Volvo teases M3-fighting S60 Polestar ahead of race debut [w/video]
Posted Jun 7th 2012 2:01PM
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Remember the hotted-up Volvo S60 that's set to take the fight to the BMW M3 with enhancements fromPolestar? The Swedish sport sedan we told you about is apparently not nearly as far off as you might think. According to a report from the TTA racing group, Volvo is set to debut its new steroid-enhanced sedan on June 16 at the Gothenburg City Arena race.
On February 22, we posted THIS in the intial reveal of this M3 fighter. Today is another installment in that story. With a possibility of transferring some of that technology to the road going S60, check out this story as well.
Polestar working on Volvo S60 to take on M3
Posted May 24th 2012 4:01PM
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There are several things you might think of when Volvo comes to mind, but performance isn't necessarily one of them. Volvo is working on that image, however, and Polestar is a big part of that.
The tuning firm and racing garage has been partnering with Gothenburg on several fronts, not the least of them being the company's officially sanctioned touring car team whose latest S60 racer is pictured above. Those efforts have also been seeping into the Swedish automaker's publicly available road cars, but nothing has approached the kind of levels that AMG applies to Mercedes-Benz or the M division does with BMWvehicles.
That's been long rumoured to be in for a change, however, and the latest reports give us a sneak peek at what the two firms have in store. According to Swedish car mag Teknikens Varld, Volvo and Polestar are working on a full-scale assault on the territory held by the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and BMW M3, among others.
The donor vehicle would be the S60 sedan, but the question remains just what would motivate such a beast. Sources suggest the Yamaha-built V8 from the XC90 could be employed. In stock form it produces 315 horsepower, but Noble uses it in the M600 with a pair of turbochargers that boost output up to 641 hp. A nice, round 400 hp should be well within reason, then, and Polestar's considerable capabilities.
The S60 Polestar could, however, go with modifying an engine already available in the stock S60. For its C30 concept, Polestar bolted a bigger turbo onto the 2.5-litre five for 411 hp, and recently managed to squeeze 325 hp out of the stock turbo six with just an ECU reflash. Whatever the engine, we're told to expect a Haldex all-wheel-drive system, Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes stuffed into 19-inch BBS alloys wearing Pirelli PZero rubber. Consider our interests piqued.
More after the jump.
