Volvo V60 Polestar: PH Fleet

It impressed on the road test, so how is everyday life with a V60 Polestar?

I have to admit I was a bit nervous awaiting "my" V60 Polestar. You see, a bit like a blind date with a friend-of-a-friend, I'd heard mixed things about the car. I fell into that dangerous merry-go-round of debating the car's merits before ever having seen it in the metal, let alone driving it. Put simply, the combined might of the UK automotive world said that I'd probably find the car a bit, well, average. "Too heavy", "too stiff", "the gearbox is too slow" and "it's a bit short on power" was the general consensus. I was worried and to stretch this analogy to breaking point, I nearly bottled it and didn't turn up for the date.

Baptism of fire!

Despite this initial reticence I remained positive and reminded myself that the V60 Polestar is, after all, right up my street; comfy, quirky and fast with room for the family and (just as importantly) my bikes. Whilst never having owned a Volvo, like many people I am still dining out on the awe-inspiring sight of Rickard Rydell charging hard in a BTCC 850 Estate. Over 20 years have passed since then, but in my book the effects are still being felt and fast estate cars are still cool.

Mixed emotions then, but a real sense of anticipation at the Polestar's arrival. They say first impressions count and I fell for the car within about 0.01 seconds of clapping eyes on it. Like many people my preference for this sort of car would normally be for something quite discreet. Not any more! The "Rebel Blue" paint is just the right side of lairy to be acceptable on a what is, to the uninitiated, a straight-laced Swedish family wagon. The subtle body kit sets it off nicely, as do the huge Brembo brakes on show behind the very nice and scantily-spoked wheels.

The charm offensive continues inside. The V60 is (cliche alert warning) just a nice place to sit and very highly equipped. And then I started it for the first time. Wow. It sounds genuinely special, albeit mainly to all those not in the car. Mr Rydell would definitely approve of any Volvo that pops and crackles like this one.

And the Subaru couldn't get past. Really

Gladly the last few weeks since its arrival have seen me racking up a fair few miles, meaning more than just the superficial stuff has been assessed. A PH day trip to the Bedford Autodrome allowed a few laps as well as a test of its ability as a high speed camera car... On the whole I'm really enjoying it and I've even started to take umbrage at some of the less favourable comments some have made; I guess that means it's getting under my skin! One of the main gripes that many people have is that the car is very stiff, which shouldn't come as a surprise given it has spring rates that are a whopping 80 per cent up on standard. So it's certainly firm, but to me it is never uncomfortable and more importantly the car's damping is superb courtesy of the sophisticated Ohlins dampers which (like everything on the car) come as standard. Across the mixture of road and track I think Polestar have done an admirable job of striking a balance between every-day usability and dynamic thrills.

In terms of performance, describing this car as anything other than very fast is, frankly, criminal. The ease with which people see the headline power figures and dismiss it as being underpowered is laughable. Yes, the German arms race has delivered us near-600hp supersaloons and in doing so has moved the goal posts, making many dismiss anything under 400hp as being simply "warm". Believe me though, the V60 Polestar is a genuine performance car, helped along the way by its ability to put every last drop of power onto the road through its Haldex 4WD system. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the car couldn't handle a bit more power, but it would more or less only be for bragging rights.

Hot Swedish action on the PH Fleet!

Talking of which, I can neatly put the car's performance into perspective, as the opportunity arose to put it head to head on track with Dan's Subaru WRX STI. Admittedly our test was hastily put together and as unscientific as it gets, but the V60 was both faster down the straight and over a lap that the NotImpreza. In no way has this been mentioned at every opportunity since then. No sir. Not at all.

One aspect of the car that I can't bring myself to defend is the gearbox, which despite the best efforts of Polestar and their updated software is a bit slow, especially on upshifts. Admittedly when left to go about its business in auto it does so with the minimum amount of fuss. The problem is that modern dual-clutch systems provide all of this and the ability to crisply and quickly shift through the ratios at your beck and call. So far this is the one aspect of the car that I'd like to change.

I'm looking forward to spending the next few months driving the car and getting to know it even better . All I can say for now is that I have just had to hand the keys to a PH colleague for a few days, and I did so rather reluctantly. It really must have got under my skin.

Car: 2014 Volvo V60 Polestar
Run by: James
On fleet since: February 2015
Mileage: 8,191 (we've received it after its spell with the press office)
List price new: £49,775 (and £49,775 as tested too!)
Last month at a glance: A fast Volvo joins the PH Fleet - to the track!

[Pics: Anthony Fraser]

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GTEYE

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