Polestar Expands its Reach on Volvo’s Drive-E T6 Powertrain

2016 Volvo S60 (Credit: Volvo )

Volvo has been steadily increasing the involvement of its Polestar performance arm, and folks are starting to take notice. Never before has Volvo been taken so seriously in the performance luxury segment as it is now, and today it has announced that Polestar has expanded its optimization offering to the S60, V60, and XC60 models with the Drive-E T6 AWD powertrain.

While Volvo didn’t outright announce what this Polestar optimization kit will do or their recipients, a little digging through Polestar’s site revealed all the details. This kit will take the Drive-E T6 AWD powerplant and tweak its max output from 306 horsepower to 310 while peak torque creeps up to 317 foot-pounds from 295 pounds of twist. In the meat of the rev band—from 2,500 to 4,000 rpm—the Polestar kit really shines, as it pushes the 2.0-liter’s output from 228 horsepower to 245 ponies.

In addition to the power upgrades, this kit improves throttle response, gearshift speed, gearshift precision and gear holding, off-throttle performance, and more. This movement into other parts of the powertrain other than the engine is a new task for a Polestar optimization kit, so actual results remain uncertain for now.

What I do know is that this kit will result in mild upticks in straight-line performance. The 2016 S60 Drive-E T6 AWD sees its 0-to-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time fall from 5.9 seconds to 5.8 ticks. The V60 wagon sees its 62 mph sprint time by 0.1 seconds to 5.9 seconds, while the XC60 drops by the same figure to just 6.8 seconds.

What’s great about these kits is that they are Volvo approved, so they will not void your warranty, increase emissions, or reduce fuel economy. A search for pricing details turned up nothing, so chances are that you’ll need to reach out to your local Volvo dealer for this info.