Polestar Upgrade

All Volvo XC40 related discussions
Post Reply
AndrewMcC
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:04 am

Post by AndrewMcC »

Anyone been offer the Polestar upgrade package as yet? Any opinions - does anyone know, or think it would be worth paying for? It doesn't appear to be too expensive but am curious to know how much difference it would make?
2019 XC40 Fusion Red T5 R-Design 20"Alloys

johnd
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:58 am

Post by johnd »

A few here seem to have had it done but I suspect you're only going to get subjective opinions and less in the way of hard facts. Polestar seems to do 3 things:

1. A barely measurable (1bhp?) increase in maximum power (though there may be more power lower in the rev range);
2. A more marked increase in max torque from 350 to 400Nm;
3. Reprogramming of the gearbox to give earlier (& faster?) changes;

But there seems to be very little hard information for XC40 as to how this translates into performance numbers. 0-60 is I believe meant to be 0.1s better, but that's all the hard info I've seen. What it would be good to see is an overlay of the power and torque curves before and after Polestar (which may be out there somewhere, but I haven't been able to spot it) and comparative numbers for mid-range acceleration times (eg 30-50 or 30-70), which I suspect will show more of an improvement.

Subjective opinion seems to be that it is definitely worthwhile giving livelier-feeling performance, but it would be great to see some numbers to illustrate that. You'd think that someone somewhere might have done some dyno testing for instance.
Last edited by johnd on Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
AndrewMcC
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:04 am

Post by AndrewMcC »

Thanks for the feedback. I have seen the stats and it seems to aimed mostly at mid-range performance, for overtaking - so could be quite useful.
2019 XC40 Fusion Red T5 R-Design 20"Alloys
Gre
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:49 am

Post by Gre »

I would defiantly recommend the upgrade. Not sure the effect on the T5, however for the D4 upgrade I can notice a big change in acceleration and midrange. Maybe the numbers are not the best to show that but I for sure felt the difference, especially the gearbox gear changes.
D4 R design FE bright silver 20 wheels.
Sventek
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:11 pm

Post by Sventek »

My upgrade on the T5 was 'nice', but underwhelming. As others have said, I think it should have been the standard state of tune for the car. The most impressive benefit, for me, is the gear change.
Ian333
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 4:35 pm

Post by Ian333 »

I’ve had it now for 5 days but not done many miles yet. From the few miles I have done, the mid range torque is definitel y noticeable and feels very ‘punchy’ between say 2k and 4.5k revs. The gear changes are also a lot faster and now sounds and feels more like a Manual or dual clutch box and is really quick. I can’t really tell about the move to be more rear wheel drive but that will come when I push it I guess.
I basically wanted my T5 to be as good as it could be so although expensive, I’ll be keeping it!!
Hope this helps.
P.S. I got Polestar at the same time as having a dash cam fitted and got £150 off the combined price so there is room for a deal 😉
Ordered T5 R-Design Pro with most of the bells and whistles in early May ‘18 and received delivery at end of Jan ‘19
Very Happy 😃... especially now it’s Polestarred
AndrewMcC
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:04 am

Post by AndrewMcC »

Very useful - thanks all. I can feel an upgrade coming on!
2019 XC40 Fusion Red T5 R-Design 20"Alloys
xc40nz
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:16 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by xc40nz »

Any news of a T4 P* upgrade? What kinda KW/Nm increase we lookin' at here?
T4 Inscription + all options + sport pedals ;)
xc40nz
Posts: 23
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:16 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by xc40nz »

Will it be the same KW increase as the D4?
T4 Inscription + all options + sport pedals ;)
PaulU
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2020 11:35 pm

Post by PaulU »

My understanding is that it also shifts more traction to the rear wheels, approx 40%, permanently, rather than just when the AWD thinks it might need to. Thus, gives a different driving characteristic more akin to permanent true all 4 wheel drive, rather than the normal front wheel drive bias.

I would think the more all 4 wheels drive would be good on snow or mud.

Anyone who has it care to comment?
Post Reply