This car easily falls within our top 10 test drives of the past year. Never in our experience has a vehicle converted so many people to the brand. Latent curiosity was soon replaced by gob-smacked amazement when we took this car out on track recently at the Brands Hatch race circuit, where it succeeded in holding off some fully prepared race cars! The V60 Polestar should not be mistaken for the Polestar after-market aerodynamic and trim finishes we see on some of the new Volvo showroom cars. This one is the real McCoy, developed from the ground up by Polestar Racing, Volvo’s motor sport racing specialists.
A Thorough Work-Over
The V60 represents Polestar’s ultimate expression of a Volvo road car. Making up its core are 20 inch wheels, special six piston brembo racing brakes, 80% stiffer springs, stiffened dampers and chassis. An uprated straight six cylinder, 3.0 litre in-line engine gets a larger turbo, and the six speed auto gearbox has been recalibrated to house the uprated power and performance. Add to that the music of a stainless steel sports exhaust, four-wheel drive, splitters, spoilers and diffusers to match and Dr Jekyll turns Mr Hyde in a big way. If you have the driver’s edge, competitors will soon realise that your ‘Volvo Estate’ is anything but. . . Yet what makes this car remarkably ‘good value’ is that it equally rewarding for its refinement, comfort and day-to-day usability.
