Volvo’s Polestar sedan is finally here

The Swedes have always been known to be cool. You don’t quite think of them to be aggressive people. Look at Bjorn Borg for example, one of the greatest tennis players ever. I used to idolise him during his prime, for his game and for his ability to remain calm. He was so unruffled while under pressure, that he rightly earned the nickname ‘Ice Borg’.

Take also the example of the current trend, apparently, in Sweden where office-goers instead of jostling with each others cars for limited parking slots in their building, are stopping well ahead and taking a leisurely walk up to their workplace.

But, maybe the Swedes get their fix of adrenaline elsewhere. Is it possible that they have secret ceremonies for venting their pent up pressures so that the calmness may overlay the aggression later?

If one looks a bit beyond the obvious, it does seem like the Swedes also have more than a touch of belligerence; look at the number of rallyists and top sportspersons (how can I forget Zlatan Ibrahimovic) who have used that much needed aggression to win. And, it looks like Swedish car makers — who are otherwise only known for making ultra-safe cars — also help channel all that testosterone. Volvo Car’s performance brand Polestar is possibly a product born of this need for the Swedes to give vent and loosen up once in a while.

Polestar was originally founded as a motorsport team in 1996, but in 2014, after dabbling with performance related car products for five years, the company launched its first performance cars based on the Volvo S60 and the V60. A year later, the company was acquired by Volvo Cars. Now Polestar makes cars to win racing championships; as also street legal performance cars to burn regular tarmac.

Volvo Cars India has just launched the S60 Polestar and we put it through the paces on Coimbatore’s Kari Motor Speedway race track. Here’s what we thought of the Blue devil from Sweden.

The S60 Polestar is not too different from the regular S60, on the face of it, in terms of design. But, there are enough visual differentiators, none too subtle as to be missed. The most striking is the special Rebel Blue body paint, almost like the Swedish national colour. Most of the other changes to the exterior are focused on optimising performance. The front splitters have been redesigned to reduce airflow under the car, the rear spoiler and diffuser now increase down-force and improve tyre grip at high speeds. There is a liberal sprinkling of the Polestar logo around the car, including on the special lightweight 20-inch rims. The rim design itself is meant to optimise airflow to ensure better braking performance.

The current S60 is a good looking sedan and the Polestar Blue sits well on the car, giving it a very distinctive look. The interior of this performance sedan gets some apt additions, without any dilution in the level of luxury, albeit not in the same league as the new XC90 and S90. Sculpted sports seats in perforated nubuck and textile upholstery, a leather-clad steering wheel, carbon-fibre inlays and a typically minimalist layout for the centre stack are what greet you in the cabin. Even though we were rushing in and out of the car at the race track, the signature blue contrast stitching subtly reminded us that it was a Polestar.

To make it track ready and capable of powering through the weekend, the S60 Polestar gets almost 70 modifications and upgrades compared to the original S60. Specially developed bespoke shock absorbers from Ohlins are just one of these mods. With a top speed of 250 kmph (electronically limited) and the 0-100 kmph sprint coming up in just 4.7 seconds, the braking power also had to be boosted. A complete upgrade now includes six-piston Brembo brake callipers and 371 mm ventilated brake discs.

The two-litre, T6 engine has also been reworked with additions enabling it to offer a broader torque band and more power. The engine now gets a larger twin-scroll turbo, a new intercooler, new conrods and camshafts; a high capacity fuel pump and a full flow active exhaust system. Together with a recalibrated engine management system, the T6 now offers 367 hp of peak power and 470 Nm of torque. Sending power to the wheels is a new Polestar-optimised eight-speed Geartronic auto gearbox with a BorgWagner four-wheel drive system featuring torque vectoring.

The S60 Polestar comes alive on the track delivering performance that nearly matches the punch offered by similar sedans from the M division or AMG. With the supercharger, and the availability of launch control, the initial charge onto the track from the end of the pit lane feels great. The S60 Polestar’s exhaust note is also sweet, with a nice rumble in sport+ mode. But the T6’s four-cylinder character comes through when it feels a tad bit weaker powering off corners. The Kari Motor Speedway is quite a compact track and the only stretch where the car felt like it was delivering power effortlessly was past the halfway point on the long main straight.

But, the power still felt adequate on most spots on the track, just not overwhelming. The T6 now replaces the earlier three-litre inline six-cylinder, but the point to note is Volvo’s claim that the Polestar’s T6, despite its enhancements, manages to deliver the same level of emissions and fuel consumption as the regular S60.

The S60 Polestar is a performance sedan and that naturally means the package includes a stiff suspension. The car is offered with a standard comfort setting suspension, which still felt quite stiff and a part of the reason could also be the 20-inch rims and the lower profile 245/35 ZR20 Michelins they came shod with.

But the driveability of the S60 Polestar on the track was the highlight of the day. We couldn’t take it out on regular roads; so we won’t know how it feels to crawl in city traffic or how it handles a speed breaker. This is Volvo’s quickest car and it has primed it for war on the roads with more than just performance enhancements. The S60 Polestar also gets a killer price tag of ₹52.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). That is a deal which is difficult to ignore if you are in the market for a luxury sedan with a performance boost.

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