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2015 Car of the Year Contender

5K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Adrian-C30R 
#1 ·
Motor Trend had many good things to say about the V60 Polestar they tested. However, they said; "the brakes, which in both models displayed a spongy pedal feel that sapped driver confidence" and... "the biggest issue was the understeer. The V60 rides like a sports sedan... but the front tires quickly give up the ghost. ... big wheels couldn't hide its proclivity to understeer..."

For those of you who have already taken delivery and had a chance to test your Polestar, what has been your experience? Have you encountered either of the two shortcomings mentioned above?

Also, does the S60/V60 Polestar have the standard size R-Design rear swaybar; or, did Volvo upgrade it to 25mm? If they didn't, I can see a run on swaybar upgrades.
 
#3 ·
Penguin, if you read their COTY review within the last 12 hrs, I imagine you saw my post in the comments regarding this very thing?
 
#4 ·
Don,
The Owners Manual only says "Upgraded ant-roll bars front and rear." Is that what your reference pertains to? If so, size is not specified.

Steve,
I found several different Motor Trend sites for COTY with comments. I didn't find one with comments this past week. Got a link to the site where it is?
 
#5 ·
I drive the official winter setup from Polestar, so I cant speak for the original 20" summertires (picked it up when it already snowed), but I dont think there is a lot of understeer. Shure, if you enter the turn to fast, there is understeer (like any other frontengine awd car that weighs 1800kg), but that is about it. I love how the car handles and it has way less understeer than my previous VW Passat R36. And the best thing is, the car has almost no body roll without beeing very harsh.

The brakes just feel "normal". They do have a soft feeling (like other normal volvos), considering you compare them to my D2 Racing brakes on my previous Audi TTS. But they work really well. I will tell you more about this, once I hit the Nurburgring next year.
 
#6 ·
This is the one I assumed you were referring to: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/wagons/1411_2015_volvo_v60_polestar_first_test/

My handle there is the same as here and my comment is presently the newest post. I don't expect to get answers to my question as it's no longer a 'hot topic' garnering any more interest. But my biggest suspicion is what I posted there.

Me personally, I've only driven the car with snow tires affixed, and have not had the roads to test the vehicles limits in the time I've owned it, so I don't feel I have the right to vehemently support my position. But for a 2 ton vehicle, they sure managed to take a few hundred pounds out of how it feels. Many on this forum have had the car for months, have posted their findings, and have had drivers they respect who own cars having limits far beyond ours push the car on canyons, foothills, and/or mountain roads. And too much understeer was never part of the discussion.

I seem to have some recollection of PolestarOfficial providing the size(s) of the swaybar in their Q&A thread. I didn't re-scan the thread to confirm. And I may be remembering wrong. I know I read it somewhere tho; be it one of the many reviews out there, or on this forum.
 
#7 ·
Steve,

Thanks. I have to admit I don't usually read the online versions of magazines due to time constraints. Your comments are well stated.

I searched the Official Polestar Q&A thread. PolestarOfficial has made no comment about swaybars. Endlinks, yes; but nothing about swaybars.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I don't know what you want about the sway-bars. The Polestar is 80% stiffer then a regular R-Design. A speciality its the pull and push carbon fibre strut-bar, that makes the car much more precise and agile.
It's not a RWD, so it won't oversteer on regular conditions. It is a extremely good balanced AWD, going sideways over all 4 wheels is normal, turning in with the Rear while having load alteration. It feels very handy, not like a 1800kg Station Wagon.
Slippery conditions and ESC off means having the rear out, while pushing the accelerator. ESC on the same, only a small angle.
Breaks are good as well, but not as hard as other cars, no fading on hard braking.
 
#10 · (Edited)
"the biggest issue was the understeer. The V60 rides like a sports sedan... but the front tires quickly give up the ghost. ... big wheels couldn't hide its proclivity to understeer..."

For those of you who have already taken delivery and had a chance to test your Polestar, what has been your experience? Have you encountered either of the two shortcomings mentioned above?
I have no idea what the hell they are talking about. Pilot Super Sports "quickly" give up the ghost? My ass they do. I have taken 180*s quick enough to give you whiplash. Granted this is a very neutral car, but saying it has a lot of understeer is flatly false.
 
#11 ·
The sway bar is not 25mm based on what I've been told. I believe the Polestar setup is closer to either 22mm or 23mm.

If anyone in the DC metro area wants to meet up, I can measure the bar with my calipers.
 
#20 ·
The sway bar is not 25mm based on what I've been told. I believe the Polestar setup is closer to either 22mm or 23mm.
The article in EuropeanCarWeb stated: "Spring rates are 80 percent stiffer than a standard R-Design and the antiroll bars are 15 percent stiffer." That's not much. I would agree that it isn't any larger than 23mm.

What if an ipd sway bar was installed? They are made of 4140 chromoly steel and are at least 100% stiffer than a stock sway bar. Would it in any way adversely affect the Ohlin rear suspension setup? Is it worth taking a chance to see what kinds of changes it makes to handling and understeer?
 
#12 ·
I received my copy of the January issue five days ago and have been P***** ever since. I had an email ready to post to Motor Trend but I could not pull the trigger it was that hot. I'm not bragging put I believe I'm the only one on this form with track time plus 4000+ miles on mine. I had two hours of track driving with Polestars number one European sedan driver. If I was to rate myself on a scale of 1-5 I would say I'm a 3.5 with no prior experience. Instruction consisted of Volvo's driver doing 3 laps and then me doing 10. During his 3 laps he would show me what I did wrong and then he would increase the speed he wanted me to do. On the early laps I was off line and to late on braking and his correction was more steering and stay on the gas. The car would straighten and come back to being right on line. There were a couple when I thought the car would spin, it did not but came right back on line. The only problem I had at the end was a decreasing radii turn. At the end of the day he asked I would like to do a ride for 3 laps at racing speed, I said YES.
I can honestly say I have never experienced the complaints Motor Trend had.
 
#19 · (Edited)
And I forgot to comment on the brakes thing. Look, I love brakes. After suspension they are my favorite thing. There is nothing so good feeling as a freshly bled rock hard front brake on a 600 supersport with a brembo master cylinder. Same thing on a mountain bike, that firm well bled feeling, but with the additional necessity of modulation that is oh so critical when you are constantly on the edge of traction and need to feather. Or a road bike where you need ultimate braking that is consistent and progressive on steep fast descents. The best auto brakes have a very direct, connected feel, with no latency. In that regard, a Porsche 911S and our 330zhp were the best. In fact, after fitting stainless steel brakelines to my 2007 R they are impressively firm and direct, showing how minor alterations have big impact on pedal feel. However, that doesn't mean they are the best. You still need ultimate power, repeatability, and the lack of latency. So, looking at the Polestar, what we have is power, lack of latency, repeatability, but some lack of firmness. Firmness is the LAST item in any list of braking characteristic importance (assuming the system is well bled and lacks latency). A good driver understands system characteristics, and then evaluates them for impact on performance. It is my contention that the very minor soft feel of the pedal is completely inconsequential. That feel only takes place in the early travel and quickly disappears. After that you have a brake that provides super car performance, no latency, and repeatability. To complain so loudly about something that really has no effect on performance only reveals that you really don't have an understanding of what is important in performance. Now please excuse me while I go inspect my brake lines.
 
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