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Is there any automaker that has a better comeback story than Volvo? Since being sold by Ford to Geely Holding Group in 2010, the underdog Swedish automaker has been steadily growing, and improving the overall quality of their products across the board.
The biggest challenge the folks at Volvo have faced is how to make the brand relevant outside of their core demographic, which is traditionally comprised of people who have closets full of North Face apparel, and vacation properties in New England.
Judging just by how many V60 wagons and XC90s I see on the streets, I think it’s safe to say that Volvo has succeeded in expanding their market reach. How they did it isn’t exactly a secret either, they’ve stayed true to who they are as a brand, and just made their products better.They haven’t chased trends, haven’t strayed away from what makes a Volvo, a Volvo, and in doing so they’ve positioned themselves as a smart alternative to the German establishment.
They’ve got a bonafide hit in the family market with the XC90, the S90 will make waves in the executive segment, and now it’s time for the enthusiast market to get excited about the updated S60 and V60 Polestar models.
These are the quickest cars Polestar has ever made, both have dropped their 0-62 mph times by 0.2 seconds over the outgoing models (there’s your go to humblebrag stat) with the S60 needing 4.7 seconds, and 4.8 for the V60, or about 12 times longer than it takes Steph Curry to get a shot off.
The quickness comes courtesy of the 2.0-liter twin-charged four cylinder that replaces the old 3.0-liter straight six, and in this application the motor puts out 362 hp, and 347 lb-ft of torque thanks to some tweaks made by Polestar.
These changes (naturally) include a bigger turbo, supercharger, and a larger air intake to keep things nice and frosty in the engine bay. New conrods and a higher capacity fuel pump were also added, but even so, Volvo claims fuel economy, and CO2 emissions are “at a class leading level“, if you care about that kind of thing.
Quite frankly, I do not. These cars could get 20 mpg and I’d still be lusting after them. There’s something inherently quirky and cool about a fast Volvo, it just so happens that these new models are rather efficient as well, the S60 comes in at 30.1 mpg, and the V60 at 29.04 mpg respectively.The quickness comes courtesy of the 2.0-liter twin-charged four cylinder that replaces the old 3.0-liter straight six, and in this application the motor puts out 362 hp, and 347 lb-ft of torque thanks to some tweaks made by Polestar.
These changes (naturally) include a bigger turbo, supercharger, and a larger air intake to keep things nice and frosty in the engine bay. New conrods and a higher capacity fuel pump were also added, but even so, Volvo claims fuel economy, and CO2 emissions are “at a class leading level“, if you care about that kind of thing.
A 44 lb weight reduction, which brings the S60 to 3,860 lbs, and the V60 to 3,960 lbs, is part of what helps the Swedish hot rods to be less thirsty for fuel, but the enhanced 8-speed Geartronic automatic transmission provides a much needed assist as well. So, more power, better fuel economy, tweaked transmission, updated power steering, and bigger brakes, yeah, I think the new Polestars will do just fine.
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