Test drive Volvo C30 2006 - 2009 hatchback

City dudes

These cars will never become sales leaders. And yet ... to figure out what caused a considerable interest in them, Anatoly Fomin decided. Photo: George Sadkov.
 
Volvo C30
Compact Volvo appeared in 2006. The original appearance reminds of Volvo-480, which two dozen years ago stood out among the simplest forms of counterparts.
Engines: gasoline 1.62.5 l (100 230 hp), diesel 1.62.4 l (109180 hp).
Gearboxes: 5- and 6-speed mechanical, 5-speed automatic.
Complete: Basic, Optima, Premium, individual.
Price in Russia: 591 0001 453 000 rub. ($ 23 70058 100).
BMW 120i
A penny was shown to the public in the summer of 2004. Since then, the family has grown and modernized. Three -door hatchbacks appeared in 2007 simultaneously with new engines that are not supplied to Russia.
Engines: gasoline 1.63.0 l (115265 hp), diesel 2.0 l (143177 hp).
Gearboxes: 6-speed mechanical or 6-speed automatic.
Complete: Advantage, Dynamic, Comfort, individual and special series.
Price in Russia: 771 0001 400,000 rubles. ($ 30 84056 000).
Allow me to congratulate the seven -digit ruble amount in your annual tax return! You are not yet thirty, but you serve in a successful company where everything is painted to the smallest detail. The strictest discipline, up to the brand of boots. You need a success indicator vital, but you have not yet been broken into the heads of the unit. Do we choose between BMW-120 and Volvo-C30? For complete identity with automatic transmission and sports package, with an average motor in the range.
The arrow of glamor
For the sake of style, the back of the roof is strongly narrowed and forms a branded, broad silhouette. A small opening of the back door is bordered by L-shaped lanterns. A very modest luggage compartment is hardly able to accommodate something larger than a pair of sports bags. In the standard configuration of the trunk shelf is plastic, but for a surcharge you can order a special cape of waterproof fabric. It will come in handy both in summer and winter, because when the rear door is opened, the water from it pours inside the reckoning for the bold shape of the body.
Five seats in C30 are unattainable. Instead of a solid rear seat, two full -fledged, closely shifted chairs. Not too complete and not very high space. The main thing is that even with a tall driver and front passenger, adults in the back seat are not infringed on comfort. However, this was achieved by a restriction of adjustment to the driver above 190 cm has to bend the legs more than he wants.
The Swede is also not ideal in the visibility. Outside, the body racks look thin and openwork, but from the inside they are massive, like pylons of the bridge. Of course, the company cannot do the security. When the Volvo-S30 bent the polygon scales for nearly one and a half tons, I asked the engineer an act of verification. Libra is in order, 1478 kg is true! There are no doubts about the successful outcome of Crash tests, but you need to accelerate. However, the opponent is also well -fed, and the fifth cylinder and 440 extra cubes of the Swedish engine allowed not much, but to surpass BMW in acceleration and speed.
Volvo is perfectly controlled and remarkably slows down, losing with a Bavarian machine less than 2 m with 100 km/h. A faster (in transmission number) The steering wheel is calm about longitudinal irregularities on the road and much more comfortable in areas with knocked out asphalt. The tires here are ordinary, and therefore in the best smoothness of the course there is their merit. The dock under the label of the trunk reduces the already modest volume.
Formal indicators of the accelerated dynamics of Volvo are not impressive, but the car is not a weakness at all. A well -insulated engine is almost not heard even at high speeds, the gearbox on time turns on the lowered, and the driver seems to be controlled by the car class above. Showing the unwavering on straight and resistance in the bend, Volvo justifies the image of a small, but pretty armored car. So it shuts to wave in St. Petersburg and make a fiery speech: go, to fight for the safety of cars!. And at the same time praise the BLIS system: with the help of television cameras, it analyzes the situation in blind areas that do not cover the rear -view mirrors. If there is a car or other large object, an orange lamp near the mirror will warn you about the inadmissibility of rebuilding. Inexpensively for only 38,800 rubles. I wonder how much it costs to obey the mirror, convex along the outer edge?
Fashionable propeller
The three-door BMW-120 in the basic configuration is 24,500 rubles cheaper than a five-door. But the ability to save is not at all what is pushing for a choice. Three doors are rather sporty. Like a M-package that will complement external aggressiveness with other chassis settings with a quick and accurate steering wheel. And although from the stop to the stops of the full three turns, on the mountain road it has to be turned much less than on Volvo, which has 2.8. Alas, BMW will not let the driver get bored on the asphalt.
