Joey's C30 R-Design: Sold!

[CodeRedR51]

I'll be getting some of those wheels shortly for my car, since they are one of very few wheels I can get in a 16" size that will fit over Brembo calipers.

 

[Ibonibo]

Nice wheels. Or the brake caliber problems.... I can tell stories

 

[Joey D]

Thanks again for all the comments and compliments 👍

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Funniest Car in the World

So I got my personalized plate in the mail today, I figured why not get something completely ridiculous.

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And in a two-for-one post, I also got my new tires. They're Michelin Super Sports in 235/40/18 and I'm pretty happy with how sticky they are. They're also a few pounds lighter than the tires that were on there so that helps slightly with acceleration and with not have a super weighty steering wheels. I can't wait to try them out on the mountain roads down south.

 

[Clark]

@Joey D I've just noticed this is an auto, was your Focus auto as well?

 

[motortrend]

Nice plate. The PSS really are the best all rounders as far as summer tires go (it's always summer here). They're not to hard, sound is minimal and they have nearly as much dry grip as the extreme perfromance ones without compromising wet grip. From personal experience though they don't last that long and aren't very resistant to developing bumps from potholes.

 

[Joey D]

@Joey D I've just noticed this is an auto, was your Focus auto as well?

Yup, the Focus was a double clutch though while this is only a traditional auto. It worked for me though, I prefer an auto as a daily driver.

Nice plate. The PSS really are the best all rounders as far as summer tires go (it's always summer here). They're not to hard, sound is minimal and they have nearly as much dry grip as the extreme perfromance ones without compromising wet grip. From personal experience though they don't last that long and aren't very resistant to developing bumps from potholes.

I'm sort of afraid of that since Michigan is nothing but potholes. I'm hoping I wear these out before a pot hole claims them though.

 

[Blackbird.]

Wait.. The focus is gone?

Ive always liked the way these Volvos looked. Never knew much about them, looks awesome though. 👍

 

[Joey D]

Wait.. The focus is gone?

Nope, the Focus is still around. It's now my wife's car now since her Focus was getting to the point where I no longer wanted to fix or pay to fix it.

 

[Joey D]

Carbon fiber means it's faster, right? I got a set of carbon fiber b-pillar from a guy on one of the C30 forums. They are an official Volvo accessory meaning that new they are probably a million dollars, but I got them for $50. I thought they looking cool and they were able to cover the beat up and sun bleached b-pillar trim.

Before:

After:

I order a handful of other stuff today too, mainly some new lights, a new set of TPMS, and some other odds and ends. Hopefully I get everything mid-week so I can get it on the car. Still haven't decided on an exhaust system yet since they are either freakishly loud or laughably expensive. I am also just trying to find some time to drop my car off the at the dealer to get the Polestar tune done to the car as well. Hopefully I can get it all down before my road trip.

 

[CodeRedR51]

The OCD inducing opposite weave between the two pillars would drive me insane.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

The OCD inducing opposite weave between the two pillars would drive me insane.

This.

 

[Ibonibo]

^Yup.
But maybe it's on purpose (insert Keanu Reeves meme)

Looks good on the door, on the rear window it's hard to tell how nice it finishes off on top.

 

[Joey D]

So the car was too quiet and I needed to change that. Throughout the month of May Eurosport Tuning has all of their exhausts on sale so I picked up their Sport's Exhaust which is just their Touring Exhaust without the extra resonator. It's not super loud which is nice, but gives the car a much better sound. It's 2.5" piping with 4" polish tips which makes it look slightly beefier than the stock exhaust too, which is always a plus. Oh and it's also made in Euro so I know it's not super cheap Chinese stuff, which is something I didn't want.

Here's a video, it's not the best but I'll get another one in a couple of weeks after the tone has deepened a bit.



Also, I should be getting the Polestar tune installed in a couple of weeks

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice 👍 Bet it's even better on the road.

Oh, and you have ants

 

[Joey D]

Nice 👍 Bet it's even better on the road.

Oh, and you have ants

 

[Cano]

Hadn't been around this thread for a while. Enough of a while that I hadn't seen the new wheels. They look awesome 👍

 

[Joey D]

Polestar Tune

I'm not exactly sure how to take a picture of this, but the fine folks at Volvo of Louisville installed the C30 DLC Polestar expansion pack for me this morning. Per the dyno sheets of other Polestar tuned C30's, the car should now be putting out 256hp and 305lb.ft. of torque, not bad for a computer program that keeps the factory warranty.

