Volvo V90 Cross Country Receives Polestar Performance Optimisation

Volvo’s in-house tuning division reworks on five key areas to improve feedback from the drivetrain

Many carmakers have their own in-house tuning divisions, which are approached time-to-time to transform a standard car into something special. Just like Mercedes-Benz has AMG and BMW has the ‘M’ division, Volvo Cars has Polestar. The latest generation of Polestar performance optimisation is now available for the new Volvo V90 Cross Country. Five key areas have been retuned to deliver more driver-centric performance.

To begin with, the optimisation has been made available on three models of the V90 Cross Country - T6, D5 and D4. The main focus of the entire performance optimization is on the mid-range, the area most often used in everyday driving. The tuning division has recalibrated throttle response, gearshift speed, gearshift precision with gear hold, off-throttle response and engine performance to collectively deliver a more efficient overall driving performance.

Niels Möller, COO, Polestar shared his thoughts by saying, “To include the V90 Cross Country, a true adventure crossover, in our optimisation programme is a vital part of our operation to further expand on Volvo Cars’ new SPA vehicle architecture. Our product provides performance-oriented customers with a new level of driving pleasure.”

The throttle response has been retuned for the engine to respond faster to the commands from the driver, especially during manoeuvres where immediate power delivery is required - for instance while overtaking or driving on twisty roads. Next up is the gearshift speed, which has been increased for the car to accelerate faster and react more directly to the inputs from the driver. Similarly, Polestar has also worked on gearshift precision and gear hold, to efficiently utilise the optimised mid-range performance of the engine.

The other two areas that Polestar has worked on are off-throttle response and engine performance. The former helps keep the car in balance during fast cornering and provides the driver with improved predictability. Optimised engine performance works in combination with all the other changes to harness more response during the mid-range of the powerplant.