Volvo V40 Polestar To Rival Ford Focus RS

Polestar is to Volvo as AMG is to Mercedes – a company whose mission in life is to take ordinary production cars and turn them into performance oriented road rockets. While AMG has been bought by Mercedes and made part of the company, Polestar continues as a separate entity that continues to work closely with Volvo.

Polestar came to prominence recently when it took the C30 race car that won the 2009 Swedish Touring Car Championship, and turned it into a street legal road car. With 405 hp, all wheel drive, enormous Brembo brakes and a straight through exhaust all wrapped up in electric blue, the C30 Polestar certainly got noticed!

According to Auto Express, Polestar is applying its talents to the Volvo V40, and will use the all-new 315 horsepower turbo and supercharged four-cylinder engine, though there’s room to grow. The supercharged and turbocharged engine will produce as much as 400 horsepower from the next generation hybrid XC90. Couple that to a performance oriented chassis fitted with stiffer springs, upgraded dampers and bigger brakes and you end up with a car that is seriously quick and has the handling of a racer. 0 – 60 in under 6 seconds is certainly possible, and there’s always the potential for a hybrid version with even more power. The V40 Polestar will be Volvo’s answer to the upcoming Ford Focus RS, the Audi S3 and the BMW M135i.

At the moment, Volvo is analyzing the business case for the V40 Polestar. Part of that discussion will be whether or not to give the car all-wheel drive capability. The V40 Cross Country already has AWD, so the hardware is available, but price will be an important consideration. If the V40 Polestar is to be competitive with other models in the marketplace, all-wheel drive might be too costly an option to take on other hot hatchbacks.

One thing buyers will not get is the Rebel Blue exterior that Polestar is famous for. Production cars will only be available in red, black or silver. Red would be nice, but that Electric Blue is something else.

Source: Gas2

2015 Volvo XC90 Gets the Twin Engine Treatment

The upcoming Volvo XC90 isn’t even here yet, but it’s causing quite a stir among the faithful. Whether that’s because of its exciting new Drive-E engines, Apple CarPlay-ready interior, or “Made in China” construction site, though, is up for debate. There’s one thing Volvo claims won’t be up for debate, however: the 2015 Volvo XC90 T8 will offer the best performance and fuel economy in its class.

The T8 designation on the new Volvos is key, as it represents the top trim level of the “big” Volvos. At the front of the car, a gas-powered Drive-E turbo-AND-supercharged 4 cylinder powers the front wheels. Out back, however, is where things get interesting – because that’s where the second drivetrain lives.

Like the matte-white Volvo XC60 hybrid concept I got to play with last year, the rear wheels are driven by a high-torque, 80 HP electric motor that will allow the 2015 Volvo XC90 to operate effectively as an EV around town, a FWD 4 cyl. on the highway, and an AWD hybrid speed machine when you mash your foot to the Volvo’s luxuriously carpeted floor.

Volvo claims that the new T8 “Twin Engine” setup is good for 25 miles of pure electric driving, and delivers a total output of 400 HP with more than 470 lb-ft of torque while producing just 60 g/km of C02. That works out to more than 90 MPG in the European city cycle, or something like (a still-astonishing) 75 MPG in the US.

Source | Images: Volvo, via Green Car Reports.

Volvo Planning Plug-In Hybrids For Every U.S. Model

According to Plug-In Cars, Volvo has decided to offer a plug-in hybrid option on all its future US models, beginning with model year 2017. Only 2.0 liter turbocharged gas or diesel engines will be available as well as Volvo continues its efforts to downsize its emissions. Unfortunately, previous work on an electric C30 has quietly ceased and no further electric only Volvos are planned at this time.

The New York Times reported earlier this year that Volvo will replace its entire model lineup over the next few years, staking its immediate future on a single chassis architecture, engine and transmission.

The new V60 plug-in hybrid will lead the way, providing up to 30 miles of range in the Pure electric only mode – more than enough for most driver’s daily commute. It can run in Hybrid mode for extended range, or Power mode for maximum performance with all 240 horsepower on tap. This is just an example of the Volvo hybrids we can expect in the future.

Volvo says this strategy, built around what it calls Scalable Product Architecture, will give it a wider range of options to make vehicles of different sizes, weights and horsepower ratings, with either front- or all-wheel drive, while retaining the economic benefits of using many common parts. In the Volvo system, the internal combustion engine powers the front wheels while the electric motor powers the rears. This reduces some of the complicated combination motor and transmission components found in other hybrids, and could also help bolster Volvo’s performance credentials as well.

Pricing in America has not yet been announced, but the V60 plug in hybrid sells for the equivalent of $85,488 in the UK.

Source: Gas 2.