Volvo c30

[georryan]

So has anyone had any experience with them or thoughts? It's no subaru, that's for sure, but I've been toying with getting one and doing their Overseas Delivery Program. They pay for 2 roundtrip plane tickets. The only reason I'd pick the c30 is because it is the ONLY volvo in the line up with a manual tranny. I just with it was AWD and not FWD.

I'll still have my subaru for my fun. I'll sell my 4runner (and I know I'll miss the utility of it). Right now it is all theoretical, and I have yet to go test drive one.

-Ryan

[wtdash]

I thought these were cool hatches. And w/the Polestar Performance Software you can make it a 'hot hatch'.

I read where this is the last year of production.

Just my .02.

Td

[georryan]

Yeah. Went and test drove them the other day with my girlfriend. Turns out the c30 is not being made anymore. There aren't anymore available for the program. So now we are considering an s60 T5 AWD. It has the exact same power as the c30 with the polestar package, and is considerably cheaper than the R-design T6. It also runs on regular gas which surprised me. It must not have much boost. It felt very linear, powerful, but linear. Didn't have a lot of punch you in your seat kind of feel. It probably has a small turbo. Very comfy, though. You get a surprisingly nice car for the price. I'm not a fan of the automatic, although sport mode is decent. It doesn't have paddle shifters or dual clutches, so it is more of a standard auto tranny with some flair. Still, I'm thinking I could own one for a couple years even with the auto. I sill have my motorcycle and subaru to give me my manual needs.

The future of volvo looks like they will be investing more in their 4 cylinder and hybrid engines. So this may be a final year or two for their 5 and 6 cylinder engines.

-Ryan

PS - go Niners, looks like they just made it into the super bowl!

[Legacy777]

The future of volvo looks like they will be investing more in their 4 cylinder and hybrid engines. So this may be a final year or two for their 5 and 6 cylinder engines.

-Ryan

I've heard something similar from a Subaru engineer. The WRX will be a hybrid type performance setup. He said the other manufacturers are doing the same thing......I'm not too happy about it...

[kimokalihi]

Yup mitsubishi as well. Going to offer hybrids in all their cars I thin

[georryan]

Somehow "hybrid" and "performance" don't seem to go together in my mind, and I can't imagine a performance car being light enough to be thoroughly enjoyable in the corners with a massive battery.... =(

[kimokalihi]

Well this could change your mind: http://m.autoblog.com/2012/10/01/2014-p ... ve-review/

3,750 lbs 4.6l v8 580hp 370tq 9,000 rpm redline with a 127hp electric motor and it manages to get 78mpg!

Add up the output from the one combustion engine and the two electric motors and the 918 Spyder's total system power is 795 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque.

0-60 in less than 3 seconds, cruises at 100mph in electric only mode for 15 miles, top speed of over 200mph. Pricetag that no one can afford haha. Sick car nonetheless.

[mike-tracy]

The Chevy Volt is surprisingly quick off the line, too.

[Legacy777]

At 3,750 lbs, that Porsche is far from light, even though the numbers are impressive.

And yes, electric motors provide 100% torque at start off, so they provide excellent off the line performance.

[georryan]

Well to bring a post back from the dead...

First, I take back my thought about hybrid cars. 1) the Tesla Model S is crazy fast. 2) a hybrid Porsche now holds the lap record at the Nurburgring...more on that later.

We did end up getting a 2014 s60 T5 AWD. The inspiration was to make our trip affordable ironically enough. My girlfriend and I got married in August, and used the oversees delivery program to pay for our flights and "car rental" for our honeymoon. We ended up spending about a month in Europe. The basic highlights were 9 days in Norway driving through the Fjords on a motorcycle, then a swath through Denmark, Germany, and a few other countries hitting up Legoland, Prague, Berlin, the BMW museum in Munich, an Alpine Coaster in Austria, the Nurburgring and ending in Brussles where we dropped off our car.

Here are a few images:

The Volvo:


The motorcycle we used for 9 days in front of our car we left at long term storage at the airport:


A view on one of the Fjords heading to our hotel for the night. The white spec near the shore is a full size cruise ship:


A view from the top of Preikestolen:


We happened to see a test Porsche at the "Ring". It was a couple weeks before it made the lap record, and I didn't know what it was at the time. I'm just glad I snapped a shot of it.



Yes, that is my car with a Nurburging Sticker. Yes, we did go there, and yes we did drive it, and yes in our volvo. Maybe not the WISEST thing you could do, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I really wish I had my subaru there to drive, but the volvo did really well for itself. The 2014 model has paddle shifters and although it was an auto, the sport mode keeps the car in the gear you select unless you slow to a stop (and at that point it only downshifts for you), so lots of control over the gearing was easy to have. Definitely a check off my bucket list. There are pictures on the web that I could buy of my racing around the ring by people that go and take photos each day. I found about 5 photographers' websites the next day. I just haven't purchased any yet.


If anyone is interested, my wife has a blog where, amongst other things, she's been writing about our trip. Here is a quick link to it. The start of the trip starts on page 2 at this point, second post down. Look for topic mentioning Sweden.

[Legacy777]

Ryan, congrats on the wedding and awesome honeymoon!! It looks like you guys had a blast!

Tell your wife I love the name of her blog "Let's eat grandpa" Punctuation is important

[georryan]

Will do. Thanks for the congrats. It was an awesome trip. Not something I could pull off every year be any stretch of the imagination, but definitely lucky to be able to pull it off!