You know how those fantasy football league things work. You try and cram Rooney, Drogba and Torres up front, with Terry, Vidic and Vermaelen down back. In the midfield you somehow have to find the cash for Lampard, Fabregas and Gerrard. It’s a tough ask, to be sure, but Volvo have had a crack at doing the same thing with their C30 Polestar Concept.
You’ll remember the car first showed its bright blue face at the Gothenburg Motor Show last month. In case you missed it, up front the fireworks are provided by a 400bhp 2.5 litre turbo in line five cylinder. Yes, that’s right—four hundred horespower! Defence is bolstered by Brembo brakes and race-inspired Ohlins suspension. Mid-field distribution is handled by a specially tuned Haldex all-wheel drive system.
Sounds stark raving mad, doesn’t it. So how does it drive? Well, I’m glad you asked, because the Euro motoring press have just been handed the keys, pointed to a closed track and told to give that Swedish smurf a jolly good seeing to.
Autocar reckon: “On Volvo’s tight, cresty test track in Gothenburg it delivered an impressively lashed-down driving experience, with massive adhesion, telepathic steering and a neutral chassis balance that makes it easy to find the sweet spot between understeer and (mild) oversteer.”
Top Gear says: “It is fast. Worryingly fast. One of the very quickest small things we’ve ever driven. Polestar says the C30 recorded a 0-62mph time of 4.6 seconds… and that was going easy on the transmission. They reckon a full-bore test would see it go close to four seconds flat. It’ll lap Volvo’s test track quicker than an Evo X… and within a few seconds of Volvo’s C30 touring car.”
Impressive. It’s not all fun and games though with reports suggesting the car is a little off production standard. Which is possibly why we may never see this Concept make it into Volvo showrooms. As a vehicle to announce the Polestar brand as Volvo’s in-house tuning specialist, though, the C30 Polsetar Concept is kicking goals from all over the park.
There’s a new video after the break, too, which is pretty much the same as the one already posted here, but with English sub-titles for the Swedish interviewees.
