Volvo C70 Se Lux Coupe Convertible - Reviewed

3 months ago 14th Jun 13:59

FemaleFirst review Volvo C70 Se Lux Coupe Convertible

Volvo C70 Se Lux Coupe Convertible - Volvo, the car manufacturer renowned for their faultless safety features, has just launched the new second generation C70. This is effectively two cars rolled in one. The C70 is a four seater coupe plus a convertible and is the first of its kind in the premium sector with a three piece retractable steel roof that folds up or down in 30 seconds at a push of a button.

Three engines are up for grabs mated to four trims with prices starting from £27K rising to my test car for the week the SE LUX at £31,895. Then I had a few optional extras such as metallic paint, rear park assist and the Winter Pack giving me heated seats that pushed the price up to £33,220.

Now Volvo, is a manufacturer not exactly au fair with elegant looking cars, but they have produced the C70 that I have to admit, I could not stop looking at. The rounded fronts corners, streamlined bonnet, stylish headlight clusters all falling into the colour coded bumper with integrated fog lights, just says volumes. To profile and the C70 simply excels in elegance with neat 18 inch alloy wheels, colour coded door handles, electrically adjustable, heated and folding door mirrors plus body protection strips. Even the rear looks great with the quirky insert between the boot and bumper as if it’s kissing the car behind. That's just with the roof up, put the roof down and the C70 does not loose an ounce of style. This in my mind is the key to a successful convertible.

Inside the interior is refreshingly uncluttered, yet has all the toys one would expect from Volvo. Electronic Climate Control, cruise control, RTI navigation system, electric windows, plus a superb Dynaudio CD/radio with twelve speakers and remote controls on the height adjustable leather steering wheel. Being the Luxury trim, this model went on too have driver and passenger adjustable heated leather seats with memory function and to gain access to the rear, simply press a button near the headrest and the front seats slide forward.

Even the rear looks great with the quirky insert between the boot and bumper as if it’s kissing the car behind.FemaleFirst

The iconic ‘floating’ central console stack means the controls are nearer to the driver for ease of use and have storage space behind. The only thing that irked me were the small sizes of all the binnacles, albeit covered to deter would be thieves oh and the keys jangling against the cruise control stalk. Door pockets should be wide and deep enough to hold maps, glove compartment should be wide and deep to hold tissues, umbrellas and the usual bits and bobs one keeps in the car. Only the concealed bin in the armrest for the CD’s was actually the correct size.

The luggage area is a generous 400 litres with the roof closed, shrinking to 200 litres when open. Because the roof is all packed away into the boot, Volvo has designed a button that electrically lifts the stored roof by 200 mm making loading easier. However, it was still a struggle to get the children’s swimming bags into the boot and caused chaos with the shopping bags. Yet with long items such a golf bags, these slotted in relatively easier via the ski-hatch. This has to be a male designer!

The C70 is Volvo’s most sportiest model, been designed for families who enjoy and appreciate excellent driving dynamics. The 2.4- litre turbo diesel 180 PS D5 engine in the heart of my test car is smooth, refined and quite torquey. All engines get double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder to help power and efficiency in addition to variable camshaft control, for greater driving flexibility, refinement plus reduced fuel consumption. The result is 52.3 mpg on the extra-urban cycle. Top speed is 140 mph and 0-62 takes just 8.6 seconds. CO2 emissions are not too horrendous coming in at 196g/km thus falls into VED tax band F.

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