5 Things I HATE About The Volvo C30

In this video I go over the 5 main things I hate about my Volvo C30. I have owned the car for 5 years and have become accustomed to both this vehicles strengths and weaknesses. If you disagree or want to know more, leave a comment and I will reply!

[guilhermeesteves]

Did you just demosntrated the turn radius by U-Turning on a blind corner?

[selfreliant]

Thanks for posting. I just bought my daughter a 2012 C30 auto with 72K miles in July. I bought it out of state and drove it home 1200 miles no problem. She loves it. I love it. Now I want a manual for myself.

[drivingprophet]

I appreciate seeing some other C30 owners/enthusiasts make new videos about these decade old cars. I bought mine about a year and a half ago and still really enjoy it. When I first started watching I thought who would put Jaguar wheels on a C30?? But after watching through to the end, I've now decided I'm a fan haha. They look good! Keep up the content, man. I'll do my best to try to join you and start making some videos on mine soon too.

[jeremief.]

I've learned manual on my c30 and i never tried another manual car so I can't tell if its different but i didn't think it was that hard to not stall

[Janika-xjbv]

If recognition is what you're looking for, get another car. Great video, anyway. You always watch and learn something new. Thanks for sharing. From Thessaloniki 🇬🇷

[orestmakar]

The car looks so good. They really nailed the design. It looks so well balanced.

[sethcoles]

The stock airbox is the only reason I got an "upgraded" air intake. I took it out and put it back in once, and decided I never wanted to do it again. The turbo and induction noises are a nice side effect, though, and I haven't noticed any real issues from it so far. its made things like oil changes and my pcv replacement nice and simple, surprisingly, and my C30 is one of the cars I more enjoy working on.

[dnarowdy]

Nice to see more enthousiasts!
I’ve bought a 1.8 sport with full option. Great sounding stereo, sunroof, leather seats and most of it is in prestine condition.i love the design of these cars amd
In perticular the front end. Though my headlights could do with a polish and maybe upgraded bulb as they are not the brightest.

For people who own or want a sunroof, be warned! The draintubes will get clogged (so regularly service them) and the draintubes will shrink. This means they will disconnect at the windshield end and leak huge amounts of water into your car. The result is you’ll need take out your seats (disconnect the battery first to avoid an airbag light on dash), take out the front carpet and fold up the rear carpet and thoroughly dry. I solved it by pressing out water with towels and a blowdryer. Took me two days.
I’ve fixed the tube issue by cutting the tube and extending with a piece of garden hose. Also carfully pushed a steel wire through the lower part of the tubes that sit underneath the window to declog them. The car is dry and not leaking anymore. Test this by throwing water on your sunfroof and see if it somes out underneath. Should go quick and with more water then you think!

I really adore the car and it drives so well and comfortable. It love to accelerate out of corners and did 180(km/h) on the highway and it felt planted and safe. Awesome drive!
Be aware 1.8 is not the most powerful.
Mine was owned by a family that never really pushed it, so it was a little ‘lazy’ in the beginning but after 4000km’s of more sporty driving it starts to come alive nicely and performs quite a bit better.

[ANationalAcrobat-qjdl]

You can't blame the car for your bad driving.

[wilkinru]

Clutch on my C30 isnt bad at all. So that's interesting, but ive not had others try it. The turning radius feels pretty typical for cars these days. My wife's C70 is much worse. I think my biggest gripes are the seat belt that digs into my shoulder (fixed with a belt pad thingie) and the stereo that is also part of the HVAC which makes aftermarket stereo equipment challenging. Lastly the interior air filter is a super pain in the ass to change. The stock intake isn't bad because as others have mentioned you can just swap with an aftermarket one.

[mammadyusubov]

After driving 7 years auto C30 was my first manual. That's where I learned driving manual. You can say I learned the hard way.

After 6 years on different cars, I want another C30. It is unique, it is gorgeous and it is Volvo!

[volvoguy]

Wife has had her C30 2012 with Polestar since 2019. She loves it! Hers is Cosmic White and she gets a lot of strangers asking if she wants to sell it.

