Lovely engine tune, a sexy bloody Volvo
Tram-lines, price premium
Only 50 R-Design S60 cars have been touched with the Polestar brush; and you certainly sit up and take notice when the tailpipes start talking.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Overview
The Polestar is based on the S60 T6, it already wears the R-Design line’s souped-up kit. But Polestar, the unfortunately-named Swedish tuning arm, adds a further touch of heat with an engine flash, quad exhaust pipes and massive alloy wheels, amongst other goodies, bringing the total to a rather lofty $82,990, just on five figures higher than the R-Design sedan.
But it’s still an impressive makeover of a makeover of a well-sorted sedan.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Engine
The S60’s 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder produces 242kW at 5400rpm and 480Nm at 3000rpm, put to the ground though all four wheels via a six-speed automatic.
It’s an increase of 18kW and 40Nm more torque, which speeds up the 0-100km/h sprint by 0.3 secs to 5.9 seconds. The rush isn’t a hit to the back of the head (it is a Volvo after all), but rather a sharp shovelling of torque that sees the car pile on speed quite quickly, and it’s rather addictive.
Unfortunately, the engine’s odd east-west configuration, along with heady luxuries and heavy safety equipment, doesn’t allow cornering to be as exhilarating or addictive as its straight-line speed.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Interior
The sports bucket seats in the front of the Polestar are simply divine. After 2500km around the twistier roads of Tasmania there was no hint of stiffness nor lumbar soreness by either passenger, though rear seat sitters, with less bolstering in their pews, may have something different to say about it.
The car also gets alloy pedals and sills, and a special little badge stating which model off the production line – ours was “003”.
That’s about all of the extra gear, otherwise it is pure Volvo, complete with a big, boofy steering wheel, the floating centre console (with unfortunate silver textured trim that reflects sunlight into one’s eyes), and plenty of small storage holes for stuff.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Exterior & Styling
The most obvious addition to the S60’s exterior is a set of stunning 19-inch alloy rims, which along with the low-profile rubber could account for most of the $10K premium over the standard R-Design all on their own.
It also gets the latter’s lowered suspension, which lets the car still clear the driveways and bigger bumps while hunkering the big sedan down into a lovely sleek profile.
The rear of the car is lifted by quad exhausts, and kept from lifting by a channelled rear diffuser, while a tiny badge on the boot gives away its tuning house prowess.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar On The Road
Volvo is all about safety, right? So why is it so easy to almost lose one’s license in the Polestar?
The torque is truly addictive, lumping out thrust through the gears and quite rapidly hurling its not-insignificant 1680kg to 100km/h in that sub-six time with ease.
The gearing from the six-speed automatic is excellent with this engine, with a mild turbo lag masked by the swift shifter.
However, a sad omission is wheel-mounted paddles, which are an unsaid standard accessory in an automatic performance car these days.
It does have a sports shifter, but the direction is the reverse of what is ergonomic in speedy situations: as you brake and impetus pushes you forward, you have to slam the shifter backwards, likewise under acceleration. This isn’t exclusive to Volvo, but Ford, who recently shared DNA with the Swede, does it the ‘right’ way, so…
The steering is interesting; quite obviously assisted, and well weighted about town, leaning to the heavier side, which is this writer’s preference. It can get a bit vague at speed with less lock, so too on centre at slow speeds, but its fairly constant.
But the car is extremely camber-sensitive, tending to take the wheel away and tram-line at the strangest times – like down a main urban street at 50km/h – and likely not helped by rather thin 245/35 R18 Pirellis, which hardly have the thickness to save the potholes from crashing in. The tyres are also a tad loud under the arches.
But it’s a stately sedan on the better roads, and grip is there when said roads twist up. The sacrifice of the skinny rubber and lowered suspension and tune is a well-behaved steer with only a trace of the tyre-folding push that affects its non-R and Polestar siblings.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Challenges
The price is the biggest problem here – with the R-Design a full $10K less, and the standard car costing $64,990, one could argue that a grand at the tuners for a re-flash and several thousand for a Germanic exhaust and 18-inch rims would be a better way to save and still look suave. But the mods all add up, and it wouldn’t have the same exclusivity.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Verdict
It’s a sweet car, and the power and push of the worked engine is addictive. But said performance is pricey, and the Germans are really close to this worked-up Swede in this price bracket.
2012 Volvo S60 Polestar Competition
The Germans are still at the front line of the performance sedan push, and Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW all have mid-sized and larger sedans which can compete at this price level – even if their options such as 18-inch unique alloys and hyped-up ECUs would be costly additions where the S60 Polestar’s sports gear is all-inclusive.
