7D
aily Record, July 4, 2008ROAD RECORDD
riven byNNEEWWSSmotoringTalents for all to CIt doesn8217t have the driving dynamics
of BMW8217s 1-Series but Volvo8217s
C30 does everything else
better, writes PHIL
VAUGHANWHEN it comes
to pr
oducing a
small car,
V
olvo don8217t do
things by halves.The sporty C30 has the same
safety, sizeable specification, and
big-car feel that comes with more
v
oluminous
V
olv
os
.
All this is shoe-horned into a
two-door hatchback just 4.25
metres long and 1.78 metres wide.
But the C30 doesn8217t appeal to
ev
er
y
one
, as the car
8217
s love-it-or-
hate-it advertising campaign
ackno
wledges
, in an unusually
honest move for a car marque.
Despite the cumbersome C30
S
ports Coupe name, it isn8217t really
a coup233, and neither is it a small
hatchback in the big-door
,
versatile-load, mould.
I
t
8217
s a bit of ev
er
ything, as w
ell
as an altogether appealing little
motor, which seems to sit in a
niche all on its o
wn.
On the move, the C30 is quick
on its feet, agile and r
emar
kably
supple
.
Ther
e ar
e engines to match the
r
esponsiv
e chassis 8211 2.4 and
2.5-litre petrols, and a 2.4-litre
diesel 8211 but most buy
ers will seek
out the mor
e sensible 1.6-litre
diesel tr
ialled her
e.
This 1560cc unit deliv
ers a
decent helping of thrills through
fiv
e manual gears without
thr
eatening to go over the top,
and can attain a 118mph top
speed.
The 0-62mph time is a
mar
ket-av
er
age 11.3 seconds
, but
the r
eal pay
off comes at the
pumps 8211 67.3mpg on the countr
y
cy
cle
, which averages out to a
combined 57.6mpg. E
xcellent.
The inter
ior exudes S
w
edish
minimalism, the best example of
which is the str
iking, slim centr
e
console
.
W
ith SE trim, you have to do
without luxur
ies such as po
w
er
ed,
heated fr
ont seats
, a folding facility
on the door mirr
ors
, and plush
floor mats
, but that
8217s about it,
ev
erything else is in there.
The C308217
s deep glass tailgate
functions best with hand luggage
,
or at most a couple of medium-
upholster
y in the 1.6SE was
leather-faced, with Volvo
char
ging an extr
a 163700 for that
option, with another 163500 for
metallic paint.
The latter makes
any car look a little more solid,
but who needs it on a Volvo?
The only other option was the
16325 charge for the passenger
airbag cut-off switch.
Add that little lot to the 1.6D
SE8217
s star
ter pr
ice of 16316,495, and it
takes the final tally to 16317,720 8211
setting it against the market8217s
curr
ent small, spor
ty hatch
mainstay, the BMW 1 Series.
H
ands up her
e
, I think the
little Beamer has the better
dr
iving edge
, but in ev
er
y other
depar
tment the
V
olvo C30 is
the master.
siz
ed suitcases 8211 you8217ll struggle to
get a lar
ge suitcase in ther
e
,
another pointer to the market
that this model is aimed at.
Still, the go-ahead young
singles
, or couple
, who ar
e likely
to buy the C30 will hear few
complaints from any older
passengers they place in the back.The two individual seats
are quite roomy and
better than anything else
in the small luxury coup233 sector
.
Access through the two front
doors is decent,
too.Fold both the rear seats down
and ther
e8217s a maximum 1010 litres
of load space, a little over half of
what y
ou
8217
ll get in a S
koda Fabia
super
mini. So, a little,
but not a lot, of
pr
acticality
there.
TheLOVE IT OR
LOATHE IT
:
Opinion
has been divided over
the C30, with its kooky
design, but there8217
s no mistaking
that this small Volvo is in a niche all
of its own, and is also capable of
doing a ream of things extremely wellFactfileModel:
Volvo C30SE
Engine:
1.6-litrediesel
P
ower:
108bhp
F
ueleconomy:
57.6mpg
CO2emissions:
129g/km
W
arranty:
Three
years/60,000
miles
Price:
16316,495
On sale:
NowRAC Inspections are backing
Trading Standards8217 warning to
young motorists about death
trap motor vehicles.They are now calling for
parents to be involved in the
used car buying decision.
The recent findings of the
undercover operation by
T
rading Standards Institute
and Hertfordshire Police,
s
howed that five out of eight
s
econd-hand cars, the kind a
young first-time motorist
might buy, were unsafe.
Research by RAC
Inspections supported these
findings, with an alarming
three quarters of the used
cars inspected by the RAC
h
aving faults that would cause
t
he car to fail an MOT. A further
one in three had potentially
dangerous or illegal faults.
Nicola Johnson, manager
for RAC Inspections, said:
8220Y
oungsters or first-timers
looking for a used car bargain
are entering a minefield and
a
re unlikely to have the
k
nowledge to know what to
look for
.
8220This is where a
mechanically-minded friend
o
r family member can help.
8220Better still, parents or
guardians would be wise to
invest in an independent
vehicle inspection which could
save money or even a life.8221INTERNATIONALARRIVALS57378V
OLVO C30 1.6 R DESIGN SPORT178221 ALLOYS, CD, REMOTELOCKING, ALARM, PART LEATHER SPORTSINTERIOR
F
ULLBODYSTYLING KIT, ABS, ALUMINIUM MIRROR CAPS, CRUISECONTROLCHECK-INF
OR NEWDEALSP
RICEFROM16314,995PromisesDeliveredBTCALLS5p PER MINUTE, OTHER PROVIDERSMAYVARYAND MAYBERECORDED FOR QUALITYOR TRAINING PURPOSES. OFFERSSUBJECT TOSTATUS,
TERMSAND CONDITIONS. MODELSSHOWN FOR ILLUSTRATIVEPURPOSESONLY.SEEBRANCH FOR DETAILS. KIRKCALDYABOTTSHALLRD57377 0844 576 2699STIRLINGKERSERD573770844 499 0971INVERNESSHARBOUR ROAD573770844 576 2676A
BERDEENWELLINGTON RD573770844 499 9776VOLVO C30 - URBAN 34.0 (9.3), EXTRA URBAN 49.6 (5.7), COMBINED 40.4 (7.0). CO
2
- 167g/km, fuelconsumption in - mpg (ltr/100 km)
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32 Produced by PageSuite