Sustainable Cardboard Chair Design Inspired By Volvo C30 Taillight

This modular cardboard lounge chair designed by Luis Fernando Luna Bermudez, a Universidad de Monterrey student, took top prize in the 2007 Volvo For Life Design competition. It's inspired by a Volvo C30 taillight. More »

Volvo Using Wind Tunnels To Help Save You A Buck At The Pump

It's no secret that a car with slick coefficient of friction will be better on gas. So Volvo decided to build a top-notch wind tunnel in Sweden that they claim is an improvement on traditional test facilities. Volvo's wind tunnel allows a simulated road under the car at-speed, while most tunnels just leave the wheels stationary. The whole thing is also climate-controlled, from 68 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing Volvo to test for temperature-induced changes in drag. Impressive, but we still miss the days when Volvos were shaped using nothing but straight lines and 90-degree angles.

Volvo DRIVe Lineup Coming To Paris, Bringing 60 MPG-Plus Fuel Economy With It

The Paris Motor Show will see the debut of Volvo's eco-friendly DRIVe models, the sub-120 g/km diesel variants of the C30, S40 and V50. Though lacking in any C02-spewing supercars, Volvo still has to meet mandatory European emissions standards and this new series features a number of clever and straight-forward ways to reduce 'em without utilizing exotic drivetrains. Drag is significantly reduced with the aerodynamic Libra rims, new underbody panels, the addition of ducktail spoilers and a covered radiator grille. The gearbox has been adjusted with longer gear ratios for the higher gears which, combined with a new transmission oil, contributes to higher mileage. At the center of all of this is Volvo's efficient 1.6-liter diesel engine. The result is lower emissions and fuel economy above 53.3 MPG (US gallons) for the C30 and 51.6 MPG (US gallons) for the S40 and V50, on the new European cycle. Full details in the press release below. More »

Brenda Priddy Ebay Fundraiser To Benefit Wounded Auto Writer

Spy photog and all-around auto industry superstar Brenda Priddy is once again in the middle of giving something back to the community, this time raising money to help out auto writer Frank Washington following a brutal assault last month. Washington was left unable to work after he was mugged and stabbed, so Brenda is setting up a series of eBay auctions to raise money to help him out. Using her industry sources, she's pulled together quite a list of auto-centric swag. More »

Volvo C30 R-Design

With Volvo's R performance cars having gone the way of Norse legend, the company's using its letter of choice to denote its line of add-on accessories. To wit, the XC90 R-Design model shown last month in Detroit. For Chicago, Volvo's tricked out its smallest entry, the C30 hatch. The limited-edition C30 R-Design comes with a display of accouterments, special paint colors, interiors of the finest contrasting upholstery, Serapis alloys, turbocharged T5 power gear and R-Design badging to tell the world you're not content to travel unadorned. No word yet on price, but expect a dealer intro by next quarter. More »

Detroit Auto Show: Volvo R-Design XC90 Adds Sporty Style Without Burden of Sporty Performance

Do you drive a Volvo C30, S40, V50 or XC90 and are worried your neighbors don't quite understand you purchased an S40 to show off your commitment to seat-of-your-pants performance? Volvo has the answer in the form of the R-Design line. Vehicles modified with the package get sportier wheels, satin matte-finish grilles, color coordinated side moldings and other custom touches. What they don't get is more power of any kind, revised suspensions or great aerodynamics. When Volvo released photos earlier they didn't show us the XC90, so our intrepid photographers hunted one down for your viewing pleasure. More »

Volvo To Make Wagon Version of C30

We have confirmation from World Car Fans via Automotive News that Volvo will be making good on its threats to wagonify the C30 hatchback. We also heard via the same sources that Cindy will totally go to second base with you if you borrow your dad's Lincoln. But don't hold us to that. The C30's platform is comfortable with five doors as it already underpins the Mazda3 hatch, S40 wagon and Euro Focus. Above is our exceptionally poor rendering of what the hatch might look like with four doors in sportback/wagon version. More »

