Some quotes from Edmunds' review of the new Volvo C30 that will be available in the US in October:

"Despite its power advantage over its rivals (a Mini Cooper S packs only 172 hp), the C30 fails to leave them in the dust. In fact, should the Volvo line up next to a Mini Cooper S, it's the C30 that gets left behind. With a 0-60-mph time of 6.6 seconds and a quarter-mile run of 15.1 seconds at 94.5 mph, the turbo C30 is slower than the last Cooper S we tested..."

"What's holding it back? Weight. At 167.4 inches long, the C30 is much larger than the Mini, so it weighs significantly more - a portly 3,198 pounds, in fact. (The GTI is actually heavier, if you can believe it.) But the trade-off is interior space. "We made sure the backseat fits two fully grown adults," Andreas Friedric, the car's interior designer, tells us just before he folds the C30's two rear seats, tosses a surfboard into the cargo area and closes the glass rear hatch. Try that in a Mini."

(Maybe we should - Volvo lists the C30's cargo capacity with rear seats folded as only 20.2 cubic feet vs the Mini's 24.)

"At a total MSRP of $27,700, our test car undercuts an Audi A3 by quite a bit, but costs a bit more than a similarly equipped Mini Cooper S or Volkswagen GTI."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=121907

 

I'd be interested in seeing how much safer the Volvo is compared to a MINI. I wouldn't be surprised if MINI wins that battle too.

 

Speaking of the C30…
Here in Canada we had the C30 available for quite a number of months already. I almost bought it – I actually put a deposit, and had one lined up for me, ready for pick up. But thank god I didn’t…and here’s why:

The non turbo 2.4i costs 36K with options – btw, prices are in Canadian Dollars (.94$ US as of today) -the T5 costs around 43k with options. The difference, other than the engine and the 2.4i being slow, is pretty much not there. Visually, both models look exactly the same – same cheap plastic trim surrounding the car really put me off (mainly). Of course, you can get a body kit for the car, but that’s another 5k or so! That makes it closers to 48K, and you still have to add 14% tax to that. And what are the options? Well, we have the hole in the roof called the sunroof for 1.6k, heated seats, on board computer, xenon headlights, 17” wheels, and some other junk – all that for another 3k or so. Oh, yes, and metallic paint costs extra. Hmm...Come to think of it, my mini was close to 12k less and it has all that – and it’s faster too.
Anyway, for about 5 thousand less you could get an Audi A3 2.0 with S line package plus extras. And believe me; the quality of the materials is far, far better in Audi than in the Volvo. Don’t get me wrong, the design of the Volvo’s interior is rather nice, simplistic and quite easy to use. But it just feels cheap, and somewhat out of date. Take the display for example; black text on light-yellow, sort of old digital watch, background, just like in my ex 7 year old civic. The whole thing just felt...old electronics. There are few things good about the car; the seats for example – really comfortable. Oh, and the Dynaudio Audio package, 560w or so, with 10 speakers – sounds great – but that costs extra too.

I don’t think Volvo’s in the right price category. The base price is appealing, but once I realized that options can top 10k – yeah, I’d like to have auto AC, on board comp and xenon headlights, sunroof, or 17” wheels - and that’s without the navigation system! - I paused and started to look for alternatives (hence the MINI). Honestly, the C30 should compete with a GTI, price wise. As it stands, it’s a competition for the A3. Sure, the C30 look quite unique, but the A3 has a better engine, better tranny, and is more refined. And then there’s MINI

Btw, this is what I think, so don’t flame me for voicing my opinion.

adrian
300km short of engine break-in

 

and one more thing..
The C30 was flamed by a number of Swedish magazines for being unreliable in snow. It's a Volvo right?

 

I worked at Volvo of America's east coast distribution center back in the 80's. My opinion is that there's absolutely no comparison between yesterday and todays Volvo's. It's just not the same company it was then. I wouldn't even consider buying a Volvo today.

 

Hmmm, no mention of fuel economy. I'm sure it's worse than the MCS though. Don't see how it could possibly be as good with an extra cylinder and all that extra weight to lug around.

I've always liked Volvo's, but that thing is pretty fugly. Especially the giant window on the rear hatch. YUCK!!!

 

newcartestdrive.com states 18/28 for the manual and 18/27 for the automatic using the new EPA guidelines.

I bought one of the first C70s off the line in 1998 and still miss the Dynaudio stereo.

 

I climbed all over the C30 at the NY auto show. With the seats up, there's WAY more room behind the seats. With the seats down, much more room in the back overall. But the price is weight. The car is heavier. The US model only gets the 5-cyl turbo. In sweden you get your choice of 6 engines.

The C30 will be more expensive than a MINI, especially once you start adding in options. Volvo doesn't let you customize it as much as MINI does. They've got more stuff bundled into packages. And the currente range of colors aren't doing muich for me. Do they need that many silvers? Oh wait - MINI does that too...

I'll admit - I've got an emotional attachment to Volvo and this car. I've got 2 classic Volvos, including the 1800ES that this was somewhat styled after.

That being said, I'm considering it as my next car. When I saw the photos, I liked it. Checking the car out in person at the auto show made me like it more. Magazine reviews have been good. But until I can actually take it for a test drive and see how it handles, I'm just just "somewhat interested".

As for safety, this just out from Car & Driver:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...=2007708200377

(Can't get the direct link to caranddriver.com to work)

 

I like the looks of the car. Pretty cool. Took me all of one nanosecond to not give it any serious consideration. All I had to do is look at the stack of repair bills our old S60 garnered. That was enough for me.

So thanks to enormous maintanance expenses of the ole S60,....Romi found herself a home and the C30 is just another hole to pour money into for some other folks.

 

I guess I don't completely get the link of this new car to the reliability of much older Volvos. This car is based on the S40/V50 platform, which it shares with Mazda. Not really much relative to Volvos from the 80's or an old S60. But I can understand that if you feel burned by Volvo in the past you wouldn't want to do business with them again...

I know a guy at work who had a troublesome BMW. He cites that as the reason he's not interested in the MINI. Again - it's a pretty weak link, but I can understand his anomosity towards the company...

 

I think that's my issue with the C30. The connection to the Mazda sours me on the car. Ford USA/Volvo had a better platform in the euro spec Focus but chose to get in bed with Mazda again. I grew up in New Zealand where badge engineering between Ford and Mazda used to be common and I always felt it cheapened both brands (though it did make the Fords more reliable).

 

Nevermind

 

I used to have this....



Then, switched into this ........ and never look back.

 

Good upgrade Maxicooper!