After we learned that Volvo’s performance brand, Polestar, is considering a more power-focused XC90, the Swedish car manufacturer’s tuning arm announced its range of upgrades for the SUV in the UK.
Mind you, these are just some performance-enhancing packages for the mid-size luxury SUV, and not a dedicated, race-inspired, genuine Polestar XC90 from top to bottom, but the offerings are interesting and may lead to a desirable sporty crossover in the process.
Called the Polestar Performance Optimisation, the upgrades are intended to improve the power figures of the D5 diesel and T6 petrol Drive-E engines. According to Volvo, they have been developed and designed by Polestar engineers and racing drivers – since Polestar is also Volvo’s factory racing team – and offer a power delivery improvement at medium revs (where it’s most effective in real-world applications), quicker accelerator responses and faster gear changes, preventing upshifts or downshifts during rapid cornering.
Thed Björk, reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) champion and Polestar Cyan Racing driver, commented:
“The new Polestar optimisation is about making the car more dynamic and responsive to drive. We use the same philosophy as when optimising our race cars, to create a completely balanced package. And this is exactly what we have focussed on with the new-generation optimisations for Volvo cars: powertrain optimisation for real-life driving.”
With this upgrades, priced at £835 ($1,284), the maximum power output of the diesel D5 Drive-E variant is increased to 233 hp and 500 Nm of torque (up from 225 hp and 470 Nm), while the T6 Drive E petrol mill gets boosted up to 334 hp and 440 Nm (from 320 hp and 400 Nm). Unfortunately, Volvo didn’t specify anything about the hybrid variant.
The Swedish car maker says the work can be carried out at any authorized Volvo dealer, and should take about 30 minutes to complete. But worry not, non-XC90 owners, as the Polestar upgrades will be offered on other models as well.
PHOTO GALLERY
