On my (3 week, 500 mile old) T6 XC90, switching to polestar mode emits a slightly louder high pitched whine from the engine (supercharger?); It revs higher, shifts sooner. In practical terms, it’s slightly quicker off the line, the steering is stiffer. That’s it, not a whole lot, IMO not worth the $1300 sticker, more like a $500 upgrade. I do not have 4 corner air, don’t know if suspension changes in polestar mode if you have 4C.
In contrast, on my GLC43 even though it’s just a 43, switching to sport or sport+ mode makes the car a whole different animal. It leaps off the starting line and utters a palpable growl.
Also, don’t forget that Volvo technically says there is a difference between a car that comes with Polestar and one that has it added afterwards. A car manufactured with it is “Polestar engineered” and has a white badge. A car that gets it added after delivery is “Polestar optimized” and gets a blue badge. Supposedly, the “engineered” works in concert with the entire car, but the “optimized” is just the software tune - that’s how it was explained to me, if I remember correctly.
The white badge/blue badge and polestar engineered vs optimized appears to actually be a recent change that all the new polestar equipped vehicles are getting as part of the separation of Polestar as a company from volvo. The blue color was part of the Polestar brand image and goes with polestar to their new life, so all the cars going forward get the white one. The “Polestar engineered” language is part of this agreement as well.
No question it’s not “worth” $1295 if you’re buying it for a lease (like I did). Maybe $15.50 on a payment (residualized and amortized).
I always said if I got a Volvo I would get it Polestar tuned, so I did. And I had a windfall from a lemon claim on the outgoing lease that more than paid for it. And I’m happy with it.
More annoyed they scratched up the trim around the drivers window, then the misaligned badge, then everything else about that service experience. I won’t go back to Volvo San Diego (family owned since IDGAF), but I’m very happy with the XC60 and trying to overlook the tiny nits that aren’t its fault (scratched trim and misaligned badges).
nice on the rebate!
sorry for bringing up the badge!
yours looks better than this one. seriously, these guys can’t at least use a piece of paper or a straight edge:
For those who did the Polestar update by the dealer. Is the functionality the same? In other words, do you still access the Polestar Engineered tune by clicking on the scroll wheel and then spinning it to select “PoleStar” ?
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