2015 Volvo S60 AWD Polaris Review

Riverside, American state -- sweltry within the blazing desert daylight outside the 110-year-old Mission hostelry, it looks pretty dumb to be preparing to drive the 2015 Volvo S60 Polaris. simply minutes past, we have a tendency to were shown an image of this all-wheel-drive automotive in its natural setting, Associate in Nursing icy road in Scandinavian nation. we've looked fastidiously, nonetheless will see no signs of frozen Arctic champaign within the neighbourhood of the Mission hostelry.
But then we have a tendency to reasonably latch on. As we’re told, the Volvo S60 Polaris is meant to be a similar reasonably specialty automotive as a BMW M3 sedan, solely it’s meant for each day, not simply Sunday. this can be a sensible issue to mention, since there square measure days once you’re not identification your Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz hot rod outside some restaurant (the natural setting for such cars, our expertise suggests), and instead truly wish to drive somewhere remote.



Some days it would be an area north of the polar circle in Scandinavian nation. alternative days it would be a ten,000-foot mountain commanding the Mohave Desert in American state.
Like the Germans, solely very unhealthy dressers
The Polaris folks have supplementary plenty of snap to the Volvo complete in a very short time, that are a few things of a miracle, since you'll work all forty five of them into atiny low neighborhood bar in metropolis, Sweden, wherever Volvo and Polaris square measure each set. 1st Polaris developed street-legal performance chips for the ECUs of assorted Volvo models, then it place a broader array of specially tuned hardware on show within the limited-production Volvo C30 Polaris. It even created one or two of Volvo S60 sedans high-powered by a 508-hp tuned engine.
Now the 2015 Volvo S60 Polaris and 2015 Volvo V60 Polaris square measure leading Volvo into a similar place wherever Audi Quattro, BMW M, and Mercedes-Benz AMG do business. nonetheless Polaris couldn’t be additional totally different than its rivals. It’s very simply atiny low sport team that has unbroken Volvo on the highest step of stage within the Swedish tourer Championship the previous few years, and it smartly uses Volvo’s own analysis and development labs and producing facilities to make and manufacture specialty tuned cars.
Polestar is additional like Alpina than BMW M -- additional centered on sport, additional smitten by its manufacturer’s production lines to create the product it creates. similar to the Swedes themselves, the Polaris folks square measure just like the Germans, solely slighter and sensible, when they create plans that square measure something however.



Setting out for the Arctic champaign
Last spring, our man had an opportunity to drive the 2015 S60 Polaris in Scandinavian nation, however this can be the all-wheel-drive car’s 1st outing in America, and that we can’t think about a harsher take a look at than pounding down a concrete state highway within the out 909 phonephone code close to Riverside. Our spirits square measure high as a result of we’re headed toward huge Bear Lake within the San archangel Mountains, wherever it'll be cooler by regarding thirty degrees compared to the Mission hostelry.
Unexpectedly this Polaris drives sort of a Volvo, not a course monster. Sure, you'll be able to hear the persistent percussion of the track-ready 245/35R-20 95Y Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on the concrete, however the chassis remains poised and therefore the suspension is supple. For all you recognize, you’re driving one in every of Volvo’s own R-Design models, not a automotive with low-profile 20-inch tires, springs that square measure eighty p.c stiffer, double-adjustable Ohlins dampers, and a few racing-style trickery within the bushings. This S60 Polaris is really comfy.
Mostly you notice that the seats feel plush within the usual Volvo vogue, solely these are literally supportive . The hydraulic-assist steering will be adjusted to 3 totally different effort levels, tho' solely by pull to a stop and diving into the electronic menu displayed on the seven.0-inch touchscreen on the dash. (There are no distracted driving, the safety-conscious Swedes say.)


