Six months after meeting the C30 on its launch in California, I was looking forward to a week with Volvo’s sexy little runabout. I’d loved that much of its design was inspired by the early 70’s 1800 ES ‘fastback’, and thought there’d be a niche for it amongst the other funky Euro players like the Audi A3 and Mini Cooper.

In real-world usage, it proved indeed to be practical and pleasant. It would swallow four comfortably, and the glass hatch opened upon a truly commodious cargo area. The seats were Volvo-comfortable (if lacking in lateral support), and the prodigious torque of the warbling turbo five-cylinder was always appreciated.

The manual tranny was much more rewarding to stir than that on the launch car driven last year, but the dumbed-down dynamics still frustrate. It’s not that the C30 doesn’t stick—it has large amounts of grip, and stays planted under duress. But the ride is brittle and lacks composure, and the steering seems over-servoed. Considering how sweetly its C1-platform mates, the Mazda 3 and (first-gen) Ford Focus, steer, ride, and handle, it’s a conundrum why the Volvo is so mediocre in these areas.

Yet, as a package it is endearing: funky and fresh outside, pragmatic and thrifty (low to mid 20’s mpg for something this fast is very nice bonus), with one of the finest sounds systems below the $50k-mark.

As with the first year of the Audi’s and Mini’s exposure to Americans, there are no lease specials (they cant seem to figure out what the residuals will be), and very low sales numbers so far—which are almost certainly a result of the complete dearth of advertising. Most folk who saw the C30 didn’t know what it was, or hadn’t even seen one on the road. But they were universal in their liking, and this ‘entry’ level Volvo deserves to do well.

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