Automobile Magazine All-Star Cars Revealed, Refuse To Hand Over The Crown

It's the time of the year when everyone and their grandmother hands out a "Best Car Ever...of the Year" award. Just over a week ago Motor Trend named their Car of the Year. We already showed you the Car & Driver top ten for '08 and now Automobile Magazine has released their category-less Automobile All-Stars list. However, Automobile's picks reveal that the 2008 model year might not have been an All-Star year for new cars. Seven of the ten cars are carryovers from last year (or was 2007 just that good?). Click through the jump to find out who the newcomers are and which seven titans kept their titles. More »

SEMA-Bound Volvos from Heico Sportiv

The German tuners of all things Swedish and Volvovian at Heico Sportiv say they're again headed to the big aftermarket show in Las Vegas next month. Right, it's SEMA time, the time of year when young car journos' thoughts turn to gloss paint and body kits and laughing gas injectors. For Heico, they've turned to chrome-look finishes, surf motifs and biofuels. The company's bringing a 350-hp S80 T6 that runs on biofuel, and a C30 with orange leather and graphics and a 300-horsepower turbocharged T5 under the hood. Heico's a best bet these days for Volvo drivers looking for extra gumption, considering the company's dropped its higher-performance R models. But will they play in sin city? Watch this space. More »

First Video, More Details On Volvo ReCharge Hybrid Concept Car To Be Revealed At The Frankfurt Auto Show

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High-Mileage Volvo C30 to Debut in Frankfurt

Volvo says it's showing a special-edition Volvo C30 in Frankfurt that offers a few energy-efficiency tweaks, giving it an estimated 52 miles per gallon. It's powered by a 1.6-liter turbodiesel and fitted with a new autobox that reduces torque loss during upshifts, which Volvo says boosts efficiency by eight percent. It's called Powershift, and it's the equivalent of two manual gearboxes controlled by separate clutches. Along with VW's BlueMotion and Mercedes's Bluetec, the model furthers the idea that this year's Frankfurt show will be all about the cleaner diesels. Hybrid who? More »

Volvo C30 Spotted With Jersey Manufacturer Plates

Eagle-eyed tipster and Jalopnik reader Peter snagged us these shots of the new Volvo C30 stateside wearing a set of New Jersey manny plates. The hatchback, which we first saw unveiled at the 2006 Paris Auto Show for sale in Europe, was recently green-lighted for the US beginning in October as a 2008 model. We're assuming this here C30 is probably being used as a media fleet car by some embargo-signing journalist. Maybe that particular invite got lost in the mail. More »

The Inside Line at Edmunds reviews the 2008 Volvo C30. Their verdict? It's a "Volvo for young urban males." No, for serious, that's what they say. [Edmunds Inside Line]

R Gang: Volvo Announces New Upgrade Package

Looks like if you want serious Swedish muscle, you'll have to contract with powerlifter Magnus Önerud. Volvo released details on its new R Design package and there's not a single performance upgrade in sight. Not that we'd expected anything, considering the company's abandoned its S60 R and V70 R models. It's all cosmetics, like satin matte-finish grille ad side mirrors; color-coordinated bumpers and lower side moldings; rear or roof spoilers, and five-spoke aluminum wheels in 17- or 18-inch outside, and blackish seats with contrasting cream-colored leather, leather-trimmed steering wheel with R-design logo, aluminum pedals, center stack and door inlays, and tufted dark sport floor mats on the inside. It'll be available by year's end on the C30, S40 and V50 models in Europe. – Mike Spinelli More »

Electric Oil Burner: Volvo Working on a Diesel Hybrid C30

According to Germany's Autobild, Volvo's working up a diesel hybrid version of its new C30 hatch, which the company will show off at Michelin's annual alternative energy fest, Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai later in 2007. It'll be a series hybrid, where the engine turns a generator that can either charge the batteries or power an electric motor that drives the transmission. But the internal combustion engine in this case will be a diesel, and the system may have plug-in capability. No word on whether the car will be a concept, or for series production, but company reps say Volvo is serious about bringing the car to market. But are they serious serious? – Mike Spinelli More »

