I must admit that when a good friend of mine swapped his Mercedes 230 Kompressor for a Volvo C70 T5 I thought he'd made a bad judgement, this then went out of the window as soon as we got out on the road. The performance of the C70 T5 is frankly... suprisingly quick.
The T5 (turbo) in the C70 automatic will outsprint most other (if not all) cars in its class, the 0-60 is in the low 6's, but remember this car is a sophisticated cruiser for business men rather than a boy racer from The Fast and the Furious.
When pushed to the limit the car absolutely flies, I hadn't heard much about the T5 before this but for those who haven't I really recommend taking a look at them. For some reason though you can now only get a convertible C70 T5 as new in this country - if you want the hardtop you will have to import it. Volvo have put the T5 into the new S40 as well and judging buy the bargain prices you can get older S40's for this is potentially going to be a bargain car in 3-4 years time.
Aesthetically the Volvo doesn't look as good as a Mercedes 230 (my own personal view is that the headlight wipers look tacky and cheap and from the front make a real mess of the car). We parked the Volvo next to a Mercedes 230 and for me there's no contest, as both cars were in silver you can pick out all the contours and shapes but still I'd put the Merc slightly ahead.
On the interior as well I would say the Mercedes takes the biscuit, but again there's not much between the two. My feeling is that a 2000 Volvo C70 T5 automatic with average miles is good value for around £14, 000 and a lot of fun. The boot space is also ample, forget one set of golf clubs you could quite easily pack a spare as well.
So overall the looks of the Volvo are good but not spectacular but the performance far outways this. As for cons - Volvo's are never cheap to service especially if taken to a main dealer so buyer beware and the front tyres tend to wear down quite quickly.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Saloon - Front (FWD) - 6 Speed - (Man) / 6 Speed Geartronic - (Auto) - 2401 cc - Max Speed: 143 mph - 185 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: S, SE, SE Lux, SE Sport, Sport
Convertible - Front (FWD) - 5 Speed - Manual 5 Speed Geartronic - Automatic - 2435 cc - Max Speed: 137 mph - 170 bhp - Petrol - Available Trims: Sport Premium, Sport, SE Premium, SE Lux Premium, SE Lux, SE
Estate - Front (FWD) - 6 Speed - (Man) / 6 Speed Geartronic - (Auto) - 2401 cc - Max Speed: 140 mph - 185 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: R-DESIGN, R-DESIGN Premium, SE, SE Lux, SE Lux Premium, SE Premium, S, Sport
Nice start here. You have a good writing style that will work well for you. You know, Ciao sometimes gives us hints on how to write a detailed review. See those orange bars at the top of the page under the stars? If you write a review using those as category headings, you'll find that will help you write with more details. Then add the price and where you purchase these plus perhaps some information about the insurance group and any web page or address or phone numbers for contacting the manufacturer and you'll have an even more helpful review. Give it a try and let me know. Welcome (belatedly) to Ciao!
Electric Windows, Front fog lights, Full Service History, Heated Seats, Metallic paint, Multi CD Player, Leather Interior, Tinted Glass, Traction Cont..and more
Mar 6th, 2004
very helpful by (8%):
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