Boston.com's view

Though rougher around the edges and more redolent of gasoline and hot brakes than a glass of Chateau Haut Brion Pessac- Leognan or a French bechamel sauce, an auto reviewer’s job is sometimes like that of a wine critic or restaurant reviewer.

Sometimes we have to settle for small sips and bites. Only later do we get the whole bottle with the full plate.

I sampled today’s test car, the 2006 Volvo C70, on the island of Maui in Hawaii. But recently, I had it for a week, using the vehicle as any potential buyer might.

The C70 is a two-door, hardtop convertible that seats four. Roof up, you feel as if you’re in a solid Volvo coupe. Roof down, you are wide open to the wind — though it passes in amazing silence and with little turbulence, even for rear-seat passengers.

It is a vast improvement over the last Volvo convertible, which was plagued with shakes and shudders that rattled windshield and dashboard. I drove this one for several miles on a stretch of Interstate 93 that had been gouged for repaving and if ever the shakes were going to reappear, this would have been the place. Nothing. Smooth, sure, quiet.

On sale since April, the C70 is designed to compete (and it will) with such droptops as the Saab 9-3, BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, Chrysler Sebring, and a new Pontiac G6.

It is quite ably powered by an inline, five-cylinder engine that provides 218 horsepower and a superb, tugging 236 lb.-ft. of torque. In the past, when that kind of power and tug was mated to a front-wheel-drive car, sudden acceleration would make the car pull to the side. That’s called torque steer. In the Volvo, torque steer has gone the way of the cowl shakes.

Front-wheel-drive cars can also be prone to understeer (plowing straight in corners). Again, there was no hint of this in the C70.

In my Hawaii tests, I spent almost all my time on back roads and the twisting, narrow Hana Highway. There was no real equivalent to the commuter highways that many local buyers will drive their C70s on getting in and out of Boston.

But once on those local highways, the C70 proved smooth, quiet, and wonderfully powerful, reaching so deep for torque that I could leave the six-speed manual in top gear when pulling out for smooth passing. A five-speed automatic with Tiptronic is also available.

And in those passes — as on the corners of Hawaii or New Hampshire back roads — the rigidity of this car without a roof was virtually the same, top up or down.

And speaking of that top, it is an engineering wonder. Several times I stopped just to demonstrate for friends its disappearing act — a multi panel, one-touch rise, fold, and drop that takes about 30 seconds.

Inside, scalloped-out door panels add to expansive side-to-side space and a vast sense of roominess. Deep front foot wells add to that sense, and even the rear seat — built for two — provides adequate leg room.

The audio/climate control stack sweeps down, wafer thin, from dash to center console and looks much like a foot-long television remote since the space behind it is empty.

The trunk is quite spacious with the top up, though it loses a good bit of that space with the top down.

And Volvo, known for safety, offers lots of standard safety equipment on the C70 — stability and traction control, ABS, six air bags including side curtains that pop up from the window sills, and hidden rear rollover bars designed to blast upward.

Other standard fare includes powered front seats, front armrests, electronic climate control, trip computer, power windows with remote function, heated rear window, heated, power outside mirrors and an eight-speaker, six-disc radio/CD system.

Because it’s a Volvo, because it’s safe, because it’s good in snow, and because the hardtop up really does turn it into a quiet coupe, this may be the perfect sunshine car to endure New England winters.

THE BASICS
Base price/as tested: $38,710/$40,400
Fuel economy: 22.3 miles per gallon in Globe testing
Annual fuel cost: $1,743 (at $2.99 per gallon, regular, 13,000 miles per year)

THE EARLY LINE
Volvo builds a stiff, safe convertible. No shakes, no shudders. A solid winter car.

THE SPECIFICS
Drivetrain: Front-wheel drive
Seating: Four occupants
Horsepower: 218
Torque: 236 lb.-ft.
Overall length: 180.4 inches
Wheelbase: 103.9 inches
Height: 55.1 inches
Width: 71.4 inches
Curb weight: 3,772 pounds

THE SKINNY
Nice touch: Lockable inside bins, fore and aft, so you can secure valuables when parking the car with the top down.
Annoyance: “Scrolling” effect at bottom inch of windshield. The road and side road roll up in ceaseless waves. Distracting.

Watch for: A Volvo C70 in the dead of winter that you think is a hardtop, but is a convertible.