Test drive Volvo C30 2006 - 2009 hatchback

Duel Cupidov

They are too different for a comparative dough, but at the same time, they are effective enough to make the same group of customers - those who are looking for the ideal balance of price, style and dynamics in the car. A sports compartment with an atmospheric engine V6 will compete with a four-seater hatch (so it is, with a sports compartment in Swedish), which has only five cylinders in the motor and a livestock of horses less than thirty units, but there is a powerful turboostimulator.

To say that Alfa Romeo Brera is beautiful, this is not to say anything. This machine is so expressive that it can cause sexual attraction (not to a car, but in general). Contact with Brera arouses an increase in excitement in a man. In similar sensations, women are recognized. For individuals of different sexes, the BRERA Cupid has different arrows, but they are in the same way - love at first glance is guaranteed. The Swedish novelty captivates, on the contrary, gradually. In front C30 looks like a respectable solid volvo. If she turns a barrel, there is a doubt: who said that the Scandinations have a cold temperament? The back is generally difficult to describe - this is not forms, but a call for immediate acquaintance. Note, when we choose a life partner, I want it to be smart and provided, and attractive. Such a partner made the Swedes in the person of C30. The symbol of the future automobile design is good for both women and men. This is thirty is like Brera. Account: One-one.
 
Italian does not need to prove to others his status. Alfa Romeo sign gives an answer to all questions. Full-wheel drive and a 3.2-liter six are convincing arguments for those who love gambling. Brera is built on the same platform with 159 alpha, but has a more compact, low and wide body. The already good driving qualities of the donor in the compartment version should be expressed in perfection. But we won’t still have a point in the Turin’s account - first let's see what it is in the direct comparison with those who, at first glance, is not even an opponent.
 
C30 represents a Swedish brand in a completely new role. Everyone is used to seeing in Volvo something ordinary-family, unhurried, safe, and here-on you: young, hot, unmarried. But the basic principles in Gotyrog were not changed. Creating the smallest volvo, the engineers primarily thought about protecting everything and everything. The C30 body has a unique power structure in which steel of different strength is combined. The goal is predictable deformation in the accident. The BLIS system is responsible for the safety of maneuvering, for the purity of air - IAQS, for the safety of the environment - materials that meet the environmental standard OEKO TEX, and so on ... Of course, this could not but affect the price, but Volvo did not put it before The task is to be born with another faceless representative of the mass class C. They found a special niche for the novelty and represent the buyer C30 with a successful and not burdened by the life concerns of an individual.
 
  By the way, about the price. The most affordable BRERA with a 2.2-liter 185-horsepower engine, mechanics and front-wheel drive is sold for 41,600. The lower border for C30 is $ 22,900. An unconditional victory for Sweden? Do not rush with conclusions. So much is asked for a model with a 100-horsepower 1.6. If we take the T5 version that can compete with the dynamics with the Turin sportkup, then $ 38,400 will be written off from your account. And if you show generosity to yourself, noting at least the positions that BRERA has in the incredibly long list of options, then the price It will increase by another 10,000-15,000. So the winnings are not unconditional, but for now purely mathematical. And if you take into account the image coefficient (ALFA sports is imprinted in the minds of motorists, and Volvo sports - only in its passport), then a draw comes out again. Two or two.
 
Clocking on Brera, you feel like a messenger Alfa. All views are addressed to you. Many with gestures ask to lower the window to ask the first question that came to mind: how much does it cost? The owners of the coupe of other brands consider it a duty to compete. Drawing up the tops of labor is not. BRERA is very acute, but reliably controlled, the motor, coupled with a rather quick automatic machine, gives a very even and powerful acceleration (highlight - after a speed set, it does not immediately switch to the transmission above, but deliberately lingers at high speeds, lifting the driver - well, come on, come on, come on Super more!). And only braking to the floor causes some tension. At this critical moment, Brera more nervously reacts to corrective actions by the steering wheel than, for example, the 159th. Yes, and the level of comfort is not so high: the suspension is tougher, the sound of the motor is more bass (the latter, however, is no doubt in the advantages).
 
