Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £16,250 to £23,495
Clever mix of Volvo design and three-door hatchback compactness, airy cabin, quick but quiet, strong grip, confident handling and disciplined ride, well finished and well-equipped, five-star NCAP crash test score.
Jerky manual downshifts in auto versions, no paddle-shifts, tiny glovebox, sliding electric front seats for rear access are slow and have no memory.
Volvo virtues in a sporty hatchback make an alluring combination. It's the first 'affordable' Volvo in years to appeal to the heart.
This is a nicely-made car with properly padded surfaces for the dashboard and the doors, an expensive-feeling padded headlining and a convincing air of solidity and quality. That's backed up by the structure's taut, rattle-free feel. There are several different interior textures but they complement each other well.
Some of the detailing is below the standard of an Audi A3's, though. The window-level padding on the doors is abrasive to a bare arm, and the same zone below the rear side windows is, disappointingly, of hard plastic. The monochrome LCD information graphic display in the centre console looks cheap and dated, too.
As for reliability, the combination of well-tested, mainly Ford mechanicals and a good Volvo reputation bodes well. The C30 should be light years ahead of the troublesome 480 here.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volvo C30
wrote on 23 07 2007