Get a few mechanics and car salesmen playing poker and you know who the winners will be and who the losers will be before the game gets started. Our last poker game just a week before the Christmas break put this old mechanic on a winning streak though.

Of course the talk was cars, and I was going on about my most surprising find of the year, the Mazda 3 Sport. I would be doing a review on it right now if one of the guys at the table hadn’t called me on it and said he had straight aces. Of course the salesman’s poker face is always better than mine so I folded in fear that he wasn’t bluffing. And he wasn’t!

What he showed me is the Volvo C 30. This small sporty coupe is definitely aimed squarely at the first time buyer generation. If you’ve been following industry news, you know that concept is nothing new. The license to grave sales idea has been around for years and has really heated up in the last five to ten. The electronics found in cars now with satellite communications can uplink your vehicle to the dealer who will keep you coming back. It starts with checkups then preventative repairs and finally the after sales service team will have you convinced to move up in their own line.

Volvo needed a vehicle that will appeal to that younger buying group and really hit the mark. The C 30 is sporty looking, fun to drive and has gobs of useable power. It comes in three packages and with five engine options. The top of the performance ladder is the I 5, 2.5 litre turbocharged 225 HP motor that came in the demo car I took out. This particular engine pulls like a mule train. It has smooth seamless power from off idle right through the rev range. The turbo spools up quickly with plenty of boost. It keeps the torque working right past the shift points and brings this car up to speed very fast. Emphasis on VERY!

The car set up with this engine is rated for 19 / 27 MPG. I averaged about 22 MPG. I avoided the highways and made loops around town so that I could scuff rubber off the tires. The car does good in town and it flies on the highway, but I love driving small agile cars on secondary roads. So that’s where I spent 95 percent of my driving time.

In keeping with the youth theme there are three package options available. The plain Jane plain paint model, the body kitted sporty model “the one I had was in this configuration” and the body kitted, two tone version that is a sticker kit shy of garish. You also get a choice of rims, paint schemes and interior packages. My car was a solid blue with 17 inch aluminum alloy rims and a white/gray interior. A nice combo probably picked out by Volvo marketing pro’s for the dealers. If looks could drag you into buying a car than this set up would do it for me.

The C 30 shares the same platform as the S 40 sedan, Ford C-1 and Mazda 3. This becomes pretty clear when you start putting the car through her paces. On single apex, easy swoop cornering the car is a dream. It feels like it could handle with the best of them. I live in a difficult area for car drivers where the corners will change direction either tightening or opening up mid corner, or maybe both. Where there are 180 degree switchbacks followed by a series of S’s or maybe another switchback or tightening corner. All this combined with sudden rises and dips in the road surface, off camber surfaces and sudden break away on the curbside. It doesn’t take too long to discover a cars handling weakness.

The C 30’s weakness definitely comes in the manner of understeer. I expected it with the S 40 and even with the Mazda. In the shorter, tighter and sportier C 30 I had hoped for an adjustment in steering geometry. I found out very quickly that this was not to be. I almost kissed a guard rail during a tight switchback thanks to this cars push to the outside. Although I had the power, it was applied over the front wheels. I didn’t have the option of pushing the back end out to compensate. Pulling the wheel ever harder managed to correct the direction, but it was near scary having to pull it around that much. It isn’t as pretty a maneuver as the magazines like to tell it. I don’t want to overstate this point, but I really think if Volvo is going to play on the sporty end of the auto spectrum, that they should give the needed handling to go with the power.

A couple days after the C 30’s near loss of front right fender, I had one of those flowery articles on the C 30 show up in my car club magazine. Probably written by some Volvo ad exec stating that the car in fact has “built in” yet easily correctable understeer for safety. OK, so who’s that safer for? Not experienced drivers I’m sure, but I suppose average drivers or new drivers would feel safer with this set up. My wife really loved the way the car handled and her response to my griping is that she feels the car handles wonderfully and feels sure footed. Read on.

Apart from the sour taste I got from the understeer problem I found the suspension to be well sorted. Iv driven other sporty Fwd cars recently that would let the tires break loose all too quickly. This would be especially pronounced during left or right hand turns coming over a crest. You could feel the steering trying to straighten out from gyroscopic effect as the wheels broke lose and sped up. This is not the case with the Volvo. The suspension has enough compliance to allow the wheels to stay planted even in this type of situation. The seventeen-inch tires and wheels fitted to the Volvo can also take some credit.

