Industry News
Heico Sportiv Launches Redesigned C30 Tuning Program With 1.D DRIVe Model
By By Stu Fowle
Nov 20, 2009, 07:35

It's a general rule, or an assumption at least, that when a tuning company launches a new set of performance parts for a car, they start with the ripest fruit. That means focus the first effort on things like, in the Volvo C30's case, the turbocharged five-cylinder gas engine. Heico has found itself in a unique position, however. Tuning was completed for the C30 T5 back when the car first debuted--actually, it was done earlier than that for the S40 and the V50. How would the Volvo tuning giant make a splash with the new, refreshed design for the C30 coming this year?

In Europe, the buzz around the C30 has involved the DRIVe model, a mega-efficient small diesel displacing just 1.6 liters. Heico took the challenge and a new mission: to design a tuned sport hatch that's both fun to drive and still very efficient. Don't get us wrong, the Heico C30 1.6D is no scorcher. Compared to the standard car's 109 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque, the Heico version seems respective bumps of 16 and 30, to 125 hp and 207 lb-ft. Both impressive and not, the tuned engine is good for a 0-62 mph run of 9.2 seconds, outpacing the stock car by 2.1 seconds. Top speed is increased by six miles per hour, to 124.



Visually, Heico's changes are pretty modest, so long as the customer begins with an R-design model. The side skirts are unchanged, while the front gets a new spoiler that stretches across the bottom and comes up to meet the stock body kit around the front wheels. A small vent is added just in front of the wheel. Either of Heico's standard wheel designs will be available. At the rear, the front end design is mimicked with small vents aft of the wheel openings, while a new diffuser at the rear boasts more vertical elements than the stock bumper. It also makes room for a quad-exit Heico exhaust, which really does seem like overkill on a 1.6-liter diesel. And of course, those visual changes, plus Heico's lowering springs, can be paired with a tuning program for the T5, the only engine offered here in the U.S.



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