The Volvo S60 Polestar is bravely being pitched as a rival to German sports sedans.
Priced at $109,950, the turbocharged six-cylinder all-wheel-drive S60 Polestar is expensive for a Volvo, costing $40K more than the S60 T6 R-Design on wh...
The Volvo S60 Polestar is bravely being pitched as a rival to German sports sedans.
Priced at $109,950, the turbocharged six-cylinder all-wheel-drive S60 Polestar is expensive for a Volvo, costing $40K more than the S60 T6 R-Design on which it’s based.
But it also undercuts the Audi S4 by $10K, and the BMW M3 and Lexus IS F by $15K. Its claimed 4.9-second 0-100km/h makes the Volvo S60 Polestar a tenth quicker than the S4, neck-and-neck with the IS F and a tenth slower than the M3.
A 50-unit limited edition, Volvo’s hottest model has been developed by Polestar, its official tuning company that has now for the first time made a proper production car.
Australia gets the entire allotment, with our country being tagged as performance-focused – we buy more AMG and Renault Sport models in proportion to other Benzes and Renaults respectively than any other country – and therefore a test-bed for future Volvo Polestar models. If we like the car, Polestar will build more of them for other countries,
The release of the S60 Polestar also nicely complements the announcement that Volvo Polestar Racing will start on the 2014 V8 Supercars grid.
Chassis modifications compared with the S60 T6 R-Design include 20-step manually adjustable Ohlins dampers with 80 per cent stiffer springs; new stabiliser bars; a carbonfibre reinforced front strut brace; new top mounts front and rear; and new tie blade bushings.
Ventilated brake discs move to 336mm in size, and Bridgestone Potenza RE050 tyres wrap around 19-inch alloy wheels.
Engine alterations extend to a new Borg Warner twin-scroll turbo, new intercooler, larger stainless steel exhaust and new engine management software with launch control.
That takes the 3.0-litre single turbocharged petrol six-cylinder from 224kW of power to 257kW at 5700rpm, and from 440Nm of torque to “500Nm-plus” from 2800-4750rpm.
In addition to equalling rivals for straight-line performance, the engine modifications get the 1684kg S60 Polestar to 100km/h 1.3 seconds faster than S60 T6 – though the 10.2L/100km economy is unchanged.
A chart produced by Volvo at the local launch also proudly claims that the S60 Polestar makes more kilowatts and Newton metres per litre of engine capacity than the Audi S4, BMW M3, Lexus IS F and even the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.
Big-name claimed competitors means raising expectations.
There is initially a hint of ‘aftermarket’ about the suspension of the S60 Polestar, which requires owners to get under the car and manually ‘click’ each damper from a setting from one through to 20, to increase or decrease its stiffness.
Set in the mid-range tenth-click for our drive through the twisting roads of Mount Glorious, west of Brisbane, the S60 Polestar felt anything but aftermarket. Its ride is actually more settled than that of the regular S60 T6 R-design, ignoring minor road irregularities but remaining tightly controlled over undulations.
In fact, its 80 per cent stiffer springs seem to deliver a similar percentage increase in body control compared with the S60 T6 R-design. No longer does the long nose of the S60 slap against its suspension bump-stop over big hits and take a while to regain composure.
The S60 Polestar still feels nose heavy and mildly understeery, however. Tight bends require long braking application on turn-in to wash off speed and keep the nose in line. The need to work the brakes hard meant the pedal went soft surprisingly early in our drive, and having the air conditioning on the outside-air setting meant the smell of brakes of the S60 Polestar in front, which indicated it had much the same problem.
Blunt initial turn-in isn’t helped by steering that is unchanged compared with the regular model. Its consistent mid-weighting – neither too light nor heavy – is backed by a nice directness when winding on lock. But the steering is slow to initially bite, and too slow overall for a sports model, which means plenty of arm twirling during tight manoeuvres.
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