| Week at the Wheel | Volvo C30 DRIVe |

Inside & Out:

For all its rear end oddities, few would suggest that the Volvo C30 is ugly. The way the glasshouse pinches in at the rear and leaves a set of broad shoulders above the wheel arches is particularly nice. However, the payment for that style is severely diminished boot and rear head space. The trunk is almost useless because access is limited to a cat flap cut into the fixed parcel shelf. It's also shallow, so even if you remove the fidgety shelf, there's still not a great deal of space. There is, contrastingly, relatively abundant legroom for the two rear seats.

But Volvo doesn't claim this to be a practical family hatch and aesthetically the C30 is aging very gracefully indeed, so you might be willing to live without the functionality in exchange for the style. Inside and out, it still looks fresh and from the driver's seat there aren't any notable ergonomic sacrifices to make for its distinctive cockpit layout. The 'floating' centre console is logical and easy to read and the driving position has plenty of adjustment. Honourable mention must go to the DRIVe-specific polished alloy wheels too, which look like a 1985 vision of what 2009 alloys might be like. Very Back II The Future and very ace.

Engine & Transmission:

The DRIVe's best asset is that it doesn't feel like an eco special. The 1.6-litre diesel unit is a little agricultural on start-up - and it doesn't have an abundance of torque - but nor does it feel sluggish. There's a nice, smooth progression about the power delivery and since you'll never have anything in the boot or anyone tall sitting behind you, its 177lb.ft feels enough. Then take into account its economy figures: 64.2mpg and 115g/km. That's genuinely impressive, and you'll only pay £35 per year in road tax.

The gearbox, although only five-speed, has a remarkably tight, precise shift action and actually proves to be the highlight of the driving experience. Of course, like most five-speed boxes these days, it feels like it could do with an extra motorway cog, but not to the extent that you're constantly wishing for one as the car whines along at 70mph - it doesn't.

Ride & Handling:

The C30 is comfortable, but on certain surfaces it transfers the strange feeling of having slightly too much body roll (especially front to back), but at the same time transmitting quite a lot of judder into the cabin. Over the most badly pocked roads the C30's tends not to settle down, though on smoother surfaces it's as smooth as the Ford Focus it shares its underpinnings with. It's miles away from the Ford in the handling stakes, however.

For the most part, the Volvo takes care of corners in an assured, non-dramatic fashion, with a precise, light steering rack and enough front-end grip to make it marginally entertaining. But, the knowledge there's a class leading chassis underneath the C30 only makes its inadequacies more frustrating. It's even worse when the road is wet.

However, the point is that the C30 is a style trinket first, driving tool second. And in the DRIVe's case the latter purpose gets pushed to third behind fuel economy. For the majority of day-to-day driving, this C30 is adequately composed and admirably comfortable.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

This is a premium product, and is priced as such. You'll pay £17,245 for the SE spec our test car came in, though it had a further £1,400 spent on it in options including the really useful blind spot warning system. Mind, we'd be asking Volvo to foot the cheeky £25 bill for the 'passenger airbag cut off switch' also on there.

SE spec is well equipped for the most part though, with climate control, cruise control, automatic wipers and front fog lights bundled in. The stereo's really good too and because it's a Volvo, safety's a given - traction control, anti-lock brakes and a load of airbags are standard. Turning the traction control off using the menu system is fiddly too - a neat deterrent for some, though an annoyance for others (like an impatient car tester, for example).

So, this car is expensive to buy, but well equipped and cheap to run. You'll pay almost a grand more for the 2.0-litre diesel, for example, which although more powerful (obviously) loses around 15mpg and emits enough CO₂ to warrant a £150 VED bill. Its alloys won't be as snazzy either.

Overall:

We liked the Volvo C30 probably more than its three-star rating suggests, but every element of it is compromised. It's stylish, but it's impractical; it's comfortable but it's dynamically hindered; it's economical but it's expensive to buy. However, it's different enough to feel like an individual, slightly off-kilter choice, which gives it plenty of appeal. We especially like the fact that this DRIVe version is so economical without ever feeling like a cheesy eco special (we'd delete the DRIVe badges if we were buying it). Think of it as the VW Scirocco's slightly uglier older brother that can't be bothered to party so much, but is still too cool to think about having kids and stuff.