Volvo XC90 gets Polestar Performance Optimisation – but don’t get too excited

Volvo is not really a name synonymous with high performance, but their sub-brand of Polestar certainly is. The performance upgrade is developed and designed by the engineers at Volvo’s performance division, Polestar, which also raised the performance of the T5 petrol and D4 diesel engines.

Those modest power increases are supplemented by a re-worked automatic transmission that speeds up gearshifts and prevents changes during fast cornering so as not to risk unsettling the vehicle.

Volvo is heading towards the end of decade expecting to release gradually a new lineup of cars that would guide its future trajectory, especially after releasing a new architecture for its compact vehicles.

“What we strive for when designing and fine-tuning our race cars is to create a completely balanced package”.

We’ve been waiting for Volvo to reveal if they’re building an XC90 Polestar – perhaps with something up to 500bhp – but all we’re getting for now is a small tweak – at a cost of £835 – for the D5 and T6 engines in the XC90.

Polestar racing and development driver Robert Dahlgren said: “Drivability is everything in racing; it is about having power available when you need it and to be in control”.

According to Volvo, all the optimizations are made with certified emissions, fuel consumption, service intervals and Volvo warranties provided will not change. And this is exactly what we have focussed on with the new-generation optimisations for Volvo cars: “powertrain optimisation for real-life driving”.