It's been over two months since I last saw a video review from Motor Trend. There is just too much cool footage out there to keep up with what everybody is saying about everything. But just a minute into this unassuming clip about a blue Volvo wagon I started to regret missing out.
The point is that this guy is really funny and makes watching YouTube cool in the same way you watch Jamie Oliver even though you hate cooking (I do). Last time, this fellow used adult video references in a review of the Range Rover Sport and Alfa Romeo 4C. And apparently, the V60 Polestar might have been named after a competition to find "Sweden's best stripper." Polestar... pole star.... stripper pole... get it? Nevermind.
With 345 horsepower from a 3-liter turbo engine, the V60 Polestar seems like the slowest performance car in the world. However, it shines in its native kingdom and proves that 70 comprehensive changes are enough to polish a T6 into something of an M3 alternative.
We suspect that nobody cares about Volvo's hot rocket. 345 horsepower doesn't even sound like enough when your average Porsche, AMG or BMW M performance SUV is pushing 600 hp. But the V60 Polestar has more soul than the Germans, and it's going to be as rare as hen's teeth.
Of the relatively small production batch, only 256 Polestar vehicles (60% of the vehicles brought in will be V60 models while 40% will be S60 variants) are coming to America in 2016. That's a drop in the ocean when you consider around 17.5 million cars were sold last year.
Unless the people who buy the V60 Polestar love it, Volvo is unlikely to build another one. You see, the company is replacing its big engines with ones that are turbocharged and supercharged, but have fewer cylinders. Polestar chose to play with the old 3-liter inline-6 and hiked the output to 340 horsepower and 500 Nm (368 lb-ft). Sure, the C450 AMG Sport Wagon has more to offer in this regard, but it's not at home in the snow.
Oh, and let's not forget that there are Ohlins shocks and a carbon fiber stabilizer bar keeping things in check. We'd also get the roof box... because this is a wagon and it looks cool that way.
Editor's note: In my September 2015 story, I said this Motor Trend reviewer was " much funnier than his doppelgänger, Adam Sandler." Is it a coincidence that he pretends to be Adam Sandler peeing in the snow? I think not!
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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