Volvo changes direction on performance

The global boss of Volvo Cars says the company may have a limited future in Australia’s V8 Supercars championship as it moves its now wholly owned Polestar performance division towards power generation from electrification and away from orthodox big engines.

Hakan Samuelsson told Australian journalists at the Detroit auto show this week that Volvo would continue for at least one more year racing the S60 V8 in the championship in 2016, but was not sure whether the commitment would be extended beyond that.

“I think we are committing one year in V8s,” he said. “I am not quite sure, it is for a minimum period.

“Long-term I think Polestar is moving to electrification and that (racing in the Australian championship) would dilute the image of the brand,” he said.

Volvo is considering its future in the Australian series despite the category’s moves to new rules from 2017 that will allow engines other than V8s and body styles other than sedans under new ‘Gen2’ technical rules.

Volvo is committing to range of forced-induction three- and four-cylinder engines for its entire production range of small 40, medium 60 and large 90 range of sedans, wagons and crossovers and will top most models with a Polestar variant.

“We will use electrification as power booster,” Samuelson said. “So we will not start diluting our brand with big engines and cylinders for V8s. The combustion unit will be Volvo but use electrification to create a modern high-performance cars and these will be Polestar variants.

“It would be much more natural to see Polestar gradually being used that way. Polestar will never be an AMG,” he added, referring to Mercedes-Benz’s hot tuner which has a reputation for producing big-horsepower V8 engines and a strong racing heritage.

When Polestar joined forces with local motorsport team owner Garry Rogers and Volvo Car Australia to race in the V8 championship it was an independent partner of Volvo that managed both its motorsport and hot road car programs.

But Volvo purchased Polestar from owner Christian Dahl in mid-2015 to take control of the road car program. Dahl’s new business Cyan Racing continues to manage Volvo’s Swedish and world touring car championship programs and builds V8 engines for the Australian championship.

Under Dahl’s control Polestar developed turbocharged six-cylinder versions of the S60 and V60 and they are currently the only models on sale. Australia was a test market for the concept.

The most likely engine development course for Polestar appears to be a further development of the existing T8 plug-in petrol-electric drivetrain, which combines a 2.0-litre petrol engine with a turbocharger, supercharger and electric motor to produce 303kW. All-wheel drive is also part of the package.

The Polestar version is likely to add a second turbocharger and swap to an electric supercharger to push power towards 335kW. The current Polestar 3.0-litre six makes 250kW.

“To have really high power you need electrification also more as a power booster. It’s an electrical booster on top of the turbochargers and compressors. That you can do with electrification much smarter,” Samuelsson said.

Samuelsson also confirmed the Polestar treatment was being considered for most models in the range, which was joined at Detroit by the new S90 large sedan (pictured) — a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 series. A V90 wagon will also arrive this year.

New-generation S60, V60 and XC60 mid-size models are soon due, while the 40-series small cars will also be overhauled by 2018 with an XC SUV added to the line-up.

Media speculation suggests the V90 is more likely to get a Polestar variant than the S90, but Samuelsson would not rule out the big sedan getting the treatment too.

“We are looking into that. Now we have bought the company we can use it where there is a market or an interest for that,” he explained.

“It is probably not for every model, but car models that are suited to that will have that high-performance variant.

“I think there is a market for it and I think there is a great interest for Polestar that’s why we bought the company. And we are looking into that.

“We have to come back with that planning, but this is our vision — using Polestar as a high-performance variant on top, but move it gradually away from gasoline into electric boosting.”

Samuelsson insisted Polestar performance variants were as natural a fit for Volvo as the brand’s commitment to safety.

“I think even if Volvo stands for safety and all of that, why not have a high-performance version still?”