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2015.5 Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar [w/video]

Polestar Performance has been around since 1996, but until recently, it only did two things: manage Volvo motorsports operations and run a specialist consumer-facing side that built concept cars and boosted Volvo's turbocharged production cars by 15 to 60 horsepower. Five years ago, it fulfilled its long-held desire to engineer an actual production car, first creating the C30 Polestar Performance Concept, a showcar that led to the C30 Polestar Limited Edition.
That foray led to the berserker, 508-horsepower 2013 S60 Polestar Concept that Auto Motor und Sport called "a hard slap in the face to the Germans," and that model led to the limited-edition S60 Polestar production car just for Australia, a car reviewers swooned for, with one comparing its chassis finesse to the Ferrari 458 Italia.
All of which is to say, Polestar has a good start for a motorsports and tuning company to make good on its production car dreams. The 2015 Volvo S60 Polestar and V60 Polestar keep that momentum going, and beautifully at that.

Volvo S60 Polestar concept plays in the snow with Mercedes C63 AMG

Chris Harris took to a snowy stretch of tarmac to get a fingertips-on-the-wheel feel of the Volvo S60 Polestar concept. Harris says the turbocharged sedan with 508 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque - and a manual transmission - is "a study to see if Volvo can get back into the fast-car market." The Polestar S60 concept, one of which was already purchased for $300,000 by a private buyer, is still making the publicity rounds because even Volvo's Chinese owners realize that, as Harris says, "Volvo sold more cars because it made fast cars" like the old 850 T5 Wagon that stormed the British Touring Car Championship in the 1990s.
For reference, Harris compares the blue wonder to the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and its 487 hp and 442 lb-ft. The question is, were Volvo to get the price of a production version of the S60 Polestar to climb way down from its 200,000-pound sticker, could it be worthy competition to the established giants?
You can watch Harris divine the answer via a lot of drifting through the snow and a drag race in the video below.

Volvo Concept Estate to spawn V90 luxury wagon, joining CUV and coupe

The Volvo Concept Estate garnered Autoblog's Editors' Choice award as our team's favorite reveal at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show earlier this month for its sleek take on Scandinavian design, and now it looks like we might actually see the sleek wagon in production. Volvo is reportedly considering using the concept as the basis for a replacement for the V70 wagon, dubbing the new model V90.
It's rumored to be part of the Swedish brand's plan to launch a new range of 90-series vehicles. In addition to the more luxury-oriented wagon, the family of models includes the XC90 that is expected to debut later this year. According to MotorAuthority, Volvo is also considering using the same version of its Scalable Product Architecture that underpins the crossover to create a range-topping S90 sedan to replace the S80. Assuming it's a success, a C90 coupe is even a possibility. All of these models would be outfitted with the company's Drive-E four-cylinder engine family, which includes hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
The Swedish automaker is also looking downmarket with help from owner Geely in China with replacement 40-series models. According to MotorAuthority, the duo's rumored small car platform will be used to create an updated V40 wagon, C40 hatchback (a C30 successor), as well as an XC40 compact crossover.