Volvo’s not so new S60 Polestar

The not so new Volvo S60 Polestar

So as you’ve gathered from the title, Volvo has done some fettling to their now aged but fast S60, and this is probably very important, but first some context. In around July of 2011, Volvo’s Smurf blue enthusiasts and fast car boffins Polestar, created a fast version of the S60, a car which you bought mostly because its cheap to buy used and you couldn’t afford a German car, but I digress. Polestar did some meddling with the transversely mounted 3.0-litre straight-6 turbo mill from the T6 and thus created the S60 Polestar. At the time it made an impressive 258 kW and 500 N.m, enough to rival to the likes of the BMW 335i and Audi’s S4. The big blue Swede was an interesting take on the performance sedan and offered a rather lovely package with pretty impressive numbers thanks to AWD and the big power, such as the 0-100 km/h sprint time, in the really serious sub-five category with 4.9 seconds and the usual pegged 250 km/h top speed. It was rather impressive & given its novelty, it presented itself to 25 South Africans as the top choice. Polestar called it “The car that their racing drivers drove to work.”  South Africa, being ever late to the party, only got the Swede in 2015 but it was rather well received, selling out before even hitting the shores.

Fast forward to 2016 and Volvo’s new DrivE ethos was now in full strength and the pursuit of lightweight driving dynamics had meant gone were the large displacement engines and in the new 24-kilogram lighter 2.0-litre engine with twin charging replacing the now defunct straight-6, thus ditching the rather sonorous noise it made for a supercharger whine and trubo whoosh. Linked to this impressive mill was an 8-speed box with flappy paddles. This not only meant a new engine and some new tricks to the dampening and the like, but a much more refined drive thanks to the more responsive gearbox. Although well specced, it still looks nearly identical to what it did when the car launched some years before. This coupled with the limited numbers again, and driving dynamics and performance figures that were not quite as good as the now updated rivals, meant that the S60 Polestar may not have sold as quickly as everyone had expected, but they still sold. This ultimately meant the S60 was a good offering but not the best car in the segment, just a memory, only to fade away much like it has, or has it?

Now, Volvo has done some fettling once again to the S60 Polestar, as a last hoorah if you will. 30% more downforce will grace another 23 models destined for South Africa, as well as a single V60. Thats right, we’re getting a whole Polestar wagon, Just like the one used as the safety car in the WTCC championship. The Swedes have made 250 changes to the air cutting abilities, including a front splitter, rear spoiler and side skirting, all finished in Carbon fibre. Also new are carbon fibre wing mirrors and 20-inch gloss black wheels.  Another loud hue in the form of a Bursting Blue exterior colour has been added, and,more importantly recognising the need for some attention on the dated interior, Volvo has added new charcoal leather with blue stitching, just what the ol’ girl needed.

There’s no denying that in a straight-line, the S60 Polestar will still do a good job of keeping up with the Germans, with the new model dashing to 0-100 in 4.7 seconds and a top chat of 250 km/h, limited of course, the S60 is not slow and still pretty rapid in the corners. If the current or previous model – I get confused sometimes – was anything to go by, it should be loud as the Cyan Racing blue paint. Given that this is Polestar’s first attempt at a fully fledged road car, it’s a rather good attempt and we’re looking forward to what’s yet to come from Volvo’s go-faster department.

Volvo S60 Polestar Pricing in South Africa

Pricing will be released closer to the launch, which will be later this year, but given that the previous models’ bargain pricing was just above the R700 000 mark, you can expect this to be competitively priced too.