Volvo S60 Polestar

Volvo is cashing in on it's new found successes in Australia's V8 supercar racing with its S60 race car.
The T6 Polestar model doesn't have a V8, but its straight six, three litre turbocharged engine is a powerhouse nonetheless.
The stats are impressive. 258 kw and a giant 500 nm of torque make this engine a real standout all the way to its 6,500 rpm redline..
0 to 100 kilometres an hour is reached in 4.9 seconds..that's serious acceleration, in Audi RS4 V8 territory. 

Accompanying this spectacular grunt (and waiting to be unleashed whenever you want it,in an instant,) is a fabulous snarling, rasping, crackling exhaust from its twin pipes in Sport mode. 
It's a glorious sound and shows off the power of the S 60 to perfection..It's a real head turning and thrilling noise that lets others know this is no ordinary Volvo. (The regular exhaust note is a sophisticated and subdued burble.)
You'll average about 10 litres per 100 kilometres and considering the performance of this car that's pretty good economy.
Visually, the S 60 Polestar is somewhat of a "sleeper." It's painted in the same standout mid blue livery as its Supercar sibling. Subtle badges, huge 20 inch wheels shod with 245/35 series tyres and a small boot spoiler are the only external signs of the true performance car that it is.

The Polestar S60 takes corners with great precision thanks to its all wheel drive Haldex system,and is one of the most surefooted cars I have driven. It's great fun and pure point and squirt motoring at its very best.The only downside is some tyre whine on coarse road surfaces, but it's purely in the background.
The suspension is adjustable, and is a little on the firm side but that suits its character perfectly. The six speed auto gearbox is terrific..snappy changes can be made in sport manual mode or you can leave it to its own devices. Either way it's a breeze to use.

The seats are supremely comfortable, trimmed in a combination of leather and suede inserts, with blue stitching matching the car's exterior colour.
The speedometer is novel. It displays your current speed, with the upper numbers only appearing on the dial the faster you go. The tachometer, as in other S60s is a vertical display to the right of the central speedometer.

I like the floating central console, that will be familiar to other Volvo owners. This car has the console trimmed in carbon fibre.
There's generous padding for arms and elbows, and plenty of room for both front and rear occupants.There's all the usual Volvo safety kit,including active cruise control,blind spot indicators in the wing mirrors,lane departure warning,city safety brake assist, which automatically brakes the car at lower speeds should an obstacle (i.e. a pedestrian) jump out in front of the car. Audio afficionados will love the sound quality from the 12 speaker Harmon Kardon system.
The central info screen contains everything you could want to know  and there's i pod, and bluetooth connectivity and voice activated sat nav as well.

Night time safety is enhanced with brilliantly bright Bi Xenon lamps that turn as the steering wheel is turned.
Build quality is superb.
This is one car that could change your mind about owning a Volvo,
it's spectacular fun when pressing on, yet is also a pleasure to drive in day to day use. 
It turned quite a few heads during my week with it.
The S 60 range starts at around 50K.The car on test here retails at 99K but it's one heck of a value performance package.
Peter Sellen