01/08/08

• Price19,270
• We like...The way it looks
• We don't...Badly designed luggage cover

Stylish and distinctive, the C30 coupe puts the frighteners on rivals from BMW and AudiThis is one handsome car. Low, sharp-looking, distinctive and definitely a Volvo, it breaks fresh ground for the make, contending against BMW’s 1-series and Audi’s A3. While keeping a strong sense of 2008 ‘Volvo-ness’ it also refers to past sporty Volvos. The rear three-quarters view is pure P1800ES, a 1970s sportster that ranks among the make’s best lookers.

With the kind of competition it faces, the C30 needs to be good. Here it gets a helping hand in R-Design, a new trim ‘n’ looks treatment. It works well, lifting the regular C30 image with natty badging, big alloys and a sports chassis to drop it closer to the road. Inside, it adds black and ivory leather seats, a leather-wrapped wheel and metal trim inlay on the dash and door insides.

A 2.0 diesel tows the car along and it’s sweet: smooth but pulling hard from low revs. It keeps the noise down unless you cane it and is best at a motorway trot, fading to a distant hum at 70mph. Economy’s good at 49.6mpg overall, while CO2 emissions is low at 151g/km.

The car’s best as a cruiser, quick and composed for a long A-road haul. Take it along a bendy road and it can’t cut it as a sports hatchback, despite running gear that shares parts with the Ford Focus, which rates as one of the best-driving small cars. The C30 just dsn’t have the same immediacy and finely judged balance and just feels ordinary. In town it punts along with spirit but its ride nods towards lumpy. Pity.

 Inside, the dash is as sober and understated as you’d want from Volvo. Like others, it has a ‘floating’ plank of a centre dash. There’s a couple of storage trays behind. But they’re hidden, and a great place in which to ‘lose’ your mobile phone. Seating is just for four and it’s roomy enough for those up front. But anyone sat in the back will need to be short, slim and agile. Climbing into the back tests balance and co-ordination. As you’d expect, occupant crash protection is top-notch.

The boot is high-lipped and has a glass-only rear hatch. There’s room inside for a couple of soft holdalls, no more, and the rear seats drop one-by-one to free more space. But the luggage cover is a flimsy tent-like affair, kept in place with clips, rods and hooks. It’s clumsy from a company as design-savvy as Volvo.

Should you buy one? It’s well made and good-looking, for sure. And the pricing’s keen. But against the Audi and the BMW you might buy, it feels pretty ordinary to drive. And it promises to lose value faster from new than either an A3 or a 1-series. The C30’s looks may sway you. But we’d take the Audi A3 or the BMW 1-series because they feel just that bit crisper.

• Engines2.0 D
• Power136bhp
• 0-60 mph9.3sec
• Economy49.6mpg
• CO2g/km151
• Insurance groups12
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats4

Motors.co.uk value verdict: