Hello. Looing to pick upa 3rd car mostly due to the impending arrival of the third member of my family this November. Anyway, I'm torn between picking up a Volvo C30 and a MCS. Please note: either car will have an auto transmission. Currently, I daily an 06 Porsche 987 and the wife has an 06 MCS. We both like the 06 MCS and the Wiff thinks it would be "cute" if we had two Minis, but... being that we already have an MCS, I'm leaning toward a C30. Have any of y'all tested a C30 before buying your Mini? I understand that this may be a biased forum , but I still would appreciate hearing what swung the people here over to the MCS rather than a C30. Appreciate any comments on either vehicle. Thanks.

 

To be honest, in that situation, I'd opt for the C30, but if you have a long commute, the C30 will get significantly less gas mileage than an R56. Actually the R56 will spank all of the cars you listed in gas mileage.

 

What about a clubman S?....for a little more junk in your trunk.....

I do like the C30 styling, but have not really looked at anything else about it. It reminds me of a much older 60's era Volvo hatchback the way the rear window is done.

 

I have test driven a C30 before buying my 11/07 MCS.

The Volvo is nice, but it's much more grown up in design (interior) and much less of a drivers car. I only had the 2 litre engine and that was frankly EXTREMELY laid back and boring. The rear hatch I disliked the most ... not thought through IMO. What I did like was the stylish interior.

The choice for me was very easy. ;-)

 

Thanks for your replies.

To be honest, I'm not thrilled with the styling of the Clubman. Also, it will likely price out of what we are looking to spend which is $25-30k -- once I put the options I would want on it.

 

IMO..since you both have nice cars as is..just get a used family van for the kid. And then use the rest of the money saved to spoil him/her and/or mod your existing vehicles. I say this just because a new car with a new kid will be an old messy car in less than a year.

 

I tested the C30 V2 prior to placing my order for an '08 MCS and was pretty impressed. Handling was not quite up to MINI standards (greater understeer and torque steer), but felt surprisingly capable and stable through the twisties with noticeably better ride quality over broken road surfaces. Had more impressive acceleration than the 08 MCS's I have driven, more rear seat and trunk space, and a lot better ergonomics and interior materials. It does feel a good deal more "grown up" (could be good or bad I guess).

Seemed much easier to get a decent deal on the C30 as well (at least locally anyways). The Volvo dealer I visited was talking about $3K off of MSRP for an ordered car and a significantly better trade value for my R53 than the two nearby MINI dealers.

The main thing that turned me off of this car was the MPG. I would expect to get about even mileage to your R53 in the C30.

 

My brother sometimes tints for Volvo and he called me when he had a c30 in his shop. I got over there real quick and took a look. An unsupervised test drive told me It is sluggish in the twistys, acceleration is not as crisp, and it has nice lines but not as sexy as a cooper. Even my brother (not a cooper owner) said " Its doesn't feel like that car is even in the coopers class". NOW that being said a super/turbo version is due to drop in Europe soon so wait until then to really start wondering which is the better car. ps you can still get a cooper s for under 19,000 the c30 is something like 30,000
but just my $.02

 

I've driven the C30... My impressions: The steering was very numb. Although it was probably better than an S80 or something, I just didn't feel connected at all. As some others mentioned above, handling wasn't even close to the MINI. Putting it through some hard curves and long sweeping curves, I couldn't push it as hard as I would have liked. Overall, I just felt like I was in an insulated cabin that was supposed to feel sporty... if that makes any sense.

 

Like everyone stated here, its doesn't have the handling of the MINI, BUT it has a LOT more cargo room, seats 4 passengers quite comfortably, a lot comfier ride for long trips. It all depends on your needs really (its not a bad car in my opinion).

 

you might want to look at the new vw scirrco then resembles the c30 with some guts and probaly will be less to buy. already sold in euro so go to the euro site to see it

 

Not sure I see a great point in the market place for the C30 personally. The styling is interesting for sure, but really its nothing less than a really nice focus which it is built on. It isn't very sporty and isn't very cheap really either, I would of course rather have the MINI. Just seems like a focus with a decent interior and minus the ugly exterior. If you want more utility why not jump over to the mazda 3, if you want a small car that is fun to drive you cant beat the MINI.

 

Funny you should say that, I used to own a Mazda3 and it handled really nice... in fact, I would have kept it if it didn't get totaled in a freak accident The Volvo C30/S40 and the Ford Focus (at least the Euro one) both use the same chassis as the Mazda3 (the Volvo is probably more softly sprung though). The pricing would drive me towards the Mazda, but you get a lot more luxury with the Volvo (plus good ole' Euro snob factor)

 

The C30 I drove had a 227 hp, 236 lb/ft.turbo 2.5L I5, wasn't aware that they made it w/ a 2 liter.

It felt a good deal more planted (and a whole bunch quicker) than my friend's Mazda 3 2.3L 5 door. Not nearly the same level of utility/space, but much more of a hot hatch than the 3, IMO. About $8K more than his loaded Mazda as tested (more or less loaded).

It's not for everyone (and apparently not for me), but I wouldn't write it off just because it's a Volvo and/or Ford owns them. It's definitely not as fun to drive as the MCS in turns, but nothing I've driven so far for = or < $30K is. There's a pretty big market out there for cars that are pretty comfortable, somewhat sporty, and quick in a straight line in my estimation. If it got around 28 - 30 mpg combined, I think it might be pretty successful.

.02

 

Have you considered a 4dr GTI ? Not quite the driver-connected-ness of the Mini, but a pretty good overall package that handles better than the C30 and has 4drs available.

 

The November '07 issue of Road & Track did a head-to-head comparison of the two that is worth a read. Performance-wise, the two are pretty evenly matched.

 

i would opt for the c30, but honestly if you are talking kids i would opt for a four door 2008 GTI....great car!

 

I finally got a chance to sit in a C30 this last weekend, and the outside looks great. But I was horribly disappointed with the interior. Nothing inherently wrong, but boy was it boring. The vast expanse of flat plastic on the dash just seemed very Ford to me.

I can see why people buy them. They're fairly useful, good engine, good looks, etc. But I'm definitely glad I went with the MCS.

I will have to agree with psb on this one, though. 4-door hatchback will definitely be easier to do with kids. Look at a GTI or a Mazdaspeed 3 (if you really insist on going bollocks-to-the-walls fast).

 

Thanks for the additional replies. I'll likely check out the VWs, too. I'm not too concerned about losing a fun factor (should I go to volvo) as we are keeping the 06 MCS and the 06 987. We've also considered larger vehicles, but still feel like we would be able to manage 1 child in either an MCS or a C30. FWIW, we are intially going to likely go with a come-to-your-house nanny for the first few months or maybe even the first year. We are not looking to be typical... how should I say... "Utah" couple with 19 kids that they bring to Home Depot and let the kids play like they are in an amusement park. I'm sure we'll eventually move to a day-care option but we have places nearby (maybe 3 or so miles). We'll deal with things later in life as they happen and maybe trade in a car if we need to upsize. Either way, by the time we would likely purchase the 3rd car, we would have paid off the 06 MCS and could use that as a trade in and buy a larger car.

Having said that, I like the look of the MCS over the C30, but the interior and placement of the odometer and gas gauge in the new MCS is awkward. We opted for having the two gauages over the steering column in the 06 MCS. Wish that was still an option on the 08.

 

I don't own either, but I have driven both. I am also looking at getting a new vehicle really soon.
I think that the Mini owners that drove the c30 are taking the strong points of the Mini and comparing the two cars on those points alone. The cars have different strengths. I liked the ride, power, and luxury of the c30. I also like that its not a common car on the road. I didn't like that is was only slightly sportier than my Accord. lol
The Mini was sporty, quick, and fun. (really fun) On the other hand, its tiny, the instruments are placed poorly, and its really trendy in my area. (too many retired folks for the car have any 'cool cred')

To me, the customizable nature and availability of tuning parts is a *huge* boon for the Mini. The C30 can be purchased for much less than MSRP, which is pretty cool.

Just figure out which one you like better, after driving both. IF you can't decide, ask your wife. I like both about the same, but my wife likes the Mini much better. So, the decision is easy. Its like choosing between two awesome slices of pie.

 

Which is why I recommended the C30 in the first place. You already have 2 extremely fun cars to drive, the C30 doesn't need to fill that gap.

That being said, the awkward gauge placement is a pretty popular excuse for not getting a MINI but you get used to it very quickly. It only takes about a week before its second nature to glance at the console rather than at the tach-area.

 

I just use the digital spedo in the tach, I think the LARGE spedo in the dash is just so your passengers know just how fast you are going and so they can properly prepare for ludicrous speed.

 

Having driven the C30 and the VW GTi (and of course the MINI), I found the C30 the least sporty of the bunch -- by far. I guess the one I drove had the bigger engine. It had plenty of acceleration, but there was nothing fun about it, it was the kind of car that makes you say, matter-of-factly, "it has plenty of acceleration." (In fact, I just did, twice.)

I liked the interior, and I liked the looks of the rear end. The rear hatch felt incredibly impractical to me due to its unusually high lip. Putting groceries in the back would be akin to passing bags through the porthole of a ship. All in all the car seemed like an excellent choice for someone who doesn't much like cars but would like to commute in safety and style. (I wouldn't expect to see that in their ads anytime soon, though.)

Of the cars mentioned I would think the 4-door GTi and the Clubman would be the most promising choices. The GTi is fun to drive in a quite different way than the MINIs. It's at least worth a test drive. For a slightly bigger car, consider a bare-bones (to keep the price down) Audi A3.

 

C30 = much less fun to drive - so why bother?

 

I test drove a C30 before deciding on the MINI. I enjoyed it a lot. Sort of a more refined, less boy racer Mazdaspeed 3. Not as overtly sporting as the MINI but it responded well to being pushed.

To me, the interior seemed nicer than the standard Cooper S interior. Most Mini owners have probably opted for a few options to bring it on par. Maybe it depends on whether you prefer the Scan design or Playskool center stack.

The C30 does have quite a bit more space. It's more practical if you occasionally haul passengers and/or gear.

The pricing on the C30 is all out of wack. Volvo wants to position themselves as a premium brand but a reasonably equipped C30 lists substantially higher than a similarly equipped Mini. I'm sure they're discounting, but unless you enjoy that game it only adds to the hassle.

The problem for someone wanting a "personalized" car is that many Volvo dealers don't have a clue. They're used to ordering a lot full of silver, off-silver, and brilliant silver S60s and then discounting them until someone buys them.

I thought seriously about the C30, but chose the Mini. We have a tourer so I could just pick the option that was the most fun for my daily driver.