Volvo C30

I’ve never been to a hotel where you can choose how your room should smell. Or a place where the concierge asks you to select your soap before you check in. But then again, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After all, it was Volvo that booked us in. And these guys like to do things rather differently.

Take a look at the C30. In a day and age where cars are starting to look more and more alike, here comes a hatch that looks like the love child of an S40 and the hunchback of Notre Dame. I certainly don’t mean that in a bad way; to the contrary, I can’t remember test driving a car that got more stares and thumbs up from passing motorists.

The beautiful thing about the C30 is that it gets the right kind of stares. It’s a happy car, much like the Mini, the Miata or a classic Volkswagen Beetle. It makes people smile. I remember first seeing it in the metal at the Philippine International motor show earlier this year and thinking, “Whoa! Someone certainly took their happy pills when they were putting this together!”

The C30 is the kind of car everyone remembers. It really makes an impression. It’s also the kind of car that might even have your wife doing the haggling for you at the dealership. That’s because Volvo have come up with something timeless; a car that manages to provoke you by keeping up with its past while somehow still reinforcing its identity by being emotional rather than sentimental.

But enough about the design. Five minutes in any of Volvo’s three showrooms will speak more than I can justifiably fit in these column inches. Personally, I think it makes a hell of a statement. It’s one of the few cars in Volvo’s line up that shuns Volvo’s family oriented history, so it was able to take the risk. I just wanted to know if it goes as well as it shows – or cool words to that effect.

So I pick up the car at the tastefully decorated Pasong Tamo extension showroom and get the rundown from the even more tastefully dressed marketing staff. These guys really don’t miss a beat. Everyone from the guy that opens the showroom doors to the one that offers you tea have been Scandinavianized. You almost expected the guard to start speaking Swedish.

Volvo believes that it is all about the experience. Everything must reflect their brand values. So whether they’re hosting a movie screening or sending you off to Sweden to preview one of their new models, it is always consistent, and always very personal. So it came as no surprise that the entire team were there to send me off, including the President himself, Albert Arcilla.

We came, we saw, we had cake. Volvo had planned, in meticulous detail, the program for the next two days. The idea was to take the C30 to the Boutique Hotel in Tagaytay and enjoy a slice of the lifestyle that C30 owners would indulge in. There were no PR people or other media colleagues coming with us. The Philippine STAR was given the first crack at the C30 and we were allowed to enjoy it in total privacy. I was even told to bring my wife along. This was not your average media test drive, but, like I said, Volvo is not your average car company.

Through the twisty mountain roads heading up to Tagaytay, the C30 felt incredibly alive; it’s shorter, lighter and more agile than any Volvo I’ve ever driven. It actually drives as well as it looks, which is saying something in this day of Computer Aided Designs and aggressive advertising campaigns.

The leather wrapped steering wheel feels terrific, giving just the right amount of feedback and pinpoint accuracy through the tightening curves after Santa Rosa heading up to the more challenging bits before Tagaytay. The power delivery is not as urgent as the T5 in the S40, but it revs up beautifully and lets you know who’s the boss and rarely gets caught in the wrong gear.

I’ve always felt that all cars fell into a Zodiac sign that predetermined ownership. Volvo seems to have been born under the sign of safety, conservatism and dullness, making its drivers powerless to escape their pre-ordained judgment. Until recently. The new crop of Volvos have changed the way we look at the brand. The new C30, on the other hand, shatters whatever perceptions you may have had left about Volvo while still embracing everything you’ve ever loved about the brand. For an automotive enthusiast, it is as revolutionary as people power.

My wife and I arrive at the Boutique Hotel in Tagaytay far too quickly. I haven’t even come close to getting my fill of the C30 yet. Everything from the smooth shifting of its 5 speed automatic transmission to the smoothest and most plush ride in its class has left me wanting. I felt at least five years younger when I hopped out, and that had nothing to do with the fact that I was finally having an evening alone with my wife after several years, away from our three demanding children.

It’s the kind of car that you throw a glance back after you park it, which in our case was a reserved spot right at the front of the hotel. It feels just as good at low speed as it does when you start getting frisky with your right foot. I almost wish we had been booked up in Baguio, just so we could have a little more time to get to know each other. It felt like having a one night stand when you really wanted a long term relationship. I’m still talking about the car, by the way…

As we checked into the charming Boutique hotel, the receptionist asks me to pick out some homemade soap, body scrubber, shampoo and conditioner. She also asks me what time I would like my (Swedish) massage and what oils I would prefer. The rooms are all themed to capture the magic and romance of Tagaytay and are just as meticulous in detail as Volvo are with their cars and service. As my wife and I enter our room, which was aptly called “I Dare” we marvel at the simplicity yet elegance of the place. It is really quite different; we’ve never stayed in anything like this before. Which is really quite fitting, considering we have never driven anything like the C30 before.