I'm taking a run down to Bowling Green later this morning so I'll be sure and let the car stretch it legs a bit and let you know how it feels. So far it's awesome and there's a huge difference between the before and after. It woke the exhaust up too so now it sounds properly awesome.

Not sure where to go with the car next though, it's set on power for now so I think I'm going to work on getting the cosmetic stuff taken care of along with doing some more preventative maintenance.

 

[homeforsummer]

Now you need one of these for the grille:

 

[Joey D]

I believe you're right I do need one on the grill, the dealer did put one of the badges on the back of the car though. I'll probably grab a picture when I stop for the night in Bowling Green.

 

[homeforsummer]

I'm quite jealous. After driving the V60 I feel like I need a lot more bright blue, fast Volvo in my life.

 

[Clark]

How does it cope out of slower corners with all that power going to the front wheels?

I've only really driven one powerful FWD, a Corsa VXR Nurb but was smaller with 200bhp and an LSD so I don't know what they're like.

 

[Joey D]

How does it cope out of slower corners with all that power going to the front wheels?

I've only really driven one powerful FWD, a Corsa VXR Nurb but was smaller with 200bhp and an LSD so I don't know what they're like.

So far no issues I can't handle, however I'll give you a better impression of it once I get up in the mountains with the switch backs and do some more spirited driving. I'm sure the added torque will really make it interesting and I'll have to change my driving style for sure. Luckily the traction control system is pretty good on the C30 so it'll keep the car in check. I think it probably helps that I have stickier and wider tires than came on the car standard so it keeps it a bit more planted.

 

[homeforsummer]

Modern cars are pretty good in that respect anyway. I've not yet driven a modern hot hatch that hasn't dealt pretty well with 200+ hp through the front wheels - and the ones that do have limited-slip diffs properly launch you out of corners. The Megane RS is pretty handy in that regard.

 

[Cano]

:0 305 pound/feet of torque! W&N is proud of you

Seriously, that sound pretty awesome. Vids!

 

[Joey D]

So I took the long way through the mountains, errr hills rather, from Louisville down to Bowling Green and the car was a blast. Never felt like the car was pushing through the turns with the extra power and torque, so that's good. Fuel economy is relatively the same too on the highway. Once I got out of the hills and onto the freeway, I was average 30mpg at 75mph.

I have discovered though that my next mod needs to be new struts though, the car is way squishier than I want it to be when getting spirited.

 

[homeforsummer]

Symptom of Volvo's slightly more comfort-oriented setup over the Focus ST it shared a platform with. I expect getting suspension bits is fairly simple?

Recent sporty Volvos haven't been squishy in the slightest. I'd say R-Design models are actually a bit too firm (at least for UK roads) but they do handle nicer than Volvos of old.

 

[Joey D]

There's some suspension stuff out there for the car since it did share its platform with so many cars. I'm looking at the Koni FSD struts since they seem to give a good balance between comfort and performance. The yellows are way to extreme for what I plan on doing with the car so they don't seem worth the money and the shattered spine.

I would like to get a slightly beefier anti-roll bar in the back too, but that will come in time. Right now the car isn't bad for cruising the back country roads around my house. It's nothing but straight roads and 90 degree intersection.

 

[Joey D]

Dragon Slayer

During the week of the 9th I took a road trip down south hitting up several attractions along the way and finally finishing up with a couple days around the Dragon. It was raining on Thursday the 12th, but the weather cleared up for the 14th so it worked out. The car is dirty mainly because the cabin I was staying at was up a narrow mountain road that turned into a muddy mess with the rain (it also added some extra challenge to climb the road with summer tires).

Yes, my buddy is holding a rooster statue:

And me looking like a boss:

Here's all the cars I was with while I was down south with too, I think my one buddy's Fiat 500 Abarth is hidden by my car though.

And if for some reason you're interested in looking at the bumper mounted GoPro footage, here's the video in YouTube's compressed glory. The car sounds awesome though since you can hear the turbo going (which makes it sounds like a tour bus )

 

[homeforsummer]

Oh hell yes. Looks like a lot of fun 👍 Car looks fantastic too.

 

[Clark]

I've now decided I need a GoPro for when I got to Italy now. Thanks @Joey for costing me £250