Losing It.. What Car C30 versus Thread...

So anyone that read my Losing It.. thread knows that I lost the joy of driving. While reading replies and writing replies it became clear that part of the reason is due to driving only appliances. They are all good, but really don't offer much other enjoyment. Plus as one put it - none of them put a smile on my face when I go to get in one.

So I've done some thinking and came up with some options and decided to create a versus thread of two very different potential candidates. Please know though that the two candidates could really be a number of different makes but since both of these have a similar model name I thought what the heck. Very different and offer potential fun factors in their own way via certain mods. One that would require more modifications, but would also offer that potential sleeper aspect.

So Chevy C30 vs. Volvo C30: " />

Remember that this thread could easily be a versus between a FoST and F350 or whatever small Dodge vs. a 3500, but I like Chevy so that is the direction. However anyone contributing can share their thoughts on other makes. OH - no Farm Truck references. Not the direction I want to go and we are talking dual rear wheels here.

Onward - in reality I think for the Chevy I would do a cab and chassis model and then do what is necessary to put a bed on it. That of course would require some custom mounts for the bed but would also allow the dual rear wheels to stay mostly inside of the bed sides. Shrinks the bed floor a bit and I can live with that to get the truck closer to the ground. No it would never handle like the Volvo though should be some capable and with a big block it would make for some fun times. Parts are reasonably cheap and fairly easy to find. Overall practical maybe not though many options for miles of smiles.

The Volvo is easily modified into a very capable carver and is a hatchback. Parts will be a bit pricier and other than brakes and suspension I am not sure I can do much engine/trans wise. Maybe though, I would have to research more. My '98 V70 T5 was fun but got expensive due to weird things going bad and front brakes required replacement twice in 48k miles and I didn't drive it hard enough to cause that. Thought was the brake biasing was not right but Volvo would not attempt to fix nor would a couple of mechanics. I really like the styling on the C30 as it is a bit quirky. Manuals are difficult to find as has been mentioned previously.

So with just that information how would you proceed? Obviously it is up to me to decide what would put a smile on my face. I am just seeing if others have the same off the wall thought process and how they would proceed with consideration to fun, unique, and unexpected.

I look forward to your head shakes and contributions...

joe

If you are trying to find a vehicle that makes driving fun I would suggest skipping trucks altogether. Personally, zipping around in traffic and having an easy time parking give me greater pleasure than knowing I'm big and slow. Trucks have their place but the fun zone ain't it. Maybe start with a known (fun) quantity. Something small and zippy... Datsun roadster? Miata? Mgb?

I enjoy driving a hopped up truck more than just about anything else other than a truly fast pro touring muscle car or my old acr.

My vote is truck. Obviously. And you can make it handle reasonably well for short money depending on the generation.

Id look at a early 90s 2wd c30 extended cab short bed dually myself. About 4 inches of frame to ground clearance at midway pressure in the air bags. Big sway bars. Two tone. And remove the dual rear wheels in exchange for some giant ass single meats. With wheels with no backspacing.

Add big block/5speed/procharger.

Certainly to each his own and I don't besmirch a man his taste in transportation, it's just my dd is a quad cab truck and it is perfect and reliable and oh so boring. I have a lot more fun driving things with personality. Plus the whole slow car fast thing....

You can cross reference the mazdaspeed 3 parts catalog and build the C30 to the focus st we never got. Put a nice polestar tune on it and go to town. :)

There is not going to be anything exciting about a DD Chevy C30. That is a tool just like you BFH and should be used as such and not as daily transportation.

Volvo C30

-iPD front mount

-iPD flash tune (doesn't show up as in stock because you have to contact them and special order the software)

-H&R springs on Koni Streets

-iPD rear sway bar

-iPD turbo control valve

-Pilot Super Sports

In then end, you'll have one hell of a package that does 99% of the stuff a Focus ST does, only better.

Id build the truck and im pretty much anti chevy. Im just a big fan of cool old vehicles over a modern car. You might not get gas mileage worth talking about but a healthy big block is a good time!

I'm in the Volvo camp here, but my driving preference has always been fun little cars for corner carving. I'm not sure we can answer this one for you, the right answer is the one that gives you joy, not random folks on the Internet. That said, going back to your other thread the Volvo seems closer to the answer than the pickup given your uses for it.

Heck, You don't even need to do all that 3rd party. You can get a pretty sweet setup out of the junkyard.

The IPD sway bar is the same size and strength as the stock MS3 RSB. If you have the an earlier pre-facelift model it's a straight fit. The springs from the MS3 are a straight drop in too. The funny thing is I think they are the exact same as the comfort sport springs that Volvo charges $300 for. The rates and drop seem consistent. I would go koni FSD with the money you have saved there.

Drop in the 320 MM front brakes from the S40 AWD version and add in the stainless steel brake lines while you are in there.

