The Polestar Racing prepared Volvo C30 DRIVe will make its premiere at the FIA World Touring Car Championship [WTCC] in the opening round of the 2011 season at Curitiba in Brazil this weekend. Polestar’s factory-backed C30 has already competed in the Swedish and Scandinavian Touring Car Championships, but being that the WTCC is a different beast altogether, the company said that it will not race to win this year, but to further develop the car for the 2012 season.
“Volvo Cars has given us a sound mission to evaluate the championship, meaning that we are initially not focusing on results but rather on preparing a base that we could build upon for 2012. We have got an exciting and rewarding challenge ahead of us,” said Christian Dahl, Managing Director of Polestar Racing.
Among other changes, Polestar Racing is readying a new engine for its WTCC C30 DRIVe.
“We are starting the season with our current two liter engine, before later in the year switching to an all-new 1.6-liter turbo engine, based on a completely new Volvo engine family. We are currently working flat out with the new engine and we are confident of our progress,” said Dahl.
The company added that the the first race of the year is also going to showcase a new livery of the Volvo C30 DRIVe racing car, which is painted in Polestar’s distinctive blue hue, also featured on the 405HP C30 Polestar concept prototype.
WTCC VOLVO C30 DRIVe SPECS
Bodywork Original bodywork reinforced with roll cage and side impact protection on the driver’s side, developed in collaboration with Semcon. Aerodynamics: front air splitter, wheel arch wideners and rear wings developed by Polestar in Volvo’s wind tunnel.
Engine 4-cylinder transverse all-aluminium in-line engine 1600 cc direct injected turbo, with four valves per cylinder. Original cylinder blocks and cylinder heads modified while valves, camshafts, pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft replaced with racing-specific components. Designed and tested by Polestar.
Oil Castrol 5W-30
Power/torque (estimated) 340hp at 6000 rpm and 450Nm at 5000 pm.
Exhaust system Stainless steel, with catalytic converter.
Driveline 6-speed sequential gearbox with straight-cut gears. Front wheel drive. Mechanical differential with torque-controlled friction discs. 184 mm twin-disc carbon fibre clutch.
Oil Castrol TWS 10W-60.
Weight 1 164 kg including driver (68-75 kg)
Front suspension Öhlins MacPherson struts, developed in collaboration with Polestar. Racing-specific wishbones and adjustable anti-roll bar.
Rear suspension Multi-link system with coil springs and Öhlins shock absorbers. Racing-specific wishbones and adjustable anti-roll bar.
Front brakes Performance Friction 4-piston caliper with 332×32 mm radially ventilated discs.
Rear brakes Alcon 2-piston caliper with 290×10 mm discs. Steering servo-assisted rack and pinion steering.
Wheel rims & Tyres 17×9″, Yokohama, slicks (no tread) or rain tires (treaded)
