2011 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design: Regular Car Reviews 

Fun fact: This is the first time a RU-vidr I watch is actually sponsored by something I use, I've had a Groove Life ring as a wedding ring for almost 2 years now!

I'm reporting this because I'm in this comment and I didn't consent... 😅 lol!

Ow dude why you gotta hurt me like that

Can confirm. Also 30 something. Also own a C30 T5. Also currently wearing Vans. This review is me being seen.

Probably my 50 year old uncle too

Me, as a 30-something, but instead of Vans its Chuck Taylors. The new ones with actual arch support

They will be ……. Give it time. Ppl are starting to find out all the quirky cool cars and they are shooting up in value one by one

IMO its one of the best looking hatches from the late 00s. it has the broad shoulders of its larger brethren but then theres that sharp chop at the rear hatch. i daily a golf, so im already a hatch guy, but damn if i dont snap my neck whenever one of these goes by

Shh, I want one for a scootin around car. :)

+1, bought a 2006 with the launch Cosmic White / Java Pearl color scheme 8 weeks ago. I've visited several Volvo shops since then, fixing different niggles. Currently having it's cylinder head rebuilt 🥲. But y'know what, I don't care. It's that brilliant and I want to keep it on the road.

@@PriitKaru Probably to be expected a fair amount of the time, but not much else would really fill the slot the same way, I think. (I think I'd like a brown one if I could find one with a stick and a decent spec, but hard to be picky that way. It's kind of on a short list of 'What would I scoop up if I came into a chunk of cash and a nice one was there. (While I farmed out some work on my dear 940 wagon, for one. That ol gal needs some off-the-road attentions I need to at least hire some stonger arms with the skill for these days. )

Like how the Ripple wave pattern on the infotainment pulses out from the audio power/tuning knob over on the top right.

S60 sucks-Former owner

That S60 review will forever live in my head rent-free.

That review is an absolute classic. The tangent about the lady at the Wendy's Supabar is permanently etched into my brain.

@@IVR02 Those poor garbanzo beans...

Volvo offered v40, but maybe it was not sold where you live.

​@@Rytis36and now v40 is dead, leaving CUVs only 🤢

@@Isaki138 since they are mostly just lifter hatchbacks, just lower them and get yourself a pseudo c30

Volvo C30 - official car for guys that refer to their body as "frame"

Is yours an r design?

THat goes back a ways with Volvos. :)

Subaru Tribeca rage activated.

@@OllamhDrab not on their other cars of the time , though 😆. The S60 is annoying to take the headlight out of, I imagine the other cars too.

@@zzoinks Hrm, I dunno, did a V40 once, but it wasn't that bad?

don't try and do a cabin filter though, have to remove the main fusebox and bracket on the RHD cars

Ford in most of Europe has an image problem. It's like giving up when you buy a Ford. Volvo does not have this, it's still cool to an extent.

I want a Focus ST, but comfortable.

Kinky*

@@incremental_failure What? Fords are renowned for their "lotus-like" handling. I think most people in europe don't even give enough shits about cars to even know the difference between a C30 and a Focus.

@@theothertonydutch I suppose he was talking about the broader spectrum. People that are not that much into cars (me), really don't think anything special about Fords. Volvo, on the other hand, really has that sort of special reputation in general population. You don't see middle class driving Fords. You see polished Volvos instead. At least that's my perception.

People who own them or have owned them love these cars, I was in a Wegmans parking lot and a guy pulled up to my c30 to tell me about how much he loved his! There is a great sense of community brought about by these.

Don’t forget if you really wanna go off the rails you can swap it to AWD with a nice liberal swapping of parts with an S40 or V50. Got my parts from a salvage auction in Davenport lol

@@danielfrancis7798 might as well do a k16 swap at that point lol drop another 8k on a 15 year old car

The 5 cylinder comes with a forged crank and decent rods . The front suspension falls apart ( next time you drive at 5 mph just stab the brakes a little...that clunk is you control arms trying to exit the subframe) , the a/c compressor fails all the time, the evap core and heater core explode, the CEM is the first thing to get wet when the sunroof leaks, the wheel bears fail, the front springs break and stab the front tires, the engine mounts fail and then ground out and make a horrible noise.....yeah great cars, love em. It's awesome when my customers get a quote for 7,000 dollars on their 5,000 dollar car. The same thing happened with the focus but since that was a cheap version of the c30 chassis the parts were also cheap....the chassis parts are made in the same place and fit both cars but the Volvo parts are more expensive? Other than those few things they are fun to a point. I know that more than 300 HP and 300 lbft in this chassis makes it pretty useless but if you like axle wrap and one wheel peels this is your tuner car.