Do the Cobb rear motor mount and the tune of your choice and go have fun for only about $2500 in mods.

I have a number of friends who own Volvo C30's. There are definitely ways to boost the T5 engine for power. One friend who came from the R53 MINI world (how I know him), mostly complains about the handling. In stock form, it has more power than a lightly modified R53, but it's no MINI when it comes to handling. Although it does ride better...

It's getting harder to find decent manual transmission cars. One friend in PA ended buying a car from Michigan.

The Chebby is a truck, which is fine if you need a truck to do truck stuff.

Haha. I came here assuming that the thread was about the Volvo C30 and was aiming to post something about requiring that any reference to THAT C30 be prefaced by the word Volvo. That being in deference to the REAL C30, which of course, is the Chevy.

Actually, I like both of these vehicles, but being a longtime C30 owner, I naturally prefer the truck. Cheap, plentiful parts and utter simplicity. How could it get any better?

I drive a lot of narrow two-lane, and in the minivan, I've always got oncoming traffic drifting over the double yellow into my lane, which is not fun. In the C30, with its dual rear wheels and big mirrors sticking out, people head for the ditches. It commands respect. Or fear. I don't care which, as long as they stay on their side of the dang road.

Everybody I know that has daily driven a dually has hated it.

Adrian Thomspon to the courtesy phone please....

Truck? No. Unless it was geared toward off-road stuff (Tacoma/Frontier with their respective off road packages). Mainly just for silly antics.

I'm over driving my BRZ as well for the most part. Since I took a new job and move next month, I'm looking to go a bit more upmarket in the next 12-18 months.

Audi S3/S4, BMW M2, Camaro SS 1LE, slightly used 'Vette, etc.

Essentially I want the fun factor of more power, but also better interior/stereo, etc.

I had a Chevy C30. 1986 SRW model, 6.2 diesel with the pump turned up, 4 speed, 4.10 gears. I had fun in it, but I was 16 and everything was fun. Top speed was somewhere in the mid 70s. It had enough power for way way more but it was geared so low that the engine ran into the governor. The suspension, brakes, and drivetrain were ridiculously over built. One ton springs will beat you up. I remember my dad suggesting we pour six inches of concrete in the bed to soften the ride up a little. I doubt it's possible to overload it or overwork it. I would take it back to do truck stuff in a heartbeat.

I know trucks can be fun, but for me they need to be powerful, handle better than stock, and have the ability to break traction at the rear. Diesel duallys don't really fall into that sub-category in my mind.

An old truck is usually going to have a lot more personality than a modern hatchback. I suspect the hatchback is 9/10 going to be much better to actually drive.

I hate my rav4 daily driver.. But it always starts and it uses an OK amount of gas.. but I hate it.... I really do... My wifes minivan is faster and better dynamically.

yay me.

pitty part over. Now.. get the Volvo and stop lollygagging about.

Many of you have picked up on the challenge. Off the wall vs. reasonability. Both options have pluses and those can each be enhanced.

The truck (or really any larger vehicle) holds interest because it is big and would be fun to massage into something that does not drive like a behemouth. The Volvo (and many other similar sized) is pretty much there and can be nimble, a cruiser, and fun car to throw around.

This is the sort of thinking I do in regards to what I want to drive and have fun with. Only I can make that final decision but bouncing ideas in here is much like garage banter. Throw something out to see where it goes. I bet some of your builds started that way. "What if I...".

Sometimes the "boy" in me wants to come out to play and the adult looks to reel him back. I mean really, just what would it take to create a non-brodozer 1 ton sort of cruiser, corner capable, more fun brute? Maybe nothing.

Does that help with the idea behind the compare?

In reply to jjreyn:

I like these threads!

I'm leaning toward an AWD car that can be tossed around, or easily made to be, for cold-nasty weather and a cheapish motorcycle for late spring-summer-early fall.

I'll probably make this happen as time goes on.

But this from a guy who wants a big Dually for no good reason. Always have.

Edit: a beater 4x4 pickup might be a better idea than the awd car in my case

I loved my C30. It's a small car but doesn't feel like a toy like all the other compacts I've driven. The doors seal like a heavy vault, it's extremely comfortable and has an amazing interior. I just had no need for something that new and nice. Great car though.

STM317 wrote: Everybody I know that has daily driven a dually has hated it.

Naturally, we are forced to assume that you hang with a bunch of metrosexual granola-munchers!

In reply to 1988RedT2:

I've driven a K5 Blazer with 9" of lift and 39.5" Super Swampers.

Also three Samurais with SPOA and Swampers with 1/2 the sheet metal removed.

A Dually is a Cadillac in comparison

In reply to ebonyandivory:

Exactly! If you Google "cowboy Cadillac" you get this:

As soon as I saw the truck, all I could think was that line in Cannonball Run - "if you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly!" They then proceeded to drive up the bank and crash through the fence to enter the interstate.