European Hatchbacks

Say you live in New York, Los Angeles, or any other American city big enough to support an NBA franchise. You're young, or at least young at heart: hip to pinkberry, A Bathing Ape, and You'Tubin' on your iPhone.

You need wheels, but not just any will do. Can't be a Civic or Corolla-that's what you drove in college. Now that you've been working for awhile, you have the scratch to afford something more. Blinged-out SUV's are pass; You want something more fun to drive and easier to park, and with just enough room for your honey and maybe a couple friends. And whatever it is, it's gotta have the style to match your urbane, urban lifestyle.

Well, what do you know, that description just happens to match the trio of hot European hatchbacks we've assembled here: the 2007 Mini Cooper S, 2007 Volkswagen GTI, and brand-new 2008 Volvo C30. And like any good trend-setting magazine would do, we've taken these city-stomping Euro hotties out of their element for a drive and shoot in the Southern California desert.

Function Follows Form

At first glance, the all-new C30 certainly seems to have all the goods: captivating style, a 227-horsepower, turbocharched, intercooled five-cylinder engine, and a close-ratio six-speed transmission. As it turns out, Volvo's newest, smallest car is more for designers than drivers, but that ain't all bad.

The curvy, ultramodern profile is the C30's strongest suit, as senior editor Ron Kiino says, "While the front is basically a mirror image of the S40, the profile and the rear are unique and attractive. There's really nothing else on the road that makes a wedge shape look so cool." Given their last few vehicles (including the XC20 we reviewed last issue), it seems Volvo designers are hellbent on changing the public's perception of boxy Swedish cars. The C30's slick design is no red herring pickled or otherwise; Not only does it look great, it's clearly well conceived.

Though essentially an S40 sedan minus two doors and eight inches off the rear, the C30's dramatic teardrop greenhouse and broad Volvo hips meant designers had to ditch the S40's three-passenger rear seat for twin buckets. Moving those two seats inboard, with just enough space in between for an optional armrest, gives rear passengers excellent shoulder-and hip room on both sides. No surprise that there's impressive legroom, either; the C30 had the longest wheelbase and overall length of the bunch.

These lengths are well hidden by the clipped tail-reminiscent of the early 1970s-era Volvo P1800ES-and the tasty multipiece body kit. Version 2.0 C30s like ours get rockers, bumpers, and fender flares that can be finished in body-color or custom two-tone paint. The base-model Version 1.0 receives black plastic.