Volvo V60 Polestar Engineered
More power and sporty additions for fast flagship
WHEN we ran a Volvo V60 Momentum on our fleet last year, it was a hit with all who used it. Consensus across the office was quickly established – Volvo had smashed it out of the park; and even the entry-level D3 was a plush package.
The V60 range is pretty extensive if you dip into the price list, though, and right at the top end sits this: the V60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered. It’s the fastest and most expensive version to date, but it doesn’t quite shape up as a straightforward rival for the likes of the Mercedes-AMG C 43, Audi S4 or the new BMW M340i.
That’s because this £57,000 Volvo uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged petrol engine and an electric motor to develop a total of 399bhp. On paper, the performance is right up there with other fast estate cars available for this sort of money, but the V60 also claims 104.5mpg and just 48g/km of CO2, and Volvo says the car is capable of 27 miles on electric power alone.
So if you’re a business buyer wanting a bit of punch without a sky-high tax bill, the V60 Polestar could be just the ticket; Benefit in Kind rates stand at just 16 per cent.
However, get behind the wheel and the V60 isn’t as thoroughly convincing as its sporty bodykit, badging, 20-inch wheels and orange seat belts might suggest.
This is a curious car, and in the face of established competition, it’s difficult to accept without totally skewing your perception of what a car like this should be.
On the positive side, the Volvo has plenty of pace. The torque fill of the electric motor means it’s immense off the line, and the claimed 0-62mph time of 4.6 seconds feels right. Yet the engine and electric combination does little to lift the senses. It’s a languid powertrain, the noise doesn’t excite, and in a traditional sense, it lacks the character to make you want to push the engine.
But if you do press on, the main reason why many would consider the Volvo disappears, too. The claimed fuel economy saps away, at which point you may as well have invested in one of the Volvo’s six-cylinder rivals; you’d probably get similar economy.
The regular V60’s steering is far from the most impressive in the class, and although the Polestar’s set-up feels a little tighter and more direct at the top of the wheel, thanks to some chassis upgrades (there’s a strut brace under the bonnet to stiffen the nose), the weight of the hybrid drivetrain means the V60 isn’t all that light on its feet.
Thankfully, beefed-up Brembo brakes are found on each corner, and as with the steering, there’s a marginal enough improvement to keep the weight in check and bring things to a halt quickly.
The brakes aren’t the only extra from a third party. Manually adjustable Ohlins dampers are fitted as standard, representing a significant part of the Polestar recipe. The front dampers can be easily adjusted under the bonnet, but the rears require a jack.
For the average buyer, having a set-up like this is totally unnecessary. With the car in its baseline settings, you’ll find that body control is strong, but the ride is flawed for a car that in lower trims majors on comfort. Of course, you can delve into the settings to slacken things off (we suggest you do),
“The V60 is immense off the line, but it lacks the character to make you want to push it”
but it’s not easy to get right. They just feel so out of place in a car like this, and we’d wager that most buyers will find the more humble R-Design model to be the better Volvo hybrid.
The rest of the package remains impressive, though. The incredible quality of the V60’s interior stays intact, and every Polestar model gets a long kit list.