Volvo C70 D3 SE Lux
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- Written by Rory White
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OPEN YOUR CALENDAR. Now go and look outside. Warmer isn’t it? Warm enough for us Brits to wear sandals without socks and spend time outside past 6pm sporting Panama hats. Yep, it’s nearly summer and in the world of motoring, summer means dusting off your cabriolet’s roof-retraction button, dusting off your cabriolet, and slotting on the sunnies - having given them a damn-good dusting.
- From £33,115
- 150bhp D3 diesel engine
- 258lb ft torque
- 6-speed manual
- Claimed MPG: 47.9mpg
- Our MPG: 37mpg
- 0-60mph: 10.2 secs
- Top Speed: 130mph
- Weight: 1755kg
If you’re in the market for a new five-seat convertible - and when three mild afternoons a year are on offer in the UK, why the heck wouldn’t you be - there’s a number of options. BMW make a topless 3 Series, but that’s more common than a skinny-legged jean in Shoreditch so that’s out. Audi do an A5 without a roof, but then they only come in black, white or silver. Incidentally the only three colours polo necks and thick-rimmed glasses come in.
No. If you want style, good build quality and exclusivity, it’s time to start thinking Swedish.
For more pictures of the Volvo C70 D3 SE Lux, click here
The Volvo C70 is not only the best looking five-seat convertible on sale today to my eyes, but also one of the most practical. With the roof up or down, its lines never offend, and in the SE Lux trim our test car is pictured wearing, those sparkling 18-inch shoes give it proper presence. The metal roof is just as beautiful a thing to behold when it folds away, doing so with minimum fuss when stationary.
At a touch over £33,000 for the SE Lux trim, the C70 weighs in a good couple of grand cheaper than its German rivals. And from where I was sitting, a few inches from quality plastics, solid switches and a satellite navigation system that worked, the car could claim to be parallel in terms of luxury and comfort, too.
A superb looking, and smelling, black leather trim was complimented by a £265 ‘Aluminium pack’, accentuating a ‘hovering’ dash facia, gear stick and steering wheel with a classy silver finish. Add heated seats, cruise control, CD player, Bluetooth phone connection and keyless entry to the mix and suddenly you’re sitting in something quite special.
So that’s that then. We should all disregard BMW and Audi for their feeble attempts at manufacturing roofless saloons and blast off towards the horizon wrapped up snug in swanky Swedish cocoons. Unfortunately not.
For unfortunately, just before the horizon - better known as the North Devon coast - is the A3123. This road, and this road alone, put things into perspective. The Volvo C70 weighs 1755kg, and in case that doesn’t mean much to you, a Land Rover Freelander 2 doesn’t quite weigh 1755kg. That gorgeous roof mechanism looks good enough to eat, but as I pointed the chubby C70 into a bend, all hell broke loose. Just before the back-end did.
There was a good deal of squeal, split around 70/30 between my mouth and those rubber shoes, but rather hot under the collar I emerged from the bend unscathed. Right, time to regain the pride I’d left in the Devonshire hedgerow and let that 150hp D3 engine squirt me and passenger towards Woolacombe bay I thought. Cue the second disappointment at of the day and the ultimate dilemma. The engine.
You can’t buy this car for the driving experience. It’s too heavy, and the fact it’s a cabriolet and you’ve bought one probably means you aren’t bothered about that anyway. You’re in the cruising game and for that, the D3 is perfectly powerful.
If you start considering the 177bhp D4 then up goes the price, and with such a wobbly chassis, so too will your heart rate. And of course, there’s always the 230bhp T5, If you’ve never considered life that important.
Buy this car and you will never regret it. It is silky smooth and reassuringly well made at the same time. It looks fantastic, and will make you feel like all the hours at the grindstone were worth it. And if you can accept you’ll never keep up with the thousands of BMW drivers and polo-neck wearing Audi connoisseurs, you’ll have a smile on your face for some time to come.
