World-first Volvo S60 Polestar -- for Oz

Australia is about to become the global test market for Volvo’s ambitious attempts to create an all-Swedish answer to the German fast-car heavyweights, Mercedes-AMG, BMW M and Audi’s quattro.

With a long racing history and two motor show concept cars, the privately owned Swedish tuner Polestar is already building the first batch of Australia’s S60 Polestar sports sedans.

The first full-production Polestar-badged car in history, the S60 Polestar has been re-engineered from head to toe, including a completely new suspension set-up, more power and torque from Volvo’s turbocharged six-cylinder engine and more rear bias from the Haldex all-wheel drive system.

Polestar’s S60 promises sub-five-second sprints to 100km/h thanks to 257kW of power and more than 500Nm of torque from its free-revving inline transverse 3.0-litre engine.

The 1684kg S60 Polestar carries the same weight as the standard S60 T6 R-Design, even though it has had its Volvo suspension basically ripped out and replaced by a radical new set-up that includes custom-tailored Ohlins dampers all around.

The S60 Polestar’s chassis has also been tweaked, thanks to a carbon-fibre strut brace under the bonnet to help its initial steering feel, new 19-inch rims and super-sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sport 235/40 R19 tyres.

Limited to 250km/h, the S60 Polestar is capable of even more power, but has been restricted to protect the longevity of its six-speed automatic transmission.

News of the S60 Polestar project has come as a shock to the Volvo world, as Volvo Cars Australia Managing Director, Matt Braid, said.

“The majority of Volvo staff in the world are finding out about this car tonight. That’s OK because this is an Australian pilot project.

“It’s important to take the Volvo brand to a new place in Australia,” he insisted.

That “new place” is beyond the $100,000 barrier, with Braid insisting the pricing had yet to be confirmed, even though the cars are due to arrive in late June.

“Australia has to be ready for a six-figure Volvo, because there is a lot in this car and we are effectively paying for the research and development, but they should understand that this will not be our highest profit model,” he explained.

Given that Volvo released 50 Polestar-tuned S60s in 2011 priced at $82,990 and the T6 R-Design currently tops the S60 range at around $75,000, a figure of up to $120,000 should not come as a surprise.

“The first challenge for us is to get to Australia,” Polestar’s Managing Director Hans Baath insisted.

“There are many reasons why we chose Australia and, as Swedes, we understand you as people a bit like us. We will do everything we can to make this work in Australia and then move it to the rest of the world and then focus on Australia first for the next model.

“The size of the market makes it a sweet spot for us to develop Polestar as a brand and as a car.”

The program will work with Polestar developing and supplying the parts to Volvo in Sweden, which will build the cars on their production line alongside the rest of the S60 range, then the cars are sent to Polestar to have some finishing touches applied.

“It’s quite similar to how BMW Alpina works. The position relative to Volvo is like AMG or M. It’s not our aim to be them but that’s the path we want to follow,” Mr Baath said.

The investment in suspension technology alone has been enormous, with Swedish damping company Ohlins developing a new system for the car. Complete with 20 ‘clicks’ of adjustment that allows drivers to scroll through a variety of pre-ordained bump and rebound combinations, the dampers promise to transform the S60’s behaviour.

With more than 80 individual parts, the front dampers are probably over-engineered for the job and include valves that cater for changes in temperature and an internal ‘blow off’ valve to cope with sharp bump hits when the suspension is already loaded.

The suspension mounting points have also been strengthened and the cars also get thicker anti-roll bars, 80 per cent firmer springs and custom bushes.

Polestar has changed the software on the Haldex system to deliver more torque to the rear axle, especially when it’s using the built-in Launch Control system. On a fast take off, the S60 Polestar sends all of its drive to the rear axle, transmitting only excess torque to the front wheels.

None of these changes have affected the S60’s fuel consumption or emissions figures or, indeed, its warranty.

“People should remember it’s not a track-day car. It’s a car that can be driven in all conditions and on all roads, including tracks,” Mr Baath said.

“It’s more of a driver’s car than a performance car, because “performance car” today seems so focused on engine performance alone.

“Our car is more holistic than that.”