2011 Volvo C70: Quick Drive Page 2

By John Voelcker

John Voelcker

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2011 Volvo C70

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On a couple of corrugated road surfaces, in fact, the C70 exhibited scuttle shake of the sort more usually found on British sports cars of the Fifties--so bad it made us worry we'd bent a wheel.

In general, this points out the unfortunate side effect of good-looking, larger wheels plus low-profile tires with stiffer sidewalls. The suspension ends up having to soften a harsher level of handling, a compromise that's rarely good unless you're headed for the racetrack.

The result is lots of impact harshness and jiggling. Which is what we experienced in the C70--not all the time, but on more than a few different surfaces.

Minimal storage

The ride and lack of rigidity were our only major quibbles with the C70. A few minor ones come with virtually any Volvo we've driven, including minimal and odd-shaped interior storage.

2011 Volvo C70

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The C70's doors each have one tiny open pocket--basically large enough to act as a cupholder--plus a lidded cubby between the seats.

Unfortunately, the cubby has a fixed, hard plastic divider in the middle, meaning you can't store old-style road maps, anything longer than a few inches, or a camera with a protruding lens. We're not quite sure what you'd store in there, in fact ... a few cassette tapes, maybe?

Trunk storage: Plan ahead!

Rear seat accommodation is minimal, though it should be OK for children--or perhaps for adults on short jaunts to swanky summer parties with the top down. With the top up, the rear seat is deep, dark, and cramped.

Because the folding top takes up the majority of the trunk space, sitting on top of a little hutch that protects your goods inside, drivers will need to plan ahead.

2011 Volvo C70 Convertible

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If the top is down, any luggage in the trunk is inaccessible.

That means that if you stow your house keys in a backpack, toss it in the trunk, and then put the top down, you'll have to raise the top again just to get access to the backpack to get your keys.

Still, in some ways, these are all minor grumbles.

There aren't that many four-seat convertibles on the market to start with, and despite its dynamic shortcomings, we enjoyed our time with the C70. It's the kind of car that makes you feel good driving it, under the right circumstances.

The perfect weekend car

It's a "luxury car" in the broader sense of the word: a special-purpose vehicle you would only be likely to buy as a second, third, or fourth car. If you ever need to carry more than one other person, or haul anything larger than several bags of groceries or a suitcase, this is not the car for you.

We envision the C70 as the perfect car to keep at a weekend house. Preferably one in an area with smooth paved roads, so as not to over-excite the suspension.

It's perfect for a couple or a young family to knock around in, head for the beach, visit friends, or otherwise live the second-home life of near-luxury.

Then, at the end of the weekend or the vacation, the C70 gets stowed until the next time.

And everyone climbs back into their crossover or SUV with loads of luggage to head back to wherever they came from. For that purpose, Volvo has other offerings.