Polestar upgrade for diesel XC60

[Mick787]

I agree Humming, that's why I am trying to find out as much as possible about it and any pro's and cons. Being the sceptic I am, dealers want to make a sale they will only say what is in their interests. I am hoping users will give a true, real world review, to let others know if the software upgrade is worth buying. I was looking on the 'net last night to try and find out more and came across one dealership in London (Sentinel Volvo) offering it even at an even cheaper all inclusive price of £635. I am NOT affiliated to, or have any personal interest in the dealership.

[Mick787]

I have been in contact with my insurance company and should I go ahead with the software upgrade, they will class it as a modification which will result in my voluntary excess being increased, plus there is an increase to my premium and a small amount to pay for the period left for the current insurance period.

My dealership won't match the price currently displayed by Sentinel Volvo London. I wonder if this price is an error on their site.

I thought I should include a link to the Polestar site which gives details of any performance changes the software should make on a model by model chart for any other members wondering about taking up this offer. I'm honestly in two minds as to whether this would be of any benefit when taking into account all the extra costs.

https://engineered.polestar.com/intl...delYearId=1395

[MacV50]

Originally Posted by davB

Same email arrived for me as well - I have XC60 D4 FWD and with the scary torque steer in Sports mode I'm not sure I want 220 bhp.

The perception of 'value' is also to be considered - £695! - gosh. A colleague at work said 'so Volvo knew they could get extra BHP from the engine and yet decided to sell it as an 'extra' - Indeed; I think it's called 'business'.

I did see that you have 14 days to decide whether to keep it so they have to be confident that most users would like it.

You won't get 220bhp from a FWD D4 on Polestar. Volvo quote 200bhp for that engine.

All the manufacturers do it. Engines are now offered in different states of tune instead of different capacities. There's a plethora of 2.0 diesels available from 120bhp up to well over 200bhp. The actual differences between these are often small

[davB]

Originally Posted by MacV50

You won't get 220bhp from a FWD D4 on Polestar. Volvo quote 200bhp for that engine.

All the manufacturers do it. Engines are now offered in different states of tune instead of different capacities. There's a plethora of 2.0 diesels available from 120bhp up to well over 200bhp. The actual differences between these are often small

So only 10 hp difference for £695 - think I'll pass

[xsaab]

I think the benefit of the extra 10hp will be at what revs the extra power/torque is available.

[Julianpms]

Originally Posted by davB

So only 10 hp difference for £695 - think I'll pass

Power is only a small part of this; Polestar upgrade gets you an extra 40Nm torque on the D4 engine (up from 400 to 440Nm) and improves the Geartronic performance.

[AndyJudge]

Originally Posted by Julianpms

Power is only a small part of this; Polestar upgrade gets you an extra 40Nm torque on the D4 engine (up from 400 to 440Nm) and improves the Geartronic performance.

Don't forget you also get the Little blue badge as well

[Mick787]

I rang Sentinel Volvo London yesterday about their cheaper offer on their web site, they were due to ring me back but didn't. So I rang them again today. It appears their web site may be wrong. In any event, I'm not buying the software package.

[NigelDay]

I've always thought if they sold the package for £400 they would have a lot more interest - and probably sell more than twice the number they currently do at the higher price.

[AndyJudge]

Well I can report that on a 2015MY D5 AWD Auto I can feel the difference with the box in 'normal' mode the car feels to have a lot more urge in the mid-range, almost like a non-polestar car is like in sport mode. The mpg on the run from York up the A19 is reporting an indicated 38.8 mpg I'll be able to do a better comparison after Sundays run.