I was pleased to find the transmission to be a well spaced close ratio six speed. It’s very easy to keep this car right on the power no matter what speed road you’re on. You can definitely make best use of the engine this way. I don’t think the transmission has the tightest feel to it. This is typical to Swedish cars though. I never missed a shift and it felt sporty enough to keep you raking back it forth without fear of missing your gate.

The seating position in the C 30 is comfortable for most around town and sport type driving. I found it to be a little confining and uncomfortable after a good hour behind the wheel though. I won’t hammer it for that though. Iv seen this with other Volvos’ and find that the seats sometimes need time to break in to your posterior to get really comfy. Four days with a brand new car isn’t enough to get it into shape.

The interior is fairly spacious, in the front anyhow. The rear seating is too cramped for most average size people. Head room just isn’t there and if you’re over four foot eleven, there isn’t much leg room either. Small kids can deal with it, but only two at a time since all you get are a set of bucket seats. The front seating on the other hand is ample for the average person. I found it to be just as comfortable as the BMW 525 that I reviewed last year. I think the leg space if not more is at least better contoured without any real intrusive effects from the console or floor shape.

The dash and instruments are all laid out in a simple arrangement with all buttons and controls easy to access with short reaches from controls to accessory actuation. All functions become second nature in a very short time. The ease and comfort of the arrangement makes for a safer driving environment. The dashboard is also contoured to provide maximum visibility with only a small forward blind spot from the A pillar. This is to be expected with the glass being pushed back toward the driver compartment to maintain Volvo aesthetics. A forward windscreen would put the C 30 in Citroen C 3 or Picasso territory. This car is aimed more toward a share of potential Mini or Golf buyers, so keeping the look is necessary.

Volvo wouldn’t be Volvo without being able to brag up the safety issue. (Note on this; I lived in the UK for a few years and Volvo drivers have a reputation of being the worst on the road there. Could the thought of being in an indestructible tank embolden some? )
Volvo has the now standard air bags, but also has side impact airbags and something I found out after a couple hours driving. A system called the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC). This is a computer operated system that works in conjunction with the anti lock braking system and the engines PCM to control how much power or braking force is applied to each wheel.

I didn’t know this car was equipped with the system when I took it. Higher end vehicles like Mercedes and Cadillac have similar systems so I was astonished to find the C 30 equipped this way. While driving, lets change that to thrashing, the car through our local white knuckle bow tie backroads, I noticed a very slight pulsation from the brake pedal as I would pull the steering wheel full tilt and mash the brakes. Ok, I thought, ABS doing its thing. But a funny thing happened. As it began to rain and I knew the road was getting slippery, I could downshift and bring the engine up onto its power, but not quite, the engine would drop power as if the timing had suddenly dropped to TDC. Very odd! The car would continue to accelerate, but not past wheel slippage. What a fine way to take the fun out wet weather. I can hear the Birkenstock crowd moaning now, but heck, there is a certain amount of fun in spinning the tires in the wet.

The last draw for the young guys will probably be the sound system. Volvo likes to play up the speakers and the supposed 650 watts of power generated. I kind of get a sick feeling when I think how the rating game is played. Iv sat in front of enough VU meters to know how much wattage is needed for good sound reproduction. Half a watt is usually more than enough for good strong sound. A watt is pretty darn loud. Five watts will have the neighbors calling the cops. In any case, the car has more than enough sound system power on tap. I’m sure with it cranked right up you can annoy anyone at stoplights. Just don’t expect the trunk hatch to be reverberating off its hinges and door glass to be shaking out. The Volvo is built tight so you may sound wave compress your ear drums before the door seals blow.

Overall I think the C 30 is a heck of a nice car. I was impressed with the Mazda 3 Sport and I would be doing that review now if I hadn’t driven this car. Although it shares the same platform with the Mazda, the final product is superior. The engine has more useable power, the handling although nearly identical is easier to push to the limit with the Volvo for the average driver thanks to the DSTC. I feel more comfortable in the Volvo also. It has a more inviting interior and doesn’t look like it will give an outdated appearance in a few years. That may not be something to think about now, but if you have to sell down the road, the place most eyes go to is the interior. The Volvo’s will help keep the value up.

The buy in price is nice too. At just under twenty thousand it’s within reach of most folks with a job. Of course the price takes off when you start accessorizing, but that’s on the individual. Volvo has a reputation for well built, durable cars. I haven’t seen anything on this car that would make me think this model is anything less than a Volvo. My own end impression of this car is that its one that can recommended to anyone who’s looking to buy this class of car.

Also See
http://www.epinions.com/content_419075034756 Smart For Two
Amount Paid (US$): 26,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2008
Model and Options: C 30, I5, 6 speed std. body kitted,