Mountain driving while not Greenland caribou

We’re rising the San archangel Mountains through a pine forest, and it’s not one thing you’d see in Scandinavian nation, not the smallest amount as a result of the first obstacle to forward progress could be a traveler bus, not Greenland caribou. fortuitously the intercooler and twin-scroll turbo facilitate the three.0-liter inline-six engine create enough power to hurry U.S. on our manner, because the broad powerband works with the six-speed automatic to make sure the automotive is often prepared for speed albeit you're not. Once past 4000 revolutions per minute, the Polaris exhaust can even growl louder for you.
You’ve got many power here, and therefore the Polestar-calibrated transmission makes fast work of things through shift paddles on the wheel. Of course, if you check out this car’s specifications, you’ll be reminded that it's not a BMW M3. First, the turbocharged engine makes 345 power unit @ five,250 revolutions per minute and three69 lb-ft of force @ 3,000-4,750 rpm, and this can be simply twenty power unit additional and fifteen lb-ft over the Polestar-tuned Volvo S60 R-Design. The BMW M3’s 425-hp turbocharged inline-six is solely in another league.
And nonetheless as we have a tendency to corner through the switchbacks down hill once reaching huge Bear Lake at half-dozen,752 feet, we have a tendency to notice that we've no complaints. (Perhaps we have a tendency to are getting Swedish.) All the dynamic performance of this automotive -- dashing, steering and stopping -- has been thus well integrated along that you’re aware solely of driving, not specifications. this can be what you would like from a mature, well-developed sporting sedan, and it's as if the Volvo S60 Polaris has taken all the simplest aspects of the Audi S4, BMW M3, and Mercedes-AMG C63 and seamed them along.
On the track if you want to
Polestar has won 3 STCC titles in a very row, thus we have a tendency to feel obliged to drive the S60 Polaris on the baseball diamond circuit of motorcar Club Speedway simply to acknowledge that it will be done, particularly since Polestar’s Thed Bjork -- UN agency won the STCC title for the second time this past year -- is here to indicate U.S. however it ought to be done.


And this automotive will certainly go once you alter the steadiness management, that not solely becomes additional permissive however conjointly biases the drivetrain force to the rear. (Launch management is here too if you would like it.) The racing-style, 14.6-inch, floating brake discs with six-piston Brembo calipers deliver predictable  (not sudden) bite from the Brembo SPS-1000 restraint, and therefore the 20-inch Michelins won't wimp call at the corners. The torque-vectoring rear differential of the Haldex all-wheel-drive system will its magic, tho' it’s honest to mention that this automotive still looks like a front-wheel-drive automotive within the corners, as most AWD cars do. There aren't any easy-peasy electronically adjustable chassis calibrations on the market, however if you’re serious regarding track duty, the racing-spec, double-adjustable Ohlins dampers expect you.
But the total purpose of the 2015 Volvo S60 Polaris very has nothing to try to to with the track. once the weather could be a challenge, a driver desires a automotive that delivers predictable  dynamics, and this suggests softer responses from the steering, throttle, Associate in Nursingd brakes than what might sound thrilling at forty five mph in an empty parking zone behind some café. (If you would like proof, simply bring your C36, M3, or S4 to Detroit in February; keep in mind to pack your snow boots.)
Not on the market in stores
At $60,225 with destination, the 2015 Volvo S60 Polaris is priced right high of the $62,925 2015 BMW M3, and therefore the Volvo’s engine falls eighty power unit short within the method. This doesn’t thusund so sensible, except then you keep in mind that BMW charges you $2,900 additional for a dual-clutch automatic, $1,900 additional for a package that features a straightforward backup camera, and $1,200 for 19-inch wheels. (And what regarding the tires, eh?) so there’s the question of all-wheel drive.
Sadly, it’s probably that there square measure few samples of the 2015 Volvo S60 Polaris (and its companion, the 2015 Volvo V60 Polaris wagon) left on the shelves of the fifty six Volvo dealerships that square measure Polaris shops across the country. That’s as a result of solely 750 samples of these 2 cars are designed, and solely a hundred and twenty of them can reach the u.  s.. The Polaris folks tell U.S. that its label can solely trickle out of metropolis till 2017, once there'll finally be a Polaris for everybody.
But we’re fascinated by this automotive however. It proves that there square measure a helpful range of individuals UN agency still believe that Volvo continues to possess a singular identity. And even higher, Volvo has the resources and therefore the company can to require advantage. As for us, we have a tendency to just like the plan of a automotive which will tear across the champaign at a time of year once solely the Greenland caribou square measure there to visualize.