. You actually have to know and have seen as ES to even get some idea of were the C30 might be coming from. I can assure you very, very few people in Australia would know what you mean by a Volvo P1800 ES and most of those people that do know are Volvo enthusiasts anyway that would probable not consider the C30 as a new car purchase. 
So anyway there you have it. Volvo’s attempt at a RETRO car in the C30 taken inspiration from the Volvo P1800 ES all came down to the rear hatch big deep glass window. Must make the Volvo Designers all warm and fuzzy that they were able to come up with that all on their own and the marketing people just could not resist them selves with banging on about it too. Now build a modern 240. That would be RETRO!
Anyway history lesson over lets see what these babies can do. I am not kidding when I say babies either. The C30 is smaller in length (4252mm) than, but as wide as the S40 /V50’s that the car is based on. They all share the same chassis, drive train, motors, interior, basically every thing from the back of the front seats forward. Not a bad thing to be based on as the S40’s and V50’s are a good thing also. Currently the C30 is available in Petrol S, LE, T5 and the R-Design. In the Diesel it only comes as the S spec. Gearbox options is 5 speed manual for the S and LE petrol and also a 5 Speed Geartronic Auto. The D5 and the T5 gets the 6 speed manual or the 5 speed Geartronic Auto.
It’s a good-looking Swede both on the outside and inside. There are many varieties of engines and transmissions to full fill any driving style. Of course being a Volvo there is enough safety attributes to squelch your small car phobias with an abundance of active and reactive safety features which are all standard.
Pricing is also attractive at the moment starting at $40,490 Drive Away thanks to Volvo’s current specials on the car, but there are a lot of options that can drive the price up, so keep it in perspective between wants and needs in your car. A lot of options in cars do nothing for their resale and can be quite costly to start with. So keep that in mind. Volvo is also giving away about $9000 at the moment worth of extras for only $1000 extra costs including things like the R-Design Body kits and leather standard on the base models. But they have a very limited amount of cars left before the MY10 year cars arrive and the prices and specifications revert back to normal. Although the price of the cars is going to be higher you will get more in them for the MY10’s. Best thing to do is keep an eye on the Volvo Australia Cars website at www.volvocars.com.au or contact VSV Car Sales for more info and the best deals on the C30’s.
THE DRIVE: It is enjoyable to drive and doesn’t put you to sleep or toss you around like you would expect from a small car. Call it a sporty car rather than a sports car.
It has the good seats like with most Volvo’s but also supportive. That familiar turbocharged engine growl in the Petrol T5 and a quieter rumble from the standard normally aspirated 2.5lt motor. The D5 5cy that is currently available before Volvo introduces the 2.0lt TDi motor is good. But I will say compared to other Euro diesels it is noisy but makes up with stump pulling out of the ground power. It felt quite solid, but where was the frustrating soft steering response of past Volvos? No, this isn’t your grandmother’s Volvo or even your mother’s for that matter. This was a full-fledged fun car with a touch, just a touch, of practicality for the young at heart with just a tad touch of conservatism. In other words, the Volvo C30 is more fun than practical and probably the most youthful Volvo made.
There is abundant headroom and the steering wheel does telescope making it easier to find a comfortable driving position even when driving a car with a high clutch take-up such as the C30 manual I drove. I see Volvo has still yet to build a manual gearbox that is both enjoyable to drive and practical to use. I had the six speed manual transmission and once I learned how to find sixth gear it was fine, although the shifting mechanism wasn’t like I said earlier, in the smooth German Euro territory. The clutch is really soft come to think of it and was fairly high, that can result in some lurching at first. It will take a little time to get used to for people. Having driven it back to back against the auto, I would have to say that in the lower spec models the 5 speed manual is better and the auto best for the D5 and T5.
Under the hood is a T5 turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder petrol that produces 169kw/320Nm and 132kw/400Nm (manual) in the Diesel (current 5cy TDi). The Volvo makes very usable power from just 1500 rpm in both the T5 Petrol and D5 Diesel and so you can lug the engine in the manual sixth gear down to 30 kph. In the standard petrol motor it too is the familiar 5cy 125KW/230Nm. Because of the lesser body weight than the S40/V50 it gets along really well. But it is more of a town cruiser than anything you would call dynamic in the standard S and LE specs of the non-turbo motor. The standard motor really needs to be pushed to get any life out of it, which quickly sucks the fuel tank dry. The D5 had by far the highest turbo lag and then delivered like a cut snake, giving the instrument cluster a heart attach and it turned on every traction control light and message it could find at me. My suggestion is smooth easing on the power or be ready to hold on tight. Remember it has 400Nm in a very small body. The T5 just got down to business nice and smooth. In regards to drivability it was the nicest of the motors. Best economy with no surprise came from the D5, with a combined 6.9lt Per 100km. The standard petrol around town used more then the T5 surprisingly but on the open road the T5’s extra power babied the car along nicely and effortlessly as did the D5 which really kicked in to a nice 4.8lt Per 100km groove. The standard petrol motor did better on its highway consumption than the T5 average. But don’t try to over take too often as you will quickly push it in to the 11lt Per 100km mark easy, where the T5 was always under 9lt Per 100KM.
