Introduction: The Volvo C30 is Volvo's return to the coupe market. There was the Volvo 300 series which in all honesty were terrible, and the Volvo 400 series which most of the world was never given. The design of the C30 particularly of the rear was inspired from an Volvo from the past, the P1800ES. Now to build this C30, Volvo uses the exact same platform as the S40 and much of the interior is what you'll find from the S40. The whole point of this car is to allow Volvo to escape their safety obsessed past which essentially pointed Volvos as square and boring, nothing you'd actually want. Volvo released the C30 with a series of engines, for the Canadian market we were given the 24i and T5, in America only the T5 was available. Due to its price bracket and the sort of customers buying the C30, the 24i was eventually dropped leaving only the T5.
Anyways, I didn't think I'd be writing about this car again but it seems I have and there's good reason to take another look again. This one is the powerful T5 version. So, can an engine actually change my opinion on a car enough to make me say its better or worse than before?
Performance: The C30 T5 is given a turbocharged 5-cylinder engine, hence the T5. This engine produces 227 hp and 236 lb.ft of torque. This engine is coupled to a 5-speed automatic, or 6-speed manual but for this review it'll be the automatic. Now, compared to a lot of the other cars I've driven this doesn't sound like much. The difference is the C30 weighs less than 3000 lbs whereas most of the other cars with this sort of power these days are generally 3500 lbs. As a result this gives the car an acceleration time of 7.1 seconds from 0-100 km/h, according to Volvo the manual is capable of 6.7 seconds. This is a lot better than the 323i or a C250 and way quicker than most other cars of this size. I like this engine quite a lot, there isn't much sense of turbo lag nor is there a lot of torque steer to ruin the experience. The only flaw I can think of is when pushed, the fuel economy is not impressive.
My Score: 10/10 - A very good engine, well specified for this car.
Handling: The old car handled very well and sure enough even though this one has turbocharging equipment it feels much the same. The only difference this time is the extra power from the engine. As a result the excellent handling from the Ford C1 platform is amplified with the excitement coming from the engine. The steering weight is very well done, you don't get a whole lot of understeer and zig-zagging by traffic is a breeze for a car of this size with this amount of power. Even with the good handling, the ride isn't spoiled either with a tough suspension. As far as excellent handling FWD cars, this is one of the best.
My Score: 10/10 - No complaints at all.
Interior: Not much has changed about the interior if anything. The read outs are much the same, the interior styling is exactly the same, the buttons and everything seem very much the same. However I will go a bit more in-depth than I did in the old review especially seeing that I should've separated the S40 and C30. Due to this car's pricing point the interior is a bit more upscale than a regular hatchback. You're given a leather wheel, leather seats, sun roof and all those sorts of nice things. The dash is mostly plastic, while there are some bits where some attention to detail was given like the center console, its not a whole lot different than most other cars as far as materials are concerned. The seat belt holders despite having coupe-like doors are actually well placed unlike say a Civic coupe or held on cheaply like a Cobalt coupe. This means using the seat belt isn't a difficult stretch if you're not tall. The rear seats are modest as far as passenger space but not ideal. The space in the tailgate area is actually quite generous considering the size of this car, 2 full size suit cases could easily fit. Lastly the visibility is actually quite good despite the tiny rear windscreen. Due to this car's small size, the blindspots are no larger than a normal car's. As for the build quality, again this car is made in Ghant, Belgium and it seems they do a very good job putting the car together.
My Score: 6/10 - Same as last time, kind of expensive for what you get.
Styling: Not a lot has changed here either but if I'm honest I've always felt the C30 looked a lot better than the S40 and since it was one of my earlier reviews I failed to separate it thinking they're sort of the same. The new styling changes primarily deal with the front where the headlamps are larger and look more aggressive, the grille is no longer a simple rectangle, and the fog lamp housing looks way better. This makes the front look quite a lot better. The rear has always been my favourite part of the car and I'm glad Volvo didn't change that. Its so unique and yet it also looks very good.
My Score: 10/10 - This was the score I should've given the C30 years ago. It looks great even today.
Value for money: Things have changed since 2 years ago. Now, the Volvo is in competition against the Audi A3 and the Lexus CT. First things first, the Volvo badge still isn't the best badge to have as far as luxury is concerned. However with a T5 its priced at 30K which is 7K less than the Audi and nearly the same as the Lexus. Performance-wise the Volvo is easily better than the Lexus which has no chance as its very slow, the Audi has less power with its 4-cylinder turbo but ends up faster by a small margin unless you get the C30 manual. Practicality, the Audi is better being offered in 5-door option and same deal with the Lexus. Features, the Audi is no different than the C30. Worse for the Audi, at the end of the day its just an expensive Golf. The C30 now with actual competition, starts to actually look better. I think it does well, and weirdly its easily the oldest.
My Score: 7/10 - The Audi is faster, slightly nicer trimmed and a bit more practical, but the C30 is better looking and all in all better value.
Overall: 43/50 - The C30 in with this engine is a great car. If you want a small, fast and mildly luxurious car the C30 is the best choice.
