Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £16,245 to £21,360
Good-looking, classy small hatchback; solid and safe; comfortable and fun to drive.
Not hugely practical; access to rear seats awkward; rather expensive.
All the usual Volvo virtues - except lots of luggage-space - in an attractive, compact package.
The C30's an easy drive, with well laid-out dashboard and instruments, a fine driving position and a good view out all-round. The glass tailgate goes a long way to aid rearward vision, often a problem in a coupe or three-door hatch.
The roof pillars are well-shaped and the rear side windows angled, for the optimum view out. The optional BLIS blind-spot warning system, which flashes an orange light at the bottom of the door mirrors if another car's coming up on the inside, is a useful further aid.
The C30's steering has never been as sharp as that of the Focus, so the modifications to the DRIVe's power-assistance do improve it a little: the assistance now kicks in later, giving a more natural feel before the electro-hydraulics take over.
You'd be hard-pressed to feel any compromise in performance; the Ford-PSA 1.6-litre diesel engine has always been strong and sweet, and in this C30 it'll deliver 118mph and 0-60mph in a very respectable 10.7 seconds. The gear ratios are well-set, even if they are economy-biased: there's no feeling that the car will ever struggle to accelerate, or that it's in far too high a gear for nippy progress.
It should cruise happily on the motorway, too. An indicator on the dashboard (with simple yellow up- and down-pointing arrows) suggests the ideal up- and down-shifts to improve fuel economy.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volvo C30
wrote on 23 07 2007