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Polestar Reviews

87K views 324 replies 65 participants last post by  TShirtDriving 
#1 ·
#93 ·
Lee, very nice of you to come on to the forum and give us further insight into your thoughts on the forum. I'd like to make it over to Scotland, so if I do, I will hold you to the single malt.
While I don't have a Polestar, I too was very impressed with it, particularly its composure and suspension set up. The sound can be intoxicating, but more and more manufacturers are creating sound bites fed into the cabin. Its more difficult to create a well balanced yet fast car, that ticks off many enthusiast boxes. I will make do with an R-Design, and hopefully upgrade in a few years.
Lastly, I must say your accent had me fooled (I am Irish and am familiar with many scottish brethren), and I would not have guessed you to be a non-native Scot.
All the best,
Karl.
 
#96 ·
While also not a review, I got confirmation of when another one is coming. It looks like it was fairly well received and good things are expected to be said ...
 
#101 · (Edited)
Check the date. What I saw was the early preview event in April/May of last year. All the car rags were there. Many are giving it a full review now that it's in their hands at home. Which is what looks like is going on to me.

edit: Or is there a review but in the published paper mag only and I haven't been out of the house to see that yet? :D

As to the conclusion, ya, not as much love from the brits proportional to the rest of the world. No need to rehash why here (we know, we know -lol). But if their 0-60 test is any indication, with them getting only 5 sec. out of it where C&D managed to squeeze 4.5 sec from their S60 tester (I'm guessing C&D used manual mode and evo used auto/S shifting) this test won't go so well either.
 
#106 ·
I don't find it harsh at all, it's firm, but still compliant. The V60P* swallows large bumps without a whimper, I have had cars that crash hard on bumps and will actually launch you at speed over a bump. The V60P* is not like that at all, although truth be told I don't like it at 10/10 on the interstate, all of my driving is on back roads so 10/10 is perfect, but if most of my driving was on the interstate I'd switch it to 14/12. I don't need razor sharp handling on the interstate, I'd opt for for a little more comfort if I spent all my time on the interstate.
 
#107 · (Edited)
A new one: http://www.auto123.com/en/car-reviews/2015-volvo-v60-polestar-review/60345/

Must be a fan of Clarkson ... "To stir the soul, one must be rocked to the core, either in a gentle or forceful fashion. The Polestar menaces the horizon with the sweetest look, but when the big straight-6 revs up and boost builds, a little bit of poo may escape if one is not careful with the go-pedal. "

It's nothing new really; not that I mind tho. I enjoy reading others enjoy their experience with this vehicle. It's short. More like an outline, as a sequence of one or two sentence paragraphs. Based on the price, seems it's a Canadian review. But since it's not a British review, it's quite positive.

And talking about the brits ... I've basically given up on the brit sourced, CarWitter. He made a twitter post the last few days of 2014 of something like 'what a way to end 2014, with the glorious Polestar'. Mid-month January, he said the review was written and would come the end of the month. A few days after the end of the month when I asked again, was told there were 3 in-front of it. It's now March. There have been countless articles posted. Still, nuth'n. It must have been too glowing of a review and he faced threats by all the other car bloggers on his island for being too positive and not letting the price stop that. ...screw'it, I unsubscribed the feed.
 
#108 ·
This suspension has the ability to be super smooth i you want it to but it comes at a cost. I drove the first 3,200+ miles with my front suspension at 15 and my rear at 8 because the factory set it that way for some reason. The car was super smooth and I was constantly getting comments from passengers about it. Almost felt like an air suspension. The downside is that I felt like it would float over a quick series of bumps and was just overall not as stable. I haven't driven a lot since switching back to the 10/10 setup but the car feels completely different. I prefer the firmer feel; passengers and reviewers may not.
 
#120 · (Edited)
The handling story is also rife with inconsistencies: lateral grip is impressive up to about eight-tenths, but unless you romp hard on the gas, understeer becomes a force to reckon with. The Polestar's 80 percent stiffer springs and high-performance Öhlins shock absorbers make for a surprisingly brittle, kids-will-drop-their-juice-boxes kind of ride. Perhaps most egregious for the enthusiast driver is the steering, which is loyal but lifeless.

Sounds like the British reviews. And #73 is another one without the grocery holder...?

By the way, there sure seem to be a lot of press vehicles out there.
 
#124 ·
Perhaps. I think it appropriate to keep in mind this car has adjustable race suspension, with some of the best dampers offered in any factory car this side of Lamborghini. Commenting on the car's ride without any reference toward adjustability, or having real world experience, is a disservice to informed enthusiasts.
 
#123 ·
It seems so. Even just not knowing how it was setup for each review is an unfortunate thing.

I found tire air pressure to affect this vehicle dramatically.
 
#126 ·
That is nice. On a side note, I wish there were more video reviews of the Polestars on YouTube and other sites. One of the downsides of it being such an extremely limited production vehicle is the limited attention overall from the media and blogs (at least as compared to the coverage of more "mainstream" performance cars), as well as the aftermarket industry. Having said that, I still love how rare the Polestars are because I was lucky enough to buy one!
 
#127 ·
You're joking. There are more reviews than there are actual cars. It is completely a marketing exercise by Volvo since 99.9% of those reading the reviews will never even have a chance to get one. I am shocked at how much attention it has received in the press all over the world. There was controversy in my home area because it won an award for mainstream vehicles and people were asking why would the journalists' association give a major award to a car you can't get? They thought it was that good.

http://www.wheels.ca/news/ajac-2015-canadian-car-of-the-year-winners/
 
#128 ·
I hear what you're saying - that relative to its production it's received a lot of attention, so point taken there. I was talking more about the coverage it gets relative to other performance cars. For example, it gets no where near the coverage of the German performance divisions, and nor should it - yet. Polestars are new and far more limited, so I get it.
 
#130 · (Edited)
The one I was told would be posted at the end of January is here. <grin> It's indepth as most these days, if not as technical in some arenas as some of us would like. It's nice to see not everyone that reviews cars on the main British isle passes their opinion thru an accountant filter... I'd consider it fair and dare I say balanced. Enjoy:

http://carwitter.com/2015/03/21/volvo-v60-polestar-review-savage-swede/
 
#132 · (Edited)
Thanks for posting. I don't have the issues with creaks and rattles in my interior that he noted, but that car very well could. The only issues with my interior was that the leather on the seats could have been wrapped tighter, but that is common.

I really enjoyed the exhaust video. I was surprised to see how far the exhaust moves out under full acceleration. Cool video.
 
#133 ·
Ya, you remind me I wanted to comment on that creaks and rattles statement. I think running over 1000 too many curbs on the track may have had left a mark. -lol
 
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