SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.
Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday April 28, 2010
Volvo’s sexy little hatchback C30, launched in 2006, has had a facelift and been given a whole new makeup kit. The facelift includes striking new front panels, headlamps and grille, and subtle detail changes to sides and rear. What I facetiously referred to as the makeup kit consists of 12 body colours, 11 choices of upholstery, 5 décor inlays for the famed centre stack, a choice of wheels and optional rear spoiler and trim packs. And that’s before you even think about the R-Design body and suspension kit standard on T5 models and optional on 2,0 litre derivatives.
According to Volvo, the idea is to offer more choices for those who dare to be different, to decide for themselves what their cars should look like and who demand freedom to match exterior colours with interior design elements in their own ways.
The C30 we drove recently was the twin-clutch Powershift version, fitted with the same 2,0 litre naturally aspirated engine one finds in the Ford Focus and Mazda’s 5 and 6. This unit puts out a class-average 107 kW at 6 000 rpm and 185 Nm at 4 500 rpm, propelling the 1 471 kg car to 100 km/h in a claimed 9,7 seconds and on to a top speed of about 205 km/h.
Volvo describes the C30 as a “street smart Swede with loads of attitude,” appealing to drivers who spend most of their time in a city environment and want a car with character, style and personality and with excellent driving properties. It certainly stands out from its natural opponents, the Audi A3 and BMW 1, with its styling and particularly that love-it-or-hate-it rear end.
Inside, too, the C30 is different from almost anything except other Volvos, with its minimalist styling and uncluttered functionality. The slender “floating” control stack, curving seductively down between dash and centre console, looks like a space age cellular phone, but those buttons control pretty well everything you usually find scattered across the dash on other makes.
Space inside is primarily for two adults plus two smallish people, with head- and legroom in the rear being about the same as one finds in the little Beemer, for example. Both front seats adjust for height and tilt, while the driver’s chair boasts three memory settings as well. It goes without saying that adjustable lumbar support is built in – Volvo has “owned” that feature for the past forty years.
My spouse’s first reaction on opening the rear hatch was, “cute boot.” It’s not huge, but we are dealing with a small city car after all. The part she fancied was the pullout cargo cover with its dropdown centre flap one can lift quickly to pop small items into the boot. The rear seats are individual units, with no pretence at accommodating a third person and fold completely flat to extend the loading area as needed. Another thing that goes without saying, is that the centre armrest folds down to reveal the ski slot without which any European car feels positively underdressed.
On the road, the C30 is firm and solid, as one expects a Volvo to be while performance, although not electrifying, is competitive with other naturally aspirated two-litre automatics.
Cute, funky and noticeably different, the Volvo C30 offers a vital ingredient, choice, in the sea of rather same-old motoring options out there.
The numbers
Price: R 271 200
Engine: 1 999 cc DOHC four cylinder
Power: 107 kW at 6 000 rpm
Torque: 185 Nm at 4 500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,7 seconds (claimed)
Maximum speed: 205 km/h (claimed)
Fuel consumption: About 9,8 l/100 km in real-world driving
Tank: 55 litres
Maintenance plan: 5 years/ 100 000 km
Music: Radio/CD with iPod/USB and Aux connections
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8