| Launch Report Volvo C30 |
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Common-Sense Hatch
Driving a pair of five-cylinder models should have left me with a hot hatch glow, but neither the 178bhp 2.5-litre D5 turbo diesel or the 217bhp 2.4-litre T5 petrol inspired me to rank the C30 with its equivalent performance peers - the meticulously-assembled Audi A3 or BMW's poorly-finished 1-Series. Maybe it was Volvo's decision to link the launch D5s to a sequential automatic gearbox and leave the six-speed manual to the T5s that blunted my impressions. The D5 auto was slow to change up through the gears while the hard-driving mountain route reserved for the manual T5s was so demanding it tested the car's chassis to the limit and left it wanting. There is no denying the D5's immense torque and economy potential, or the T5's towering power and overtaking punch, but the delivery of both felt "soft" with little urgency. The smooth-riding chassis was unhappy being hurried round hairpins and there was too much intervention from the electronic chassis control programme.
Cruel? Yes, I agree - but if you think of the C30 as a performance hot hatch you'd be missing the point. The C could just as well stand for "change" as it does for "coupé" and Volvo’s cheapest car may be the C-change the sector has lacked until now.
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