Volvo plans 500bhp, M3-beating Polestar S60

- From a marketing perspective, it just feels a little extreme. I simply don't see an S60 customer walking into the showroom thinking "hey, I'd like to spend twice the costs on something with a petrol engine and x3 the power of the S60 D5 than I came in to look at. Vice versa, I don't see the existing M3 customer going anywhere near the Volvo showroom to begin with.
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But I could see a sales rep who is ordering his next company car picking a S60 D5 with the "sports pack" that has taken styling form the new super fast S60 which Volvo will pay all the major magazines to put on the front cover

Its a little like a ST220, more or less pointless car but then Ford put all the fancy bumpers and stuff on a TDCI and helps boost sales.
 
A S60 halo model would be there to improve prestige and garner some interest.

Sales would be limited, but maybe you'll look at those 1.6D's for a second or two trying to work out if it is the V8, rather than looking past the Volvo.

panthro said:
This seems like another W12 Passat to me.
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A w12 as per the phaeton would have made for a real stealth performer, but alas it was a w8 for the passat that I don't think saw use anywhere else.
 
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They have no real history in this market, so the product will need to really standout by being either a breathtaking beauty, or a performance beast, based on the donar car it's unlikely to be a beauty so beast is there more realistic option

Vauxhall managed to make an impact with the Lotus Carlton, It's performance was pretty brutal for the day, even had MP's complaining about it

Volvo certainly have a chance, but i think they really needed another 100hp and a not to over the top price tag to really make a splash.

It's going to be tough for volvo to beat or even put a dent into the german dominance of the supersaloon market
 
Peter450 said:
They have no real history in this market, so the product will need to really standout by being either a breathtaking beauty, or a performance beast, based on the donar car it's unlikely to be a beauty so beast is there more realistic option

Vauxhall managed to make an impact with the Lotus Carlton, It's performance was pretty brutal for the day, even had MP's complaining about it

Volvo certainly have a chance, but i think they really needed another 100hp and a not to over the top price tag to really make a splash.

It's going to be tough for volvo to beat or even put a dent into the german dominance of the supersaloon market
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They need a 600bhp hatch, but still be less than an M3 that has about 400 bhp?

The cost of getting from 400 to 600 will be enourmous in terms of engine size, weight distribution, bigger brakes, betetr suspension etc.

Jesus...
 
Robbie G said:
People talking about sales figures and practical relevance for this car are missing the point.
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Correct. Halo car, same as the IS-F (and LFA to an extent)...brings some interest to the brand. And in Lexus case, the F-Sport trim levels applied to their less 'pacey' metal.

Edit: Both the IS-F and LFA are awesome mind you.
 
Most of the Volvo range is meant to be stealing sales from BMW.
The new V40 has been aimed to attract buyers from the 1 Series.

In reality the only people who want any Volvo are existing customers.
 
It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Could end up with a bit of a 'cult' following.

On a related note, I followed an IS-F for about 20 mins along a twisty loch side road a few months back, had a bit of a play with it eventually nipping by to press on. It was pretty quick and although I knew what I was looking at from it's backside view it was also fairly unobtrusive looking. Sounded a bit 'meh' though. :cool:
 
Draeger said:
It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Could end up with a bit of a 'cult' following.

On a related note, I followed an IS-F for about 20 mins along a twisty loch side road a few months back, had a bit of a play with it eventually nipping by to press on. It was pretty quick and although I knew what I was looking at from it's backside view it was also fairly unobtrusive looking. Sounded a bit 'meh' though. :cool:
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If it sounded meh the pilot wasn't trying hard enough, when the second intake opens up it sounds truly brutal..
 
AndrewNR said:
They need a 600bhp hatch, but still be less than an M3 that has about 400 bhp?


Jesus...
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No, not Jesus. Meaning they need a 100bhp over the current range topping S60 to make the Volvo halo car, and make the price tag bearable. Both are more feasible an act than an M3 rival.

Reading comprehension malfunction there.
 
More info has been released

Volvo officially introduced a 508 horsepower S60 Concept built by Polestar Performance at the Gothenburg City Race in Sweden yesterday. The turbo sports sedan features a six speed manual and is capable of a 3.9 second run from 0-62 mph.

Polestar Performance started with the production turbocharged straight six (T6) usually found in the S60. They modified the heads, combustion chambers, inlet manifold and intake and added strengthened connecting rods to handle the additional power produced by a Garret 3171 turbo. The resulting power output from the 3.0 liter engine is 508 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque.

Modifications didn't stop under the hood though, Polestar also tweaked a Haldex AWD system for the application and added a reinforced standard 6 speed gear box. The chassis of the car was widened — 20 mm up front and 40 mm at the rear — while the entire car was lowered 30mm.

To complete the package Polestar added Öhlins suspension components, a Ferrita 3.5 inch stainless steel exhaust, 19-inch light alloy wheels and a set of six piston Brembo brakes. The result is a Volvo performance sedan that tips the scales just over 3600 pounds with numbers that sound like serious competition for the Mercedes C63 AMG and BMW M3—508 horsepower, 3.9 second 0-62, 180+ MPH top speed.

All of this seems like great news until you get to the fine print of this car. Even though Polestar and Volvo presented this modified S60 together, it's actually just a car built for a specific client. Volvo claims the car could eventually be built if there is adequate demand for it but aren't making any commitments currently.

Some will remember the equally awesome 415 horsepower Volvo C30 Polestar Concept from a few years ago. It was well received by everyone from Top Gear to Jay Leno, but that was as far as it got. Even if the company has been hinting at expanding into a performance division for years, we fear a similar fate for this S60 once it has made the rounds.

Full size
We'd say it's now up to Volvo to prove their commitment to performance and actually build this awesome S60. Never have we wanted to be wrong about whether a car actually sees production more—well, almost never.
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http://jalopnik.com/5919045/heres-t...ource=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

So it looks like Volvo isn't planning on putting it into production, which seems a bit of a shame to me.
 
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