XC90 T8 Polestar

[pmanson]

Hi All,

I thought i'd provide a little thread on our current car... XC90 T8 Polestar.

My recent prior car history has been:

XC90 D5 - Purchased as the kids were outgrowing the Jag
Jaguar XF Sportbrake 3.0s - Fast, comfortable but ultimately not that practical with three kids


So if we start with the previous Volvo:



We purchased this with 60 miles on the clock, a D5 Inscription Pro in black with a black interior. It had the Xenium Pack (Glass Roof + 360 camera). We had it for 2 years or so and did 29k miles in that time. Average mpg was late 20s (mid 30s on a motorway run then terrible around town)

A change of job for me meant that my mileage was either around town/to the station or a long motorway drive.

In March we went to look at an XC40 Electric car for my wife but they couldn't get us one until next year so while we were there we had a look at replacing mine.

I always had three issues with the last car (first world problems):

1) the D5 was underpowered, noisy and frustrating when coupled to the auto box
2) the stereo was terrible (having had a meridian stereo in the XF)
3) the kids hated travelling in the boot as there was no air flow at the back


So, the plan on replacing it to resolve this:

1) Make sure we had the comfort pack which puts air conditioning into the third row
2) Have an upgraded stereo (we went mid tier rather than for the £3k B&O option)
3) Get some more power

In the end we took a car that was in the country that fitted the bill, colour options were limited so we ended up with Birch Light (or Essex Beige as a mate calls it) T8 with the Polestar kit.

So 425bhp of power:









We've 5,600 miles in (Since March), average mpg is 35mpg. On a run it's closer to 26-28mpg. The first few drives it took a bit of getting used to the extra weight, acceleration is rapid, stereo good and the kids will use all the seats in the heat of the summer.

Volvo are paying for the electric for the first year too.

The only downsides are the wheels - they look good but are easy to curb (as my wife has found out). Someone also hit the wing mirror last weekend so that will need a smart repair at some point too.

This one has car play but I don't get on with it (due to the limited screen size it gives you) so tend to use the standard process.

We went for Inscription Pro again as I quite enjoyed the massage seats that we had in the black one.

Hopefully we'll get a good few years of trouble free motoring out of it (as long as I can get rid of my heavy right foot - it seems to keep pace with C63 AMG's rather well in a straight line).

[ekulluke]

Very nice. Really like that colour. Almost reminds me of Porsche Crayon. The Mrs has an Abarth 595 in a similar colour.

How do you find the hybrid system? Does it kick in seamlessly? I’ve always had a lingering fancy for one of these, likely will be my choice as we get closer to the ICE ban in a fair few years time.

[ChrisCh86]

Those wheels are huge! I can see the appeal of these as a family wagon, if you can afford the significant upfront costs.

Hopefully the seats are as comfortable as Volvo's of old? (which for me is most of the appeal)

[Futureologist]

that's lovely, congratulations

[Shrimpvende]

That looks fantastic!

I've got a P400e RRS but it's caused me grief from about a month old in constant electrical gremlins and trips back to the dealer. If I can reject it (not sure this will work given it's leased) I'd probably punt for one of these, I love the powertrain in my RR and much prefer the Volvo to similar stuff from BMW etc.

[cerb4.5lee]

I really like these.

Very nice.

[pmanson]

ChrisCh86 said:

Those wheels are huge! I can see the appeal of these as a family wagon, if you can afford the significant upfront costs.

Hopefully the seats are as comfortable as Volvo's of old? (which for me is most of the appeal)

Fully electric adjustable, heated, vented and massage function. It eats up miles

[pmanson]

ekulluke said:

Very nice. Really like that colour. Almost reminds me of Porsche Crayon. The Mrs has an Abarth 595 in a similar colour.

How do you find the hybrid system? Does it kick in seamlessly? I’ve always had a lingering fancy for one of these, likely will be my choice as we get closer to the ICE ban in a fair few years time.

Hybrid is good, one issue i've found, I reverse off our drive which on a slope, as i go to drive off as the car is facing up a hill, unless i give it a couple of seconds before pulling away it will kick the petrol engine in. It's easy enough to work around.

Sometimes I find it hangs on to the petrol engine longer than expected (say for example you've pulled on to a major road and accelerated hard enough to engage the petrol engine it doesn't drop straight back onto the batteries.

Apart from that there is no feeling of one kicking in / swapping over. For the size of it, it shouldn't move as quickly as it does

Edited by pmanson on Thursday 22 October 16:42

[RC1807]

Did Volvo do anything about the airflow to the rear seats that made you choose a 2nd one?

[Mij91]

RC1807 said:

Did Volvo do anything about the airflow to the rear seats that made you choose a 2nd one?

He mentioned that with the comfort pack Aircon is distributed to the rear seats on this one .

[pmanson]

RC1807 said:

Did Volvo do anything about the airflow to the rear seats that made you choose a 2nd one?

The T8 comes as standard with the comfort pack (which gives you ventilation to the third row).

If I was spec'ing a non T8 it would be a must have option IMO (along with the 360 camera)

[Paracetamol]

Great cars and I miss the Swiss Army knife utility of ours. We had the T6 petrol which unfortunately was a very coarse unit. I think the soundproofing was improved on later cars. We also had air suspension which made the car feel much more luxurious.

With a a 6 cylinder this would have been one of the best cars in the real world.

Love the OP spec. Very tasteful.

[interstellar]

I have the T5 inscription in denim. Although it’s quick enough it sounds like a 1.2 corsa most of the time .