BMW begins with the motor. The company really has something to be proud of. Against the background of outstanding engines, it simply looks good with a non -pound offspring of an aristocratic family. The two -liter four with a adjustable lifting of valves has excellent indicators, but there is not enough of them with an automatic gearbox with an automatic gearbox with an automatic gearbox. Seventeen -inch wheels with different tires (back) only emphasize the modesty of the motor. Even in a maximum turn on the asphalt, causing a skid with a sharp press on the gas pedal will not work. With the stabilization system DSC can not be afraid at all that the car will not accept the maneuver. The wheel placed in the corners, a hard suspension, a low center of gravity and minimum rolls in combination with a weight -to -the -drawer ideal allow you to change the trajectory at a pace available not every sports car. Against the background of such a chassis and excellent grip of wheels with an road of 156 horsepower to the offensive, there is little. But the brakes are excellent: 38.2 m at a speed of 100 km/h, slowing 1.03 g!
The engine and the box are trying with might and main, but the chassis is a head above. In the BMW management is no more complicated than the rolling card. Despite the very rigid suspension and not afraid of the punctures of the tires with an enhanced sidewall, the car easily copes with small irregularities. On longitudinal waves or large chips, the reaction is much tougher, but in general, a sports suspension with a 25 mm road clearance is shaking not much stronger than standard.
By definition, they do not expect much convenience in the back seat from the three -door body, but the main places in the BMW are quite acceptable for large passengers, the main thing is that giants do not sit in front. An impressive longitudinal move of the slide and the seats that sink almost to the floor will allow you to fit behind the wheel even by those whose height it exceeds two meters, but then there will be no place for the place. The driver is average growth can choose between a high urban landing and low for a better sensation of the car. The review back leaves much to be desired.
The handle-emblem on the back door is no longer original. But behind the door hides a completely acceptable luggage compartment. Given the folding backs of the seats, the volume can be increased to more than a cubic meter. But there is no spare wheel. Although in a machine in which all four (!) Wheels can be different (rear, all with a directed or asymmetric pattern), to carry with you a spare wheel is clearly not a reason.
NO CHOICE
Want to purchase a stylish mobile phone, prepare a considerable money and forget about convenient buttons. Practical and therefore cannot cost expensive. But, taking out of a pocket sparkling with glass and polished metal, a communicative diveis, you will attract the attention of others. If you want a stylish compact car, be prepared to cling in the size of the cabin and trunk, calmly treat unimportant visibility and high price. Forget about the romance of long roads. You have chosen the way ... along the service ladder. If you attach a little luck to hard work, after 2025 you will find yourself in the back seat of a limousine with a personal driver, and for the soul, finally buy the car that you really like ...
Anatoly Fomin: For their price, they are moderately impractical, but still not ambitious enough. The preferences of the owner and BMW and Volvo are not dictated by objective characteristics, but by a fashionable design.
Volvo C30 The successes of the Swedes in design are obvious. In a solid chassis, safety dominates, its combination with engine capabilities is perhaps optimal.
General assessment 7.8
+ Good dynamics, powerful brakes, a painful and low -soured engine, excellent quality of the salon materials, an acceptable comfortable suspension.
- A very small and inconvenient trunk, high fuel consumption, the speedometer underestimates the readings, a long and low front overhang.
The BMW 120i truly bright car does not offer compromises either to the driver or the buyer. But a great chassis requires a more powerful motor!
General assessment 7.9
+ Brilliant handling, excellent brakes, comfortable front seats, good suspension comfort on small irregularities, an acceptable trunk.
- There is no spare wheel, little space for the legs behind, a noisy engine, insufficient dynamics, a suspension strict on large irregularities.
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 

A source: The magazine "Driving"