Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe
Prices: £17,995-£20,920 – on the road
Insurance Group: 8
Emissions: 99g/km [with Start/Stop]
Performance: Max Speed 118mph / 0-60mph 10.7s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 74.3mpg [with Start/Stop]
Safety: Twin front and curtain airbags, WHIPS seats, side impact protection system
Dimensions: Length/width/height 4248/1780/1450mm

DRIVING DOWN COSTS

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

Volvo’s eco-friendly ‘DRIVe’ strategy has paid dividends. Jonathan Crouch looks at the C30 1.6D DRIVe model

Everybody’s talking about low CO2 levels in cars – or at least they are in the company-dominated sector where Volvo sells most of its more compact models. Hence the Swedish company’s ‘DRIVe’ initiative, aimed at showing that you don’t need to buy a very small car to be very green. Proof comes in ‘DRIVe’ versions of the 1.6-litre diesel models in the C30, S40 and V50 line-ups. It’s the C30 we’re looking at here.

This is Volvo’s version of Volkswagen’s BlueMotion, BMW’s EfficientDynamics and numerous other efficiency brands offered by manufacturers across the industry. Let’s take this C30 1.6D DRIVe as an example, Its CO2 figure of 99g/km will certainly attract attention and the fuel economy’s very impressive too, with this car achieving 74.3mpg on the combined cycle. So you can get up to 857 miles out of a tank-full. It’s a decent improvement over the standard D2 model – which it needs to be to justify the couple of hundred pounds premium that the DRIVe package will cost you.

Volvo's DRIVe cars are all certified according to the mandatory European NEDC standard. In addition, the Volvo C30 has excelled in the ECO test, which carries out even more comprehensive measurements of CO2 and particulate emissions. This certification process relies on stars and points, in a similar way to the Euro NCAP programme for safety. The independent ECO test places the Volvo C30 at the top of its size category, with four stars and 76 points in the overall assessment of the car's total environmental performance.

The C30 1.6D DRIVe is similar to the C30 D2 diesel to drive despite giving away around 5bhp to that car. Or so you’d think, until you start analysing just how much money it’s saving you. So how have Volvo done it? Well, there are two headline features. The first is an optional Start/Stop function that allows the engine to switch off when the car is at a standstill, whilst also maintaining comfort settings such as the air conditioning. The second is a regenerative charge facility. This charges the battery as soon as the driver releases the accelerator or brakes while a gear is engaged. By harnessing the car's kinetic energy, the alternator does not have to use diesel fuel as a power source to recharge the car’s battery.

Otherwise, the Swedish engineers focused on four areas. The first was reduced air resistance. To this end, the chassis height was reduced by approximately 10mm to help reduce drag, then the radiator grille was covered and behind it added a wind-deflecting panel that provides better aerodynamics inside the engine compartment. Wind deflectors in front of the front wheels steer the airflow and there are aerodynamically optimised wheels along with special underbody panels for more efficient airflow under the car. Finally, a special rear spoiler was developed for the car along with a new rear bumper.

Next up, the boffins sought to lower the car’s rolling resistance, adopting a set of new generation Michelin tyres designed for that purpose. Higher gear ratios would also help, they decided, so the gearbox features altered ratios for third, fourth and fifth gears. The longer gear ratios contribute to a 1.5% reduction in fuel consumption without, say Volvo, affecting the drivability of the car.

Finally, a more efficient driveline was targeted, which meant optimisation of engine cooling, engine management and power steering systems. A different transmission oil which creates much lower friction is used in the gearbox and a gearchange indicator in the information display tells the driver the ideal time to change gears.

None of this stuff does much on its own but collectively, it all adds up to a lot. Changing the transmission oil, for example, offers up a 0.75% improvement in fuel consumption. Tyres with low rolling resistance save another 2% and so on. With lower carbon dioxide emissions, the DRIVe models salve Volvo’s conscience by reducing its net contribution to global warming, although the company reckons it was already doing its bit by fitting all its diesel models with a maintenance-free particle filter that traps about 95 percent of all soot particles.

Otherwise of course, it’s the usual C30 recipe, recently restyled with an improved front end. This car offers u