Top Gear zeer positief over de C30

[Ben]

Volvo's C30 small hatch is a car that tries quite hard to do its own thing. As the world latches on to 'premium' hatches, this isn't just a regularly shaped contender. Unlike a 1-Series or Audi A3, it's clear there'll never be a five-door version. The Alfa GT is the nearest thing, I guess.

The C30 is strictly a four-seater, with no space to wedge a protesting bod between the two individual back seats and no belt for them if you did.

But if the C30 isn't a regulation hatch, it isn't your stereotypical fastback coupe shape either. Instead of tapering in a vertical plane, it tapers in the horizontal, the roof and glass narrowing so much that the back end has a definite head-and-shoulders outline.

It's a good look, partly, I suspect, because we like to anthropomorphise our cars, don't we? And on the sly it also makes for handy space within.

Volvo's design language has turned out surprisingly versatile. It morphed from saloons and estates onto an SUV, then a coupe-cabrio and now this, and all of them look original in their categories and comfortable in their skins, happy to be Volvos.

The bones of the C30 are from the S40/V50/C70, but only the bonnet is a shared panel. The nose has a more aggressive expression, the headlamps are swept further back. The tail end is all unique, of course.

The inverted-U rear-lights give it away at night. By day, you see the narrowness of the glasshouse, the tall brake lights and glass tailgate between. I recall from my Aygo how nice it was to have a small glass-only tailgate to flip up and down, rather than a huge and heavy door. Until that is you've got a big square box to stuff in, which is when you find it's actually you that's stuffed.

Inside, the dash, shared with the C30's mechanical relatives, is a highlight. It's modern, well made and a cinch to use, but most of all stark and elegantly simple. The seats are fantastically comfy, even if they're covered in a curiously greasy-feeling fabric. It's rammed out with safety kit, including (though as a £350 option only) Volvo's new magic-eye mirrors, which shine a warning light when someone's in your blind spot.

Select for your C30 from a bewildering range of eight engines. It starts with four-cylinder petrols in 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0, then fives of 2.4 and 2.5 turbo. Diesels are 1.6 and 2.0 fours, and a nice 180bhp 2.4-litre five-cylinder.

Volvo doesn't pretend there's any particular rocket science to its prices. They simply take a power and spec match to an equivalent Audi A3, and undercut them by 'a bit'.

The Volvo five-cylinder turbo is a sweet engine, but it's apt to expose any flaws in the chassis it's attached to. So let's pick that as a test engine, and be reasonably assured that if it works, the rest of the range will be OK.

It does work. There have been lots of Volvos which the company claimed were sporty, but this the first to feel properly sorted. It's not hectic like a hot hatch, but it does feel perfectly at ease when you decide to have a bit of a play. And happy to join in.

The steering has heavy self-centring, but push harder and it feels natural and fluent. On this SE-spec's standard 205/50 17 tyres there isn't massive grip, but who cares when instead the front and back ends will both amuse you by squirming around a bit on the throttle. Despite the turbo's torque it finds plenty traction, at least in the dry. It's all a lot more fun than said Audi.

The five-cylinder's hum is a sweet harmony, and there's always torque. I had the auto, a five-speed that's crippled by high gearing, which is maybe why it felt no more than brisk, like the handbrake was left on.

The manual is a six-speed, which is one more than you'd need with all that torque but gets along well. Volvo says 6.2 seconds for 0-60mph, 6.7 for the more commonly quoted 0-62. Proper performance, then.

Meanwhile, the ride is fine and again I say this in some surprise, because almost all other Volvos have a permanent shiver to them. Not the C30. Oh it's firm, but the movement is well-controlled and fluent, which makes the whole car feel a lot better bolted together. It cruises peacefully too.

I asked the Volvo people why they didn't call it the ES30. It'd be nice to remember the lovely P1800ES. Unfortunately, that'd also evoke the rather unlovely 480ES, so maybe that's why they stuck with C30 and besides, they don't want to generate any preconceptions.

As far as they're concerned, they want people to be open-minded because this car fishes in two different pools: its rivals are both the expensive hatches and the coupes. It's more stylish than the first lot and more useful than the second.

Of course, that line of thinking has often come unstuck, producing cars that are neither one thing nor the other. Cramped hatchbacks, bloated coupes. But I think the C30 gets away with it, assuming that you're prepared to buy into the whole Volvo-ness of its design, which runs through this car like the letters in a stick of rock.

Luckily, it's about more than design though. Sorry if this sounds grudging, but I was genuinely surprised by how well it drives. Volvo's sporty cars have usually had wooden suspension, torque steer and poor traction. The C30 trades that crudeness for something altogether more sophisticated. Sophisticated enough to carry off that black plastic with true postmodern irony.

Paul Horrell

bron: bbc top gear

[NOS]

Hebben ze gelijk in toch?

[Johan Braziltraveller]

The C30 trades that crudeness for something altogether more sophisticated. Sophisticated enough to carry off that black plastic with true postmodern irony.

Mooie volzinnen, hoop in de toekomst hetzelfde mee te kunnen maken.

[Walter]

Mooi verhaal! Op autovisie.nl kun je een rijverslag downloaden, daarin in Ton Roks ook heel erg positief!!

[V480-S60]

Een minpuntje in het artikel.
De 480 wordt afgekraakt. als "rather unlovely". Terwijl juist ook in Engeland een grote groep 480 liefhebbers zit.
Waarom, waarom. Ik heb regelmatig een verzameling nieuwsgierigen en geïnteresseerden rond mijn 480 als ik em ergens neerzet.

Verder een heel leuk verhaal. Ik zal het rijverslag van Ton Roks wel lezen in de Autovisie.
En 10 oktober zie ik de C30 eindelijk in het echt.

[Walter]

dat verhaal over de 480 ben ik met je eens, verwacht zelf dat het hier meer de technische opstartproblemen die de 480 gekend heeft bedoeld wordt

In alle persberichten kom je de 480 niet tegen. Dat komt deels doordat die nooit naar de USA heeft mogen gaan, wat nu met de C30 wel gaat gebeuren

[Dick@Volvo]

Top Gear en positief dan moet de C30 wel een goede auto zijn! Meestal laten ze zich erg negatief tijdens testritten. Goed voorteken? Dat de 480ES bij sommigen in de vergetelhoek begint te raken vind ik jammer. Sommige journalisten noemen alleen de P1800 in artikelen. Ik heb de 480 altijd een mooie sportieve auto gevonden (vind ik overgens nog steeds). De C30 vind ik niet overeenkomen met de P1800 en 480ES. Slechts de achterklep is vergelijkbaar. Van mij had hij iets meer op het concept model SCC mogen lijken. Ik bedoel eigenlijk de auto had iets meer gestretch mogen worden. Dan had hij meer op de voorgaande modellen geleken. Wel vind ik dat de auto een erg dikke kont heeft. Op beeld is het een erg mooie auto vooral in de filmpje op de Volvo site al hij door de Götatunnel rijdt.