Test drive Volvo C30 2006 - 2009 hatchback

All photos of Volvo C30 2006 - 2009

Duck!

Translated from Latin Volvo, I sway. Then Volvo C30 can be deciphered as I swing in a golf class.

The C30 component will take its place in the history of Volvo, settling somewhere between the introduction of lambda-zond and the victory in the World Cup in 1965. For only one body design, he was awarded a gold wheel in Germany and called a car of the year in Italy. He could be the best in the Absolute, but this season the CD was simply not in fashion.

Its buyers are young and successful, but offspring is not yet included in their plans. They consider the car as entertainment and a way of maintaining an active rhythm of life, but a sense of taste does not allow them to choose a sportkup or a tuned hatch. The same feeling does not leave such young people in a clothing store, furniture or household appliances design for them a priori. When it comes to the car, they are sure of Volvo, these people will opt for Volvo C30.

Such marketers of the Swedish company see the target audience of their new compact, which can appreciate an extravagant compartment with a glass rear door. A similar solution from Volvo in the XXI century. It turned out to be as unexpected and curious as the Porsche SUV.

On the one hand, C30 bearer of family features, on the other, avant -garde and dudes. The shape of the hood with an elongated headlights and a low wide grate of the radiator plus a beveled roof introduce dynamics into the appearance of C30. The rear lateral panels have a powerful rounded shape, which is emphasized by lanterns and the glass door of the trunk. If not for her, Volvo C30 would be a full -fledged hatchback.

Not the first pancake

Volvo in their history was twice produced by the new-like cars: the first was the 1800S model, which appeared in the late 1960s, and then, in 1986, 480es. At the same time, the four hundred and eighties are not rare today on the roads. Both cars once had a certain success, and 480 ES lasted almost 10 years on the conveyor. So, C30 is no longer the first attempt by the Swedes to enter a golf class with a car resembling hatchback ...

Even journalists, characterizing the Swedish compact, are sometimes confused in definitions, and manufacturers themselves prefer to avoid specifics, most often speaking simply: Volvo C30

For those who prefer C30, everything is in order with taste. They do not need excesses in the cabin of their own car only a stylish and functional interior. Therefore, the decoration and technological tools are almost completely borrowed from Volvo S40, only the places here are for four.

Overtake? Do not overtake?

To help the driver to recognize cars in the dead zone, the Volvo C30 can be equipped with the BLIS (Blind Spot Information System). The system uses cameras installed on lateral mirrors and signals the presence of another car in the dead area. In this case, a signal light lights up near the mirror, which helps to make the right decision when maneuver. If desired, the system can be turned off. We did not like the BLIS work in the city: due to the fact that the system reacts even to cars parked along the roadsides, the light bulb is constantly distracting and forcing his head to twist, double-checking the system's readings. It is better to turn on Blis outside the city.

Instead of a sofa behind, there are two full -fledged seats with a leaning armrest. At the same time, getting to the back row is not so simple: first we tilt the seat forward, then press the button on the back of the chair and the electricity smoothly pushes it, freeing the passage back. If you are in no hurry, there are no complaints about such a system that the backs of the rear seats are regulated independently of each other. And you can fold the rear seats both from the luggage compartment and from the inside.

However, the comfort in the back seat of the least worries me as a driver. Another thing is that it is constantly in the hands, legs, behind and before your eyes. The feeling that you are inside the S40 does not rightly leave for a long time. The soaring central console is the same flat and also stands out on the black background of the front panel. The climate control buttons are quite close to each other: it is unusual, and in the movement the fingers now and then press on neighboring buttons. The white scales of the speedometer and tachometer are impeccably read and viewed through the upper half of the sports steering wheel.

We will leave the status of a sports wheel on the conscience of the Swedes: a three -spoke design and thickening in the grip zones, of course, is good, but the diameter could make less (Saab, by the way, is a similar situation with the steering wheel: Swedish syndrome?). However, for daily operation, such a steering wheel is quite suitable.

No matter how experimented the Swedes with the exterior and interior of their new products, in terms of security systems they will forever remain conservatives. As well as leaders and legislators of fashion. The new C30 already in the basic configuration has such an active-passive tools that many basic D-class sedans of other eminent brands cannot afford.

There is no rear door in Volvo C30, and to get into the luggage compartment, you need to open the rear window. The trial of access to the trunk became a decisive factor in self -determination C30: not a hatchback, but a sportkup!

