Powerful enough, with a somewhat grainy character that imparts a lack of refinement, the 2006 Volvo C70 is not quick by any means. Power delivery from the turbocharged 2.4-liter inline five is linear thanks to an early torque peak and a flat torque curve that work to eliminate lag off the line, and it's too easy to light the tires up when accelerating into traffic due to weight transfer and front-wheel-drive. The Geartronic six-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly when left in Drive, but is a bit slow to respond in manual mode and can clunk hard into first gear when approaching a stop. Volvo offers a six-speed manual as standard equipment, but we recommend the automatic since the C70 isn't a sporting machine. Fuel economy during our 1,000-mile week was just OK: We averaged 21.4 mpg during testing, just more than the city cycle from the EPA's estimate of 21/29 despite lots of highway cruising.