Review of the new Volvo C70 Ice White

White, it's the colour of snow, clouds and freshly washed bed sheets billowing on the line. Increasingly, it's also the colour to have for your car. Just a year or two ago, white had fallen firmly out of favour. You'd see it on vans, Police cars and that was it really. You certainly wouldn't have seen it chosen by manufacturers to highlight their latest products on motorshow stands and in publicity photos but that's what is happening today. White is the car colour of the moment and Volvo is seeking to capitalise with an Ice White special edition version of its C70.

The C70 is Volvo's convertible, a four-seater with a folding hard-top roof that vanishes into the boot at a flick of a switch. It's a car for cruising along on sunny days, feeling the wind in your hair if not for throwing round country lanes. This Ice White version is based around the affordable 2.0-litre diesel engine and packs in quite a bit of extra equipment without bumping up the price too dramatically.

This 2.0D engine is used across almost every other model that Volvo makes but it's especially well suited to the C70, with plenty of lazy torque - 320Nm to be exact. You can expect a top speed of 127mph and 0 to 62mph in 11 seconds. The C70 is no slouch but it's not a particularly rewarding car to drive fast. The pleasure with the C70 is to be gleaned from folding that roof down and going for a leisurely cruise in the sunshine. The throttle response is quite lethargic and the steering isn't particularly sharp but wind-buffeting is minimal when the roof is stowed and engine noise is far from intrusive.

Many customers will order their cars with Volvo's clever Powershift gearbox. Available on the 2.0D engine only, it reaches 0-60mph in 10.5 seconds. This six-speed unit features twin wet clutches to provide the gear changing comfort of a fully-automatic transmission with the performance of a manual gearbox. As well as offering gear changing comfort and high performance, Powershift also contributes to delivering improved fuel efficiency.

"White might not be the colour for you and if it isn't, the Volvo C70 Ice White almost certainly won't be the car for you"

Volvo's designers have done a commendable job of styling the C70. With the hood in place, you probably wouldn't guess that the car is capable of flipping its lid at all. The rear deck isn't overly long (the usual giveaway) and the roofline is smooth and beautifully integrated with the rest of the bodywork. It takes just 30 seconds for the three-piece metal roof to fold into the boot once you've set it on motion.

Volvo has developed the C70 to offer new standards of preventive and protective safety in the convertible market, the car includes an advanced body structure, greater torsional rigidity and several innovations that make it stand out among open-top cars. The curtain airbag could not be fitted to the removable roof so engineers have mounted it onto the door, there's a roll-over protection system, a side-impact protection system and all models feature DSTC Dynamic Stability and Traction Control.

The Ice White specification is based around that of the S model from the standard range. That means it comes with climate control, 16" alloy wheels, front fog lights, power windows, cruise control and a trip computer. The Ice White is actually £500 cheaper than the S but on top of this specification, it adds Calcite leather upholstery and replaces those 16" alloy wheels with 18" items. Of course, it also comes in the very fetching and fashionable Ice White paintwork.

At the pumps, the 2.0-litre diesel engine records a 46.3mpg combined fuel consumption with CO2 emissions of 161g/km. The Powershift gearbox features a combined mpg of 44.8 and boasts a 167g/km CO2 figure so there's not much of a penalty for choosing the automatic once you've accounted for the £1,400 price premium. All C70 models come with Volvo's 3-year/60,000-mile warranty.

White might not be the colour for you and if it isn't, the Volvo C70 Ice White almost certainly won't be the car for you. If, however, you like the idea of jumping on the white car bandwagon that seems to be gathering pace at the moment, this special edition C70 convertible is a good value way of doing it.

The C70 is best bought as a comfortable cruiser because its driving dynamics aren't the sharpest and performance from the 2.0-litre diesel engine isn't explosive. It looks good with the hood down and OK with the hood up which is more than can be said for most four-seat cars with folding hard-top arrangements. The Ice White package gets you a white version with bigger wheels and a more luxurious interior at a reasonable price. That could be enough to persuade undecided C70 buyers.

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