There is a hint of torque steer when you push the cars, but it is quite controlled and easily corrected, unlike some Volvo’s of old. Obviously Volvo marketers never intended the C30 to be a serious sports car and that is obvious in the comfortable settings of the suspension, even in the T5. You can keep up with most fast cars, but driving hard let’s say on the Great Ocean Road will show the car up for a Softy rather than a Sporty. But that isn’t what this Volvo is all about anyway. It has front McPherson strut/rear multilink suspension and with optional 18-inch alloys gives you plenty of road feel, but only occasional sharp bumps does it filter through to the cabin. All in all I would rate it better than I expected as a drive car and with only a few mods from Mark at VP Tuning it can be quite a dynamic and fun car.
THE OTHER STUFF: The more I drove the Volvo the more it grew around me. It felt larger as time passed and it sort of begged to be pushed a bit at times too. It does start to give you a confidence with the car the longer you drive it. Very unSwedish, but quite compelling.
The C30 has a glass hatchback that is both unique and limiting. This is the only RETRO feature it shares with the P1800ES. There isn’t any place to hide your things thanks to the transparent, very open rear end. I found this both a pain and very annoying. You just can not leave anything in the car. In a hatch style car I would expect that at a minimum a rear cargo cover / blind would be standard equipment. Big negative on this point! I will say though that the rear full glass tailgate does give you excellent rear visibility out the back of the car. BUT it also is a pain as any one driving an SUV or 4x4 shines their headlight strait in to the car and your review mirror. You also do feel very exposed by having so much glass at the back. My recommendation is to heavily tint the glass tailgate to give some privacy and piece of mind. Last comment on the Cargo area is that it really struggles with any more than a few bags of groceries. You need to put the back seats down to give the car any real luggage carrying capacity. The rear end is also high and the opening is small. So getting tings in can take a bit of effort. But if you want to hall things then this is not the car. You had better look at a V70 or V50 then.
The interior has a nice neutral and easy to use style about it. As normal in a Volvo all the buttons are easy to use, in the right spot and what they say they do is exactly that. Many other manufactures would do well to take Volvo’s lead on how to build a very good car interior. There are some handy storage areas and the seats are as with all Volvo’s well made and comforting. You get 4 full size adult seat buckets. So it is only a 4 seater, but the people in the back if tall I don’t think will want to stay their for too long. I would say up to 5 foot 10 for long trips would be maximum size of person you would want to put in the back. The waterfall style floating centre console is slim, bright and attractive and the cup holders can hold a regular 600ml drink.
It takes a fair amount of flexibility and strength to get in and out of the Volvo giving its very long, heavy doors. You need to find a parking space that provides the clearance to open these long doors up. My suggesting is to pull the car seat right back (as long as their is no one in the back) then get out. Or if you have the electric seats then set positing 3 as the all the way back setting.
I would highly recommend the Dynaudio 10-speaker surround-sound audio system with 650 watts and a Dolby Pro-Logic II surround sound and five band graphic equalizers. Extremely good sound quality and worth the bucks. Make sure you always test drive cars with your own CD or IPod music to insure a good sound check from a known source. Some other options to consider that will give the car a more liveable with appeal and will help its resale values, would be the bi-xenon headlights, sunroof, park distance control, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, heated seats, window tint and the rear cargo blind.
You buy a Volvo for safety and the C30 has every box ticked and all as standard features. In addition you can order Volvo’s Blind Spot Information System which might be a good idea because the side mirrors aren’t that large and I did get caught a couple of times with cars sneaking up on me. Although visibility to the front, side and back are excellent. But Volvo’s do have a very large B pillar which blacks side glance views.
The C30 draws a lot of looks. It has a unique shape from every angle and is easily identifiable as a Volvo, especially from the front, but it is more hip and appeals to a younger buyer. This is not a family car at all. The overall look is that of something far more expensive. Which is a very good design feature for a car in this price range. So well done to the Design Gurus.
THE VERDICT IS: If you like the looks and don’t need more interior space then what a town car offers you aren’t going to find a better buy (at the moment) if you watch your options. This is a fun, easy to live with car that knows when to have fun and when to play it safe. I got to like it the more time I spent in it. I gave the S and D5 7.5 out of 10. The LE 8 out of 10 and the T5 8.5 out of 10.
Please don’t forget I am always happy to discuss any aspects about any Volvo you are looking to buy. I am more than happy to offer free advice or just point you in the right direction and give you strait forward independent advice.
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