What's the news?
Volvo's fledgling performance arm, Polestar, has developed some upgrades for the XC90 SUV, specifically for the D5 and T6 models. And what we're hoping is that they make their way over here.
Called Polestar Performance Optimisation (PPO), it is essentially a remap that alters the mid-range power and torque, sharpens the throttle response and speeds up the gearbox to make quicker changes - with an added piece of software ensuring the car doesn't shift gear during hard cornering, which can unbalance the vehicle.
The power gains are modest (+8hp for the D5 and +14hp for the T6, resulting in peaks of 233hp and 334hp respectively), although the extra torque is most welcome - 30Nm for the D5 (new peak: 500Nm) and 40Nm for the T6 (new peak: 440Nm). While such increases should marginally improve performance, mild remaps like this often also lead to better emissions and economy figures, as the engine is working slightly less hard to maintain momentum at normal road speeds.
Still, we're not sure if these will be offered in Ireland, but here's Thed Björk, reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) champion and Polestar Cyan Racing driver, who says: "The new Polestar optimisation is about making the car more dynamic and responsive to drive. We use the same philosophy as when optimising our race cars, to create a completely balanced package. And this is exactly what we have focused on with the new-generation optimisations for Volvo cars: powertrain optimisation for real-life driving."
Anything else?
Haven't got an XC90, or you're just not interested in a mildly tuned SUV? Then you might be interested to know that PPO upgrades are also available on two more Drive-E units, the 190hp/400Nm D4 diesel and the 245hp/350Nm T5 petrol. Power climbs to 200hp and torque to 440Nm for the D4, while the T5 ends up with 253hp and 400Nm. The D4 upgrades are available for the V40, V40 Cross Country (CC), S60, V60 and XC60; the T5 enhancements are only offered for the V40 and V40 CC.