The front and back parts of the body are made of different types of steel and have various deformation characteristics. This allows you to redistribute and absorb the loads in the collision that the salon remains unharmed. Especially a lot of Swedes pay attention to the frontal clash: the car is equipped with a deformed pedal unit, two -stage airbags and a folded steering column. And the engine is located so that during the frontal blow in the engine compartment, there is enough space for its displacement without transferring the load on the passenger interior. There are funds from a lateral blow: SIPS (Side Impact Protection System), side airbags and IC (Inflatable Curtains) side pillows are saved. And the front seats protect, among other things, from the woven strike by the Whips (Volvos Whiplash Protection System), which is aimed at reducing the risk of neck damage.

The days of the Wolvo man jokingly called the Volvo-Diver, which in mind the imposing and clumsy nature of his car was joking. Now Ford is responsible for setting up the chassis, which allocated C30 a platform from the bestsellers Focus II and Mazda3. Volvo softened her as best they could; It turned out not so hard; Although there were no complaints to controllability, even in our 2.4-liter version (on modification with the T5 engine, the suspension was made shorter and tougher).

Prices

Volvo attributes themselves to premium brands, but out of the corner of their eyes look at those buyers who think about the acquisition of Golf or Civic. Fordovsky1.6-liter 100-horsepower engine allowed Volvo to approach the budget niche and reduce the base cost to $ 22,900.

The basic configuration includes the DSTS, ABS and Brake Assist marginal stability system, system protection systems from the back and side (SIPS), six airbags, airplane, air conditioning, electric windows and heating mirrors, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs, CDs. Immobilizer and adjustable steering column. Prices for a 2.0-liter 145-horsepower engine start at $ 26,900, and an automatic box is available only with a 2.4-liter 170-horsepower engine; Such C30 costs from $ 29,900.

*The cost of a car that has been on our test is over $ 45,000. BMW 120ia with an automatic machine and a 2.0-liter engine will cost about $ 41,000 (in terms of 31,600 euros). Audi A3 can come out a little cheaper: about $ 40,000 for a 2.0-liter 150-horsepower hatchback with an automatic Tiptronic checkpoint.

But the suspension was not so soon forced to attract attention: it works and okay. But the pseudo -sports bagel was surprised by a good, intelligible effort, weakening with a decrease in speed. At high speeds at the helm, a couple of degrees of the unfortunate zone remains, and the car does not scour around the slightest turn. And in the turn, on the contrary, the steering wheel becomes as sensitive as possible to the driver’s actions. But sensitivity does not differ in a cotton pedal, which makes it difficult to control the engine.

2.4-liter 170-horsepower motor the most budgetary of the engines with which automatic gearbox is offered. Great unit! The burdensome and perky, it literally demands to promote it to the limit to hear how the rolled -up voice at high speeds sounds. And it sounds qualitatively despite the fact that a 220-horsepower T5 is offered for the most dynamic driving.

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So that nothing distracts the driver during dangerous road situations, the Volvo C30 is equipped with an intellectual system for informing the driver IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System). This electronic information system constantly controls some functions of the car: for example, rotation of the steering wheel, the intensity of pressing the gas pedal, the direction of direction and the brake. When text messages or incoming calls from the built -in phone can interfere with the driver, the signal of their receipt is postponed to more favorable conditions. If desired, this system can be turned off.

But the main reason why the 2.4-liter engine does not pull the driver’s title: it is not aggregated with a mechanical checkpoint. Only a five -speed GEARTRONIC automatic machine goes to the company. A good device, but, like all machines, it conceals part of the engine potential.

The automatic gearbox at the city pace almost does not cause complaints. The programs serens briskly, down down almost without pauses, does not make noise and works without jerks. But in more or less dynamic mode, hitch appears at a kik doward and the reluctance of the checkpoint is felt to go down quickly. Some of the problems can be solved by turning on the manual mode: for example, move the moment of switching a little further than the standard 6,000 rpm.

Bright, dynamic, as always, technological Volvo turned out to be a great car! And, with all this, it is also served as inexpensive. Although not: it is better to refrain from the last statement. Firstly, the definition of inexpensive can hurt the pride of the premium Swedish brand, and secondly, our test version (note, not the most top), God you are worth my! More than $ 45,000. How can we talk about the budget?!

The car was provided by the Smolninsky Autocenter by the official Volvo dealer in St. Petersburg

Text: Alexander Korobchenko
Photo: Roman Ostanin