LA Auto Show: Stick a Volvo C30 in Your Ear

Sadly, Volvo has dispensed with the teal suits that made their booth so rad at last year's show. But they did bring us the C30, which is apparently a car that's a "product of free will." They also compared it to the iPod, which theoretically begs the following experiment. Drive a C30 while listening to Rush via your iPod. See if Volvo's vaunted safety standards save you when the car collapses under the weight of its own metaness. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Down the Hatch: Heico's Volvo C30 Diesel Tuner

With the US version of the new Volvo C30 hatch debuting at the Los Angeles Show this week, a Swede-lover's fancy can't but turn to thoughts of tuning the crap out of one. Down, boy. Volvo tuner Heico Sportiv is unveiling its HS3 D5 at the Essen show in Germany next week. The diesel-fired hatch isn't quite a screamer, but it can get from zero to 60 in 7.9 seconds, by way of the a five-cylinder oil burner, tweaked to produce 205 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. V-max is a respectable 143 mph. The slightly hotter hatch does look like a runner, with a full-body kit, fender flares shrouding 8.5x20" VOLUTION V. wheels, height-adjustable suspension kit, four-tip stainless steel exhaust, four-piston sports brake kit, and interior accouterments (aluminum pedal set, foot rest, hand-brake lever, and door pins, along with two-tone leather seats and door panels). If you were wondering, Essen is SEMA without the road trip to Cadillac Ranch. – Mike Spinelli More »

SEMA Show: Volvo C30s on Parade

Volvo rolled out three dolled-up custom C30s at SEMA this year, ahead of the hatch's US debut next year. The three cars' mods were done, respectively, by IPD; Heico Sportiv with Burton Snowboards, and Evolve. It's all a matter of merging the New Hatchback school with the sport compact crowd, and seeing what transpires. Will Acker Bilk ever forgive us? [Gallery] More »

Volvo Designer in the Blogosphere

Volvo designer, Canadian-born Simon Lamarre, has launched a blog to address his experience penning the new Volvo C30 hatch. Lamarre, who consensus says has a winner on his hands, discusses the pressures of designing a car for a major automaker in his first post. More »

Paris Auto Show Reveal: Volvo C30 Hatch!

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Spy Photos: Volvo C30 in Native Habitat

A Swedespeed reader submitted this shot, capturing a Volvo C30 "near the delivery center" at the Volvo compound in Goteborg, Sweden. According to the submitter, there were two other models on scene, and rumor is the hatch will be FWD-turbo only. Additionally, initial production is rumored to be sold out due to European demand. The production model will reportedly be on the stand at the Paris show. More »

It's Official: 2007 Volvo C30 Hatch Revealed

At first we misread the press release, which stated, "Here are the first photos of one of the year's most talked about debutants." of course, there's no Harvest Ball cotillion for this Euro gal — Volvo's new C30 debutante is set for a Paris unveiling. Volvo calls the new C30 a "cool car" for young, urban types — and hopes to sell 65,000 of them, 75 percent of which it expects to move in Europe. Engines for the continent version will include a 100 hp, four-cylinder 1.6-liter gas engine; 109 hp, 1.6-liter diesel, and five-cylinder D5 (180 hp) and T5 (220 hp) turbocharged powerplants. Production will start later this year. Click through for the company's take. More »

Spy Photos: More on the 2007 Volvo C30

We'll have to wait until the Paris motor show to see all of the upcoming Volvo C30 hatch, but AutoExpress offers a quick, Tuesday-morning teaser. The spy shots were taken as the C30 — a coming rival to the VW Golf, Audi A3 and Mini Cooper — was getting flogged amidst the extreme cold of caribou country. AE reiterates that a 260-hp R version will handle hot-hatch duties, with Volvo's corporate 2.4-liter inline five (turbocharged, natch) under the hood. More »

New Volvo C30 R on the Way?

