2013 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design, a Swede speeder: Motoramic Drives

Volvo automobiles do not scream sports or sporty or sporting. I can say this given that my extended family has owned cars from this venerable Swedish nameplate for decades. Our Volvo chariot of choice has always been the company’s comically capable wagon, which in XC guise provides a reassuring combination of cavernous utility and foul-weather reliability, not to mention some of the most comfortable front seats this side of an Eames lounge chair. But gliding around in this sculpted rectangle on wheels does not make one pine for a race track.

All that to say that this Volvo fan’s brain was a bit scrambled when a Papa Smurf Blue (sorry, make that Rebel Blue) C30 T5 R-Design presented itself for review. One look is all it took to make clear that this was a Volvo of a different feather, one with unmistakable sports car aspirations.

At the curb, this C30 immediately distinguishes itself from its siblings via aggressive R-Design front and rear spoilers, black 18-inch rims and 3 ½-inch polished exhaust tips. Inside, the coupe is all business with its contrasting black and white leather seating surfaces, a stubby six-speed manual shifter and a thick, grippy steering wheel made for apexing. But the real clue to this Nordic chariot’s intentions is a small badge mounted just below the hazard-lights switch that reads, “Polestar, 249 of 250.”

Polestar is not is a new planet visible from the Arctic Circle but rather Volvo’s tuner of choice, akin to BMW’s M and Mercedes-Benz’s AMG divisions. This official Volvo partner has been tweaking the automaker’s European racing fleet since 1996, and it only made good Volvo marketing sense to begin offering a few upgraded vehicles to consumers. Later this year, Australia should be first to see the S60 Polestar sedan; although in concept guise it promised to make a BMW M5 nervous with its 508 hp engine, the showroom model will be good for “only” 350 hp and 368 ft-lb of torque. Not the usual grocery-and-kids-moving numbers Volvo typically posts.

For this limited-edition C30 coupe, Polestar gives a Swedish massage to the car’s standard 227 hp turbocharged five-cylinder with 236 ft-lb of torque, delivering 250 hp and 273 ft-lb of the tire-squealing good stuff. Meanwhile, R-Design features include those aforementioned exterior and interior touches as well as stiffer springs, unique bushings and anti-roll bars and a ride height that’s pleasantly lowered by 10 millimeters. Not much, but just right. All these ingredients look boy-racer tasty.

Hopping behind the ribbed steering wheel of the C30 R-Design Polestar Limited-Edition machine (that’s just too long; can’t we just give it a simple Kid Rock-approved name like the “C30 Badass?”), I was immediately thrilled to see a 6-speed stick. I make no bones about my preference for stick over paddles, and that includes the wickedly responsive units from BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari. Sorry, but unless you’re actually tracking the car you just don’t need shift times of, well, zero (the new Ferrari F12’s boast, thanks to its F1-derived dual-clutch technology). Far better to row the gears and have what amounts to a conversation with your machine’s metallic muscle and sinew.