Road test review: Volvo XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered

Monday, 16 March 2020

**VOLVO XC60 T8 POLESTAR ENGINEERED

Base price:** $129,900

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo and supercharged petrol with electric motor, 246kW/430Nm (maximum system output 311kW/670Nm), 8-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 2.2L/100km, CO2 51g/km (source: RightCar).

Vital statistics: 4688mm long, 2117mm wide, 1658mm high, 2865mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 505 litres, 21-inch alloy wheels.

A hybrid SUV with manually adjustable suspension and monster brakes? It shouldn't work, but it does.

We like: Serious performance, sublime handling, allows us to unleash nerdy obsessiveness over suspension settings.

We don't like: Like the V60 there's no electric-only mode, made us have to admit a sporty SUV is actually possible…

Volvo's T8 hybrid powertrain boosts the 2.0-litre engine with a turbo, a supercharged and an electric motor.

So, let's say you were making a list of cars that should have race-style manually adjustable dampers installed, just for fun. You almost most likely wouldn't include anything that was classified as a hybrid and would be even less likely to include an SUV, right? Well, Volvo certainly doesn't think that way, which is why we have the XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered, a plug-in hybrid SUV with massive brakes and manually adjustable dampers. Yes, seriously.

In what world does this actually make sense?

None. There is literally no sense to be made of a PHEV SUV with manually adjustable dampers. Just none.

The monstrous 6 pot front brakes are necessary when you have 311kW and 675Nm on hand.

* Volvo Cars and owner Geely consider merger deal

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* Why the Volvo XC60 is our Top Premium SUV of 2018**

The XC60's interior remains a classy and beautifully built thing.

Except… while the whole concept is quite silly, the actual end result is, well, somewhat spectacular and massively enjoyable, on many different levels.

Let's take a look at the hybrid aspect of this wonderfully silly thing first - the particular plug-in hybrid drivetrain we are talking about here is Volvo's utterly fantastic T8 'twin engine' system, which means that not only does a petrol engine supply drive to the front wheels, an electric motor also drives to the rear wheels.

But that petrol engine happens to be Volvo's 246kW/430Nm 2.0-litre inline four that packs not just a turbo, but also a supercharger, meaning that it essentially has three sources of extra boost - the turbo, the supercharger and the electric motor, for a total maximum system output of a frankly silly 311kW and 675Nm.

This means that when you nail the throttle in the 'Polestar Engineered' drive mode (think 'Sport' in any other car) you get some fairly spectacular results - instant torque from the electric motor, near instant power from the supercharger and only slightly delayed power from the turbo, making for relentless acceleration right across the rev range. The fact that you also get a rorty snarl from the engine and a slight hint of supercharger whine is an evocative bonus.

The manually adjustable dampers have 22 settings and are a detail nerd's dream.

So it's fast like all other Volvos with the T8 drivetrain. Why the need for adjustable dampers then?

Aside from the power and handling, the XC60 T8 is also remarkably frugal and capable of pure electric commuting.

Oh, there is no need - they are just for fun.

If, like me, you are the nerdy type who loves tinkering with settings to get them just right for different occasions, then you will love the XC60 for this very reason - I spent a large part of the weekend adjusting the Polestar's suspension and going for a drive, then stopping on the side of the road and tweaking the settings a bit. Rinse and repeat until it gets dark and I got hungry. Eat, go home, do it all again the next day.

Adjusting the dampers requires you to open the bonnet and twist the knobs on the top of the dampers in the engine bay for the front, and reaching up into the wheel arches at the rear, removing the rubber caps and twisting the knobs back there as well.

There are 22 settings on the dampers, and best practice is to twist each one clockwise back to the hardest setting and then counting the clicks as you twist it anti-clockwise, so you get the same setting on each individual damper. It is actually a very easy process and a five minute job at most, once you get the hang of it.

If this sounds tedious and stupidly unnecessary to you, then the XC60 Polestar Engineered is not the car for you in any way, buy a T8 R-Design instead - you'll get the superb drivetrain without the dampers and never have to think of such things again.

However, if this sounds brilliant to you, yet the idea of doing it on an SUV grates, then keep reading…

Surely something like that makes more sense on something like the S60 or (preferably for us wagon nerds) the V60?

Absolutely. And Volvo offers Polestar Engineered versions of the S60 and V60 that will be landing here soon, but the XC60 taps into that demand for SUVs that has polluted the world of cars and actually manages to pull off something I personally never thought possible - a truly, properly sporty SUV.

Now, if you have already stopped reading this in disgust at seeing that phrase, then I will probably never be able to convince you, but the Polestar Engineered version of the XC60 actually did convince me - an avowed and vocal hater of the entire concept of the 'sporty SUV' - that it is actually possible…

Okay, so as far as SUVs go, the XC60 was hardly a toweringly tall, hefty beast with a high centre of gravity to begin with, instead being more of a taller V60, which gives it a distinct advantage in the handling stakes.

But wind the dampers down to about two or three and the Polestar Engineered XC60 corners with the flat, aggressive confidence of a car that wouldn't be out of its depth at a track day, with effortlessly muscular performance to back that up

A track day? have you lost all grip on reality?

Long ago, but the XC60 Polestar Engineered actually does make you question your reality by handling as well as it does, because spend five minutes to twist the knobs up to around 18 or 19 and you have a still noticeably firm, but wonderfully comfortable and practical SUV that also happens to be deeply frugal - the PHEV system gives it an all-electric range of around 40km, while using it as a hybrid sees frankly minuscule fuel consumption figures with little more effort than remembering to plug it in at night.

Even if you don't, it is still impressively frugal, with a few days of not charging it and a mixture of driving it around town and quite aggressively on winding back roads saw the average consumption only just creep into double figures, before a charge saw it drop back down into the 8s the following day.

Any other cars I should consider?

If the whole sound of this car appeals to you, then no; there is simply nothing else that offers this unique blend of SUV practicality, sports car grunt, frugal commuting and racing car-like handling when you want it. Except maybe a Polestar Engineered V60 wagon…

If you still can't see the appeal, then you never will, so go buy literally any other European SUV. Or a V60 wagon…