A tip from a reader has sparked some excitement and joyful self-injury in Jalopnik's day-room. According to a Volvo sales manager, the reader writes, the company is planning to build a hot-hatch version of its upcoming C30 sporting a "an engine derived from the S60 R's 2.5 L i5 high pressure turbo in the range of around 180 - 190kw" (that's in range of 250 hp). That would make the C30 a potent challenger to the VW GTI in the US, depending on how it'd be priced ultimately — and if such a Euro-focused car would even be available in the states. Trust that we'll be saving up our daily meds doled out by Nurse Ratchet for such a day. [Thanks to Oscar for the tip.] More »

Spy Photos: 2007 Volvo C30

Sure, the Volvo C30 concept looked all trick in Detroit under the lights, like the drama-club chick's prom date, in swank two-tone pearlescent paint job and alloys the size of pizzas. But what of the more pedestrian production version all alone up in the North Country at the hands of some engineer named Filiph, with a leather mask to obscure its identity? Spy photog Hans Lehmann caught the money shots, and MPH presented them to the world ahead of the hatchback's unveiling this September in Paris. Word is a four-cylinder, twin-cam mill, not Volvo's inline five, will power the base model. More »

Volvo's C30 Decision: Will they or Won't They?

According to AutoWeek, Volvo's got three choices in marketing a car like the C30 concept it showed in Detroit in the US: 1.) Make it an inexpensive path into a luxury brand's aegis, performance be dammed; 2) Give it a higher level of performance, say, with an inline five turbo, and up the price by about $2000, or 3) give it all-wheel drive and luxury options and boost the price by $7,000. Let's see, Volvo picked all three of those options when it marketed the S40, so we're going with "all of the above." Next question. More »

Volvo C30: C'mon Get Happy!

According to the press release, this here C30 Design Concept contraption's real close to what the more compact compact Volvo will look like when the customized concepty stuff comes off in Paris at the end of September. If it were still legal to let kids ride in the boot, they'd have a swell view out the generous glass tailgate, surrounded by Volvo's now-traditional big-ass C-pillar-eating taillights. More »

More Shots of the Volvo C30 Concept

Looks like the cat's out of the bag, but the barn door is still open. Or something like that. Leftlane News has posted the rest of the press shots of the Volvo C30 concept that were leaked either intentionally or unintentionally ahead of the concept's unveiling at the Detroit show next month. As expected, the C30 — destined to be a new entry-level Volvo for 2007 — looks like a mashup of the 2001 Safety Concept Car (SCC), the current S40 and the old P1800, with an aggressively raked fascia. The interior is pure S40. More »

Merry Christmas: Volvo's C30 Concept

We had to check our e-mail on Christmas morning, didn't we. Since we did, now we have to point toward a pic of what could be the new Volvo C30 concept destined for the Detroit and Paris shows. It's the first such shot we've seen (tho it was posted on one Spanish-language site a few days ago), but it could still be on press embargo, so you'll have to go there to see the whole shot. See you on Tuesday. [Thanks to Michael for the tip.] [Update: El Diferencial found the press release for the C30 concept's Los Angeles unveiling (dated January 4) on Volvo's Spanish-language press site. Looks like someone jumped the gun. Click through for full text.] More »

The New C30 Is Near, and Volvo Makes With the Teasing

Those ungrateful dates over at Volvo are starting to dangle their goods in front of our greediest of anatomicals (our eyes; whaddya think, we're sickos?). They've launched somewhat of an online teaser campaign, which Leftlane News got hip to yesterday. Today, Volvo's added a new graphic (pictured) showing what's likely the new C30, partially obscured by a bank of tar-like soot (at least we know it's been seen in New Jersey. Oh, c'mon, we kid). We know the three-door hatch will be the smallest of Volvo's line, that it'll share similarities with the company's 3CC and SCC concepts, and that we'll probably see a design concept of it in Detroit. More »

Spy Photos: Volvo C30, Entry-Level Hatch

With its US unveiling set for the Detroit Auto Show, the newest, smallest Volvo — the C30 hatchback — will be the latest troop in a squad of premium hatchbacks hitting US shores, hoping to extend the market cracked by BMW's Mini Cooper. Hatchbacks' return is one of the surest of bets car watchers could make, with the C30 providing the all-important "third competitor" to the Mini and new Audi A3 (not to mention the enduring VW Golf), which some consider the tipping point for a car genre. Of course, in the spy photos, the disguised hatch makes it look like the erstwhile Golf cabrio, or an Isuzu Amigo. More »