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By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
25 February 2008
Volvo has greatly expanded the offerings in its C30
three-door coupe by introducing a lower-cost model as well as the
option of a turbo-diesel engine.
With a recommended retail price of just $34,450, the Volvo C30
S is excellent value. Indeed any coupe selling for that price
would be a good buy, but to get a European prestige car for
comfortably under $40,000 on the road will make it tempting to
many Australian buyers.
And the buyers can be those with young families because,
despite its sporty looks, this is a genuine four-seater. Indeed,
it can cope with four adults apart from the usual hassles of
getting into the back seats through the front doors.
Volvo Australia hasn’t skimped on the mechanical side of the
new C30 variant. Whereas many of lower-cost models have to make do
with a smaller engine and a transmission with fewer ratios, the
Volvo C30 S comes with the same powertrain as the standard car.
Using a five-cylinder 125 kW engine and manual and automatic
transmissions with five speeds.
The good news continues with the automatic transmission, Volvo
Australia charges only $1500 above the price of the manual gearbox
should you specify the self-shifter.
However, there's a surprising omission from the C30 S; it doesn’t
get a full ESP system at this stage. Instead employing a traction
control system that can’t sense the car yawing out of control. A
complete system is coming, but it won’t be here until about
August or September, and then there may be an extra charge for it.
In the meantime, the more expensive models in the C30 range do get
full ESP.
Trim in the Volvo C30 S is cloth rather than vinyl, which
actually gains points in our books, we are on record as saying
that leather isn’t our preferred material inside cars. Also
missing are powered front seats, a couple of speakers on the
stereo (down from eight to six) and the ability to electrically
fold in the door mirrors. Other than that it really is pretty much
the same car at a more affordable price.
The new five-cylinder turbo-diesel has plenty of grunt, up to
400 Nm in manual form, slightly less (350 Nm) with an automatic
transmission. Though there’s certainly nothing wrong with 350
Nm, so don’t feel short changed.
We have given it an initial test drive out of Brisbane and
loved the big-engine feel of the 2.4-litre unit. Like all of its
type, the diesel is on the noisy side at idle and when asked to
accelerate hard. And there's some lag before you get the full
benefit of all that torque. Cruising sees it quieten to virtually
the same noise levels as the petrol.
The turbo-diesel is priced at $42,450 with a five-speed manual
and $43,950 with the sequential five-speed automatic transmission
and comes in the same upmarket specification as the C30 LE petrol
model that’s been on our market since April 2007. The LE is
priced at $38,450 (manual) and $39,950 (automatic).
Styling alone has already made the little Volvo C3 coupe a
sales success, the introduction of this bargain priced model, as
well as the offer of a clean diesel will further add to the
numbers on the sales chart.
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Marque Publishing Company
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