Wednesday 16th March
Volvo launches Polestar tuning kits for all models
Calling all S60, V60 and XC60 owners!
Calling all S60, V60 and XC60 owners! Now your Volvo can be made faster too...
Hey Volvo, where's the blue gone?
The parts include springs and damper upgrades, bigger wheels and tyres, a new intake system and sports exhaust plus a software upgrade that boosts both power and torque. Like the Ford/Mountune arrangement, all Polestar upgrades are covered by your standard Volvo warranty.PistonHeads spoke with Polestar's R&D boss, Henrik Fries, at the launch for the 'Polestar Optimised' models. According to Fries, last year the Swedish firm celebrated its 100,000th performance-boosting ECU reflash and expects to sell at least another 30,000 software upgrades this year.
"We have plenty of enthusiasts in both Sweden and Germany who are already tuning their cars; we know this because we've had several engine failures because of poor tuning. It made sense for us to step in and offer tuning kits that are certified for emissions and fuel consumption that have gone through Volvo's rigorous durability testing." Fries says not only do engines running the uprated software go through 'full-life' bench testing, but models fitted with the more powerful engines endure both cold and hot weather testing with the standard cars.
Even the subtle styling kits have a purpose - to develop "meaningful aero" using computer modelling and simulation to develop spoilers and splitters to ensure they contribute to high-speed handling. "Saloon cars are notoriously difficult to tune aerodynamically, so we took the costly decision to put the S60 back in the wind tunnel to make sure its diffuser and spoiler worked properly", added Fries.
Next best thing to a full S60 Polestar in the UK
Launching the models on the same day Volvo's Cyan Racing team were running WTCC shakedown tests on its new 2016 S60 race car, Fries was keen to point out that Polestar's involvement in racing really does improve Volvo's road cars. "We call it 'R&D payback' - the 400hp 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder that powers our race car shares almost all of its parts with the road car; people can't believe it. Its block is exactly the same", says Fries.According to the R&D boss, Polestar's motorsport engineers helped shape the road car's engine from its 20 years of racing. Crucial to the Polestar performance upgrades is that the car is completely useable.Fries said early on a conscious decision was made not to create a track car. That's why the exhaust and intake noise on all the enhanced models does not intrude excessively, but Fries is completely against piping in artificial sound using the car's entertainment system, saying it's just "not the Polestar way of doing things."
Fans of the S60 and V60 Polestar will be glad to hear there will be a follow-up (rumoured to be the XC90) that will capitalise on the success of the glowing reviews of the limited-run models. "We were very fortunate to be allowed to create the V60 Polestar. I mean very few car-makers expected us to make it the way we did, with such high quality parts" says Fries.
Always wanted 21s on your XC60? Now you can
Picking out the Ohlins adjustable dampers as his favourite part of the V60, the Polestar engineer said he's been especially interested in seeing how customers have set their cars up - particularly British buyers who, apparently, have embraced the ability to choose from 20 different settings and surprised Polestar engineers by running them in the near optimum 'soft' setting."I mean, it's difficult to think who else would have used those dampers on a production car at this price - they're near race-spec, but they work so well."
Fries is keeping tight-lipped about what his team are working on next but couldn't resist telling PH what a blessing the new SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform is that underpins both the XC90, S90 and V90 models, especially with the double front and rear wishbone suspension arrangement. Fries also says he can't wait for people to experience a Polestar-tuned electric power steering rack. More coming soon!
Description Price Polestar Performance Intake and exhaust £1,000 (V40), £1,150 (S60, V60), £1,300 (XC60) Polestar Performance Chassis £800 (V40), £850 (S60, V60), £900 (XC60) Polestar Performance Wheel (19-inch S40, V60 and S60, 21-inch for XC60) £2,325 (all models) Polestar Performance Interior and Exterior £600 (V40), £700 (V60, S60), £800 (XC60) Complete Kit (with free of charge software) £4,725 (V40), £5,025 (S60, V60), £5,325 (XC60)