C30 does not provoke motorists to interactive. But if you slowly roll along the immense parking lot in front of the Mega, then through the open window you will hear exclamations after: Wow! Is this Volvo? Yes and no. You sit in an ordinary chair, start the motor and, looking at the dull arrows, you think: a typical Volvo. You turn on the first, click on the gas and ... it's not Volvo! Walking 18-inch low-profile rubber thirty breaks off and gains a hundred instantly, just have time to pull the gearbox handle. Manageability is less than acute, the machine is sensitive to longitudinal irregularities, but at the same time more predictable for emergency braking. Its motor sounds quieter, whistling piquly a turbine, but ready to accelerate at any speed. The difference is thirty forces, say? In fact - zero. C30 with a nameplate T5 leaves Brera a chance only to keep up with itself. But do not overtake. Total: Three-three.
The city is knee -deep. Sitting in Brera for the first time, you immediately feel a light influx of adrenaline. Leather chairs with large embossed folds provide low sports planting and fix the body well, despite the weakly expressed rollers of lateral support. Electric adjustments are quite extensive. Review of forward, sideways and in the side mirrors is excellent, and through the inner mirror it is sufficient, so it is a pleasure to maneuver in the city stream on this sportkup. The pedals are slightly more tugi than in ordinary cars. The quality of plastic does not raise questions. The textile materials of the upholstery are pleasant to the touch and practical. The steering wheel lined with skin is convenient in the cross section, has a smooth, but not slippery texture. From an aesthetic point of view, the black-gray interior of the test copy is unlikely to seem to be a standard of beauty, but actually it is a sin to complain to Alfa Romeo customers. For the same Brera, nine color variations of the passenger compartment were developed in the Alpha Centro Stile, and some of them look like a real work of art. The appearance of the machine can also be adjusted to personal tastes - 10 types of paints and varnishes, four types of wheels. In the future, a branded aerodynamic body kit will probably appear.
Tattoo for the bride. The first impression of the salon is a limousine! The chairs are sheathed with soft textured light skin. On the floor is an expensive thin -fiber carpet. On the front seats is spacious, the roof does not press. But, looking around, it becomes a pity that such a bright model as C30, almost without change, inherited the interior at the magpie. Everything in Swedish is simple, extremely rationally, humanly convenient, but ... dreary. The dashboard is unremarkable. A soaring central console with small buttons (a reproach that has already become traditional) acquired a pattern, but a frivolous elegant tattoo does not bring a noticeable revitalization into a massive static interior. You can’t give up the quality of materials-among the premium cars there are those where plastic is worse and tissue is easier. But there are more than enough opportunities to change the design. The steering wheel, the gearbox lever, decorative inserts - all this when ordering a car can be designed to your taste. This also applies to the body. Select the color (14 options), discs (15 types), add a spoiler, an aerodynamic body kit, as in our car, - you will get Volvo, which will not have twins on the road.

Do not focus on the parameters of the economy declared by automakers. Both cars provoke drivers to a much more active driving manner than to be guided by standard fuel consumption procedures. For example, in our test, both cars drove the same city segment (with a wound out at the beginning of the way) and in the same speed mode. At the end of the path, the on -board computer Alfa Romeo Brera showed a consumption of about 16.7 liters per hundred, and C30 - 14.2. The difference is decent - two and a half liters, but it should be noted that the Swedish motor with a turbocharged is more economical at the expense of manual checkpoints.
The Volvo C30 is declared as a four -seater car, and even looks like a five -seater, but those sitting on the back sofa will feel only more comfortable than in Alfa Romeo Brera with its landing formula 2+2. To get out to the gallery-a long and inconvenient process, the roof lies directly on the head of the passengers, the theoretical fifth rider elementarily does not squeeze in width (and it is unlikely that sitting from the back will not voluntarily let it out). But for the transportation of goods, both cars are more or less adapted, despite the amusing 230-liter trunk. It is enough to throw back the backs of the rear seats so that the volume increases at least half.

Alfa Romeo Brera 3.2 Q-Tronic
 
Gasoline engine, v6
Working volume (cubic cub) 3195
Power (L.S. at about/min) 260 at 6200
Moment (nm at rpm) 322 at 4500
The drive is complete
Gearbox 6-speed, automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 4410/1830/1341
Mass weight (kg) 1740
Maximum speed (km/h) 240
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 7.0
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 16.9/11.5
Price in Moscow (price of the tested car) from 52,600 (55 350)
Volvo C30 T5
 
Gasoline engine with turbocharged, 5 in a row
Working volume (cubic cub) 2521
Power (L.S. at rpm) 230 at 5000
Moment (Nm at rpm) 320 at 1500-5000
Front drive
Gearbox 6-speed, mechanical
Length/width/height (mm) 4252/1782/1447
Equipped mass (kg) 1437
Maximum speed (km/h) 240
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 6.7
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 12.5/6.5
Price in Moscow from $ 38,400

We thank for help in organizing the shooting company Major, (495) 793-0303, and the VOLVO representative office in Russia, (495) 745-9780.

Text Ruslan Tarasov
Photo Andrey Danilov
 

A source: "Autopilot"