In ways that are both favorable and unfavorable, the Volvo C30 hatchback is no Volkswagen GTI. Favorable? Well, it wears a more striking design, certainly when gazing at the P1800ES-inspired rear end and its oversized taillamps and glass hatch. Come up behind a C30 at a stoplight and it's reactive to say, "Wow, what a cool-looking car." Tail a GTI and the response is more lukewarm -- "Oh, it's that VW hatchback." Further, when a C30 dons the $2825 R-Design package (as did our tester), which adds 18-inch alloys, roof spoiler, body kit, and sportier front grille, it's arguably the sexiest hatch on the market. Even inside, the little Volvo, with its unique floating center stack and R-Design sport pedals and steering wheel, two-tone leather/Flextech seats, and decorative metallic inlays, is an aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing place to conduct the business of driving -- kind of like rolling along in an IKEA showroom.

And unfavorable? For starters, the C30, which is built at Volvo's Ghent, Belgium, factory, is more expensive than the GTI -- about $700 with a manual (in $24,625 T5 trim) and around $850 with an automatic. For an R-Design, add almost three grand more - and it delivers inferior fuel economy (19-20/28 mpg city/highway versus 21-22/29-31). More important, it's not the driver's car the GTI is. Whereas the VW is engaging from the moment you turn a wheel, the Volvo is more numbing, as if it runs on Aquavit rather than premium unleaded. As a result, the responses through the steering wheel and the pedals are more dulled than in the GTI, making it less tactilely gratifying.

It's also less gratifying at the dragstrip, but by no means a dud. Our 3243-pound test car, which came with the optional $1250 Geartronic five-speed automatic, accelerates from 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds and through the quarter mile in 15.1 at 93.1 mph. Respectable times, for sure, but noticeably slower than those of the automatic-equipped GTI, which accomplishes them in 6.0 flat and 14.6 at 94.9. Granted, the VW's automatic is of the smooth, ultrafast dual-clutch sort while the Volvo's is a garden-variety torque-converter unit (sans shift paddles, too, unlike the VW), but that's not the GTI's problem. The Vee-Dub's DSG is simply sportier and, well, better than the Volvo's Geartronic. Ditto for the C30's 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-5 versus the VW's 2.0-liter turbo four -- the Volvo's is robust (227 horsepower, 236 pound-feet), but seems coarse and unrefined compared with the GTI's silkier and racier mill, which puts out 200 horses and 207 pound-feet.…

2009 Volvo C30 R-Design First Test - Volvo C30 review and photos - Motor Trend

 

My fiancee is a fiend for this car.

 

I like it, I would like it more with 300HP

 

+1. I love the way this car looks but I wish it was a bit sportier. And RWD.