Project leader Hakan Abrahamsson says his goal for the C30's chassis was to "make it firmer, sharper, sportier, and flatter" than the S40's. With help from chassis tuner Dick Gabrielsson --the grandson of Volvo cofounder Assar Gabrielsson (did anyone say heritage?)-- Abrahamsson managed to hit every one of his goals. The C30 is the sharpest tool in Volvo's shed. While still not as engaging as the more tactile GTI, the Volvo C30 is nonetheless as entertaining in a straight line. With 18 additional horses and 29 more pound-feet of torque, the latter realized at 1500 rpm, the C30 is capable of 0 to 60 mph in a Look at me, Ma! 6.2 seconds, according to Volvo, placing it just ahead of the 6.3-second GTI.
The quarter mile? Figure under 15 seconds at around 95 mph--again right there with the Volkswagen's 14.7 at 94.8. While the C30 could use a raspier exhaust note--our tester's was virtually silent--it doesn't suffer from turbo lag, balky shifter, or flimsy structure. In fact, the duration from throttle tip-in to full boost takes about as much time as querying, "Turbo lag?" The shifter is fluid, if a tad rubbery, and the structure, according to Abrahamsson, is stiffer than the S40's.
Inside, the C30 coddles with an S40-esque cockpit adorned with Volvo's now ubiquitous T-Tec upholstery and floating center console, familiar effects that mesh nicely with the leather-wrapped sport steering wheel and shift knob. The rear bucket seats, inboard from the fronts due to the arcing shoulder lines that swoop inward, provide commendable room and comfort for six-footers. Cargo room (a paltry 8.2 cubic feet with the seats up) isn't as laudable, however. But fold the seats flat as Volvo expects many childless C30 owners to do, and it expands to 30.9 cubes.
Lest you thought we'd forget to mention safety, the C30 is, after all, a Volvo. In addition to the standard bevy of front, side, and side-curtain airbags, the C30 protects with seatbelt pretensioners for all four seats, a whiplash protection system, a side-impact protection system, and dynamic stability traction control. Abrahamsson says that in crash tests, "the C30 performs as well as the S40," a vehicle Volvo touts as being as safe as its large sedans.
Volvo hopes to sell roughly 10,000 C30s a year in the U.S. Based on our drive in Sweden, we'd guess they're being modest. In fact, it's safe to say demand will be high.
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