V90 D4 polestar upgrade. Is it worth it?

[Backinavolvo]

I am happy with the upgrade.

Overtaking is a breeze.. 40-70 is where it is most impressive..

I paid £599

[bobby2000]

Originally Posted by bornmiddleaged

Do you feel the car can be a bit lethargic or slow to get going, for example, pulling out of junctions or at roundabouts?

If so, then the Polestar mod will help as it makes the throttle response much "quicker" i.e. you need less pressure on the throttle to get the same amount of acceleration.
Probably a bit like having it in Dynamic mode but without it holding on to the gears until higher revs.

However, if you just feel the car needs more power in general then it won't make much difference as it is only a gain of about 10bhp and a bit of extra torque.

2 things to bear in mind:
As far as I can tell, you can't select it as the Default drive mode, it still comes on to Comfort every time and you have to change manually with the Drive mode roller.
Secondly, you will need to declare it to your insurer as a modification, effectively a remap, albeit a Volvo approved one that doesn't affect your warranty. Some insurers will no longer cover you due to the (albeit marginal) increase in power.

I imagine an aftermarket remap would be cheaper, but would void warranty.

If there is no cost to do the trial and roll it back after 14 days then you can see if you think it's worth it.

I had Polestar optimisation, when my car was around 2 months old. I notified my insurance company Admiral and there was no additional charge.

[swil00]

Originally Posted by daverey

I've got a V90 D4 without Polestar, and after my last service Dynamic Mode has been replaced by "Polestar Engineered".

As far as I am aware its just the name thats changed and a little re-mapping/tweaking as a standard software update - certainly doesn't mean people have been given the Polestar upgrade for free

Sorry to dig up an old post, but just had my car serviced today. Since I was told it had Polestar Optimisation when I bought it, I was expecting Dynamic to change to Polestar, but it stayed the same after the service.

This prompted doing some checking with the original supplying dealer, they confirmed after checking the spec, it does not have Polestar, so someone just stuck badges on it.

[MikeGMT]

Originally Posted by swil00

Sorry to dig up an old post, but just had my car serviced today. Since I was told it had Polestar Optimisation when I bought it, I was expecting Dynamic to change to Polestar, but it stayed the same after the service.

This prompted doing some checking with the original supplying dealer, they confirmed after checking the spec, it does not have Polestar, so someone just stuck badges on it.

That must be so annoying for you. Why, just why stick a badge on. Thats Fleabay for you. Did you buy from a authorised dealer or independent?

[swil00]

Originally Posted by MikeGMT

That must be so annoying for you. Why, just why stick a badge on. Thats Fleabay for you. Did you buy from a authorised dealer or independent?

Yes, a tad annoyed to say the least. I bought the car privately and did all the usual checks, but must confess I never looked into the Polestar thing, as it was a bonus more than anything else.

When I did a google search for the car, I found a photo that was apparently taken when the car was a few months old. At this time, the car was wearing a Polestar badge, so just assumed it was genuine.

Not sure if it's worth looking into further, but to my knowledge it's only ever been in 2 dealers.

The pit falls of buying used.

[MikeGMT]

You're probably right that there is not a lot you can do about it now, not without giving yourself a lot of grief. Makes you wonder how many cars are running around with badges and don't have the software installed, the badges are easily available on the usual internet sites. Bit late for you now, but for reference if the car has the Optmisation installed Polestar provide a certificate.

[AB-UK]

Perhaps you can contact Polestar and ask if they have a record of your car (VIN etc.) ?

https://www.polestar.com/uk/contact/

[swil00]

Originally Posted by AB-UK

Perhaps you can contact Polestar and ask if they have a record of your car (VIN etc.) ?

https://www.polestar.com/uk/contact/

Tried Polestar today, but no joy.

I'm going to try checking with Volvo again, maybe see if I can get a history print out for the car.

Just find it hard to believe that someone would stick a Polestar badge on a car that was only a few month old, without it actually having it.

Might be possible that someone tried it for 14 days and then got a refund, but kept the badge...

[VOLVOL0VER]

don't be naive... it was on purpose to fool you.

[Hunter303]

If you bought it from a dealer and it had the badge on when you purchased then it’s fair to assume it had the upgrade; the dealer has expertise in these areas and so are expected to check.

Again if bought from a dealer then I’d be speaking to them along those lines - at the end of the day, as far as I understand the Polestar upgrade, it’s software and so they should be able to honour the car in the way they sold it to you by putting the upgrade on for free.