​@@robsorgdrager8477and like to understeer into every ditch. Weight distribution is awful. Thick rear sway bar is a must. Then it's ok with DSTC off.

You must not work on volvos .

I literally saw one of these on the road in front of me just the other day, and I had NO idea what I was looking at. I knew it was a Volvo (cuz I can read) but I've never seen one before. I just thought it really looked cool and unique, especially the way the hatch is designed.

​@@robsorgdrager8477I do, they're fine. People are scared of them... But while they are more tightly packed and annoying than a Toyota or Honda, they are far from bad to work on.

@@MicahS70T5M oh God no, I can have one stripped into a pile of parts in a day. I rag on them because they never get serviced and the people that own them drive miss Daisy around. They are oblivious to horrible state of the safety equipment and when I give them a 8k estimate from simply shaking the thing down and the " my head lamp is foggy " main concern they start crying and accuse me of being a thief , until I bring them out to their " pride and joy " and point out the decades of neglect.

@@RyoHazuki224 I personally love the design. I would try to drop in a more built 5cyl and as much as I love the 6 speed id opt for a newer p3 t6 paddle shift trans. To be honest the 3.0 inline 6 cylinder turbo with the added polestar tune in the 12-13 s60's is the way to go. That car is deceptively fast and will catch a lot of people including the one driving , asleep.

In an accident guess what's first to fly?...

Wait what I thought it was only for the facelift gen😭

My Buick century was two clips to take off the headlight!

Hey, so Im the owner of this car, and I just want to say: its SO GOOD

The Elevate and ARD tunes are notoriously bad for these engines.

You threw away the car just because of q crack block? -.- Those blocks are next to nothing cheap in the junkyards

@@Eidrian111 No. I sold the car to someone who had the time, resources and funds to replace the engine; as I, (a 23 y/o student at the time w no garage) unfortunately, did not 🤷

@@TheChimbleySweep I wonder if it's still going around somewhere under the new owner!

Me too. Drove one new. Loved it. Wish I bought it...I think I was afraid of reliability.

next time slide it in along the plane of the car, its feels weird but thats the best way ive found just inserting it straight from the front to the back

From a Volvo tech. Tilt it in, align a bit and slide it back into position. It works with every one of their pull out headlight assemblies.

That’s only for the automatic transmission, it’s the same for the s60/v70

The gearbox is a unit m66 or m56 can easily take 1000hp+ I think the drive shafts on the p1 can break easily enough though

I like the same era manual C70 hardtop vert. And they can be had for as low as $5000

The pre doo-doo facelift SPA cars were fun

I think the new ones are gorgeous, and definitely still unique and swedish inside, but they've definitely lost that Volvo quirkiness.

I think Polestars (Pre-EV) are great too

@@fastboy177 I have heard questionable things about their reliability too though I'm not sure if that's just over blown. Some people think the new Volvos have "Chinese reliability"

It took me 8 months and four states away in the middle of a pandemic, and I’m glad I did it when I did b/c every one I see (in the emails I get) the price has gone up around $7000.

I’m making about 300, what kind of mods did you end up doing?

This doesn't handle like a light Honda at all. 3000lbs front heavy af.

@@Isaki138 this is true, the doors alone are about 1000lbs each

@@Isaki138 Okay,by admittance, mine’s modified with polyurethane bushings all around, lowered, 1” rear sway bar, quaife LSD, and snabb strut tower bar. With just the 1” bar, it’s back end wants to come around when cornering, it’s almost uncanny.

petition for him to start an only fans! ill be his manager

@@mikepalmieri4989 🤣💖

"the spot" huehuehuehuehue

@@NotTehJon 😜💖

Volcano orange? I thought it was called orange flame metallic :)

Same. Ultimately I had to get rid of it, previous owners crashed it and didn't report, suspension was way too fubar to be worth fixing. It did well on gas especially if you could keep it at 65, stayed planted and maneuvers great. The I5 engine is awesome. If still available and needed a little car, I would be looking at a new one very closely. Sucks I had such a bad example.

The pegs for it are forbidden tent stakes.

Got it

I agree my 08 got two tone color all the r design ground effects rear spoiler with no sunroof perfect spec....

No V60 Polestar?!

@@navykeef Hmmm okay that one's neat too! But I don't like that Polestar blue. Red's better.

@@YouHaveReachedBob I had one in black, loved it, and regret selling it!

P2 turbo autos are torque limited, but the manuals are not. I assume P1s are the same? But I'm not sure.

P1800ES and the 480 :)

IIRC the gas tank has a huge Ford logo molded into it.

@@KXKKX That's hilarious, but it does make it easier and I guess cheaper to find parts for the car 10 years later

​@KXKKX it does indeed.