What is it?
Since Volvo bought tuning firm Polestar last year, it has decided to set its new team to work changing the fundamentals of the Volvo V60 Polestar wagon.
So what’s new? Well, the biggest change is the engine. Polestar has ousted the heavy six-cylinder engine and instead, dropped in the lighter 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine from the XC90 T8 hybrid – minus the electric motor, that is. That has taken 24kg off the front axle, helping to balance the Polestar’s weight more evenly, and has reduced the overall weight by 20kg. Tick.
If an engine from a hybrid SUV sounds dull, it needn’t. It’s double-whooshed with both turbocharging and supercharging, and pumping in all that air and fuel means it now produces a worthy 362bhp. That’s 17bhp more than before, although there’s a bit less torque. Still, another tick.
But simply adding boost is for amateurs, so there are new internals to consolidate the performance gains and stop the engine from detonating prematurely the minute you hit the 7000rpm limiter. The standard conrods and camshafts have been binned for trickier items, plus a less suffocating air intake, filter, and a 3.0in stainless exhaust help it to breathe. Yet more ticks.
It doesn’t stop there, either. The same Borg Warner four-wheel drive system now defaults to 50/50 torque distribution in its sportier settings, which give the new eight-speed automatic gearbox edgier settings for quicker shifts.
The steering is now electrically assisted with unique calibration, and while the stiffer springs and manually adjustable Öhlins shocks are a carryover from the old car, at the front the settings are tweaked to reflect the slim-line engine. If you include the carbonfibre strut brace, bigger six-pot brakes and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres, that’s now many, many more ticks.
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What else in Volvos range is
winniethewoo wrote: What else
You don't really get how the motor development industry works do you...
Marc wrote: winniethewoo
Couldn't have put it better myself.
winniethewoo wrote: Marc
I am parodying here what people write about VAG group cars, esp in regard to Citytiger who claims all VAG group cars are the same because of the same underlying architecture, who yet manages to praise Volvos for their distinctiveness and specialness.
winniethewoo wrote:
Ahh okay..
winniethewoo wrote:
Actually if happen to actually carry out any investigation, the majority of the engineering of the so called Ford EUCD platform was carried out by Volvo, the last Mondeo was supposed to be on a modified Ford chassis, as were various JLR products, but the decision was changed because Volvos T5 and T6 engines would not fit. the T6 straight 6 petrol engine was originally designed to replace the T5 and be used by JLR and Volvo, but with the break up of the PAG group, it only saw service in Volvo products and the Freelander 2 in certain markets, the platform used by Volvo in the S/V60 is also changed from the original design to improve its crash test results. VAG just slap them together with different bodyshells, the XC60 which uses the EUCD modified platform is also the best selling midsized SUV in Europe, even though its due for imminent replacement. The majority of components in the current Volvo range are pure Volvo and not shared with other manufacturers, can Audi say the same? Volvo parts are designed for use by Volvo, Skoda parts are used by VW, Audi, SEAT and Porshce.
Citytiger wrote: winniethewoo
This is wrong. Volvo had 4 chassis engineers when they were owned by Ford, because the lions share of the design and engineering was conducted by Ford. This is on record and stated by Volvo (easily found via a google search) engineers who state they were resource constrained and limited in the degree of modification they could do to the Ford platforms. Volvo did have input regarding the fitment of T5 and T6 but in no way does this constitute "major development". You are also underestimating the sophistication and modular nature of the VAG MQB platform and the degree of differentiation possible between different products on the same platform. I will stop here save to say all the information is freely available on the net. You clearly have biases, as do we all. No one can convince me for instance the new Vauxhall Astra is any good. Lol.
Citytiger wrote: VAG just
Citation needed.
Sporky McGuffin wrote:
Sure you didn't mean certification?
Sporky McGuffin wrote:
OMG the Ford EUCD platform
A supposed "premium" car on a