[mcgherkinstudios]

1. Get a c30 with 17 inch or smaller wheels from the factory and you don’t have this issue, the 18 inch wheel option came with a different rack (or rack stops I’ve not checked) that limited the turn radius.

2. Absolutely, the C30 is probably the best hot hatch out there that people don’t appreciate. As you say though it is starting to sink in for people now.

3. You might have an aftermarket clutch? An OEM clutch is very easy to drive I find, and even the upgraded S60R clutch is fine too. The pedal is relatively light as well, my Renaultsport Clio would give me a dead leg in traffic.

4. Yeah they’re thirsty bois. Stock, it’s just not worth it. I have a V50 d5 with a remap as well and that uses half the fuel of the T5 but has the same performance as the T5 did stock.

5. Engine bay is tight but I find it reasonably simple to disassemble. Airbox is more a knack than anything but I binned mine purely for better access.

[jmo]

Premium gas isn't required. Regarding the clutch, it's the pedal spring, replace it with a Steeda Focus ST/RS return spring. Makes it feel significantly easier and more of a linear push.

[mtg_]

I'm planning to get this as a 2.4i or a T5 (depending on what's gonna fit in my budget) in 2-3 years and I'm really interested in how these drive and I can imagine myself loving it. I'm also a huge fan of 3-door hatchbacks and the 5-cylinder in those two trims just makes it so much cooler. I live in Germany so we have a decently populated market for C30s but 2.4is and T5s are still kind of rare to find.

[isaacpassovoy]

Hey! I just got a 2007 c30 T5, I love it so far! Is it normal for the turbo spooling to be audible from inside the cabin?

[srw]

I've had mine for around 2 years and it's an auto so ofc I had that stupid rubber piece explode and had to rip apart the center console to replace it which was a PITA, the cabin air filter is far harder than it should be, if you have a sunroof, it WILL leak into the cabin eventually. It's been the rainiest summer of my life here in MA and I've had to leave my carpets peeled up essentially every time we had clear weather. Still leaked despite redoing the drain tubes so I have it without the windshield rn and made damn sure those hoses fed through deep and properly, and the glass tech said to me that the adhesion to the top edge of the glass was poor which also contributed to leaks. the AC is a pain too, had a line replaced only for the clutch to need reshimming. Unfortunately that is just what its like owning a 15 year old car. Shits old, hoses and rubber start to break, leaks happen. Thankfully the engine has been solid aside from needing a new coolant tank and T belt @ 96k miles ofc. I love the torque and wish I could drive stick to experience it without any bottlenecks

[BlxssedEye]

For any new enthusiasts a big pro of the c30 especially the t5 model is that they make power easily, I was able to get 250 to 270 hp to the wheels with just a turbo back exhaust with air intake and a better flowing turbo intake pipe with a tune on premium gas but a huge con is that the factory block and head gasket won't be very happy once you start pushing 350 hp to the wheels but fortunately you can easily get the motor sleeved for possible power numbers between 600 to 1000 hp to the wheels depending on how committed to the c30 you are me personally I think I'll be stopping at 500whp but who knows

[reddrummer]

I just got a C30 a few months ago and it is the EXACT same spec as yours, R-design trim, 6 speed manual, Shadow Grey! Great looking car man! The recognition thing hits hard especially with the pre-facelift R-Design models, allegedly only 400 were sold in the states and only in 2009.

[DylanF]

I was considering a C30 last Summer but I ended up buying a rebel blue V40. It's interesting to know that despite the V40 being a much larger hatchback, the turning circle is about the same or maybe even better than the C30. My V40 is my second car, and the clutch point on it is way better than my first car which sounds like that would have a lot in common with the C30; I won't name my first car but you could say I'm compensating with the Volvo now! 😅 The V40 has a nice deep bite point so there's no tapping it.

Essentially what it boiled down to it being a C30 or the V40 was the age, the V40 I got was 2 years newer than the last batch of C30s. Plus there's all the Ford proprietaries in the V40 like heated windscreen and the capless fuel tank.