Polestar Upgrade
 

I drive a 2011 XC70 D5 AWD with 90000 miles on the clock. Anyone had experience of getting the Polestar or RICA remap carried out on one of these cars? Looking for any advice, pros or cons.

Went for official Polestar upgrade
 

Went ahead and had the official Polestar upgrade carried out on the car by my local Volvo dealer. What a difference. I know on paper it only adds 25HP but the mid range torque is phenomenal. I cannot recommend enough.

It’s how these motors should be…. Glad to hear you’re happy with it.

TT

The P* maps also change the gearbox parameters and behaviour on some models and this helps a lot...

It's good, innit? I have it on my 185 - If memory serves it's about 205BHP and 450NM on mine, so about 22BHP and 50 torques on top of standard. That easily out grunts the wife's standard 200 which only has a piffling 420NM.

i've one of these and i'm sorely tempted by the polestar upgrade. the way folk here are describing it, it's ideal.

You wont regret it. I know on paper it doesn't add that much in HP, but wow, it simply transforms the mid range grunt. I also tow a caravan for holiday's and it makes that totally effortless.

I read on here somewhere that the Polestar upgrade boosts power and torque, and remaps the Geartronic which also helps driveability. But I also read somewhere that if you get the Polestar optimisation done on an AWD car, it biases the AWD more towards the rear drive, which makes the car feel more agile but keeping the AWD benefits.

I haven't seen this mentioned on the Polestar blurb I've been able to find. Is this perhaps a newer innovation on the current models, or does this happen with older AWD models too? Mine is a 2017MY (66 plate) V60 Cross Country AWD and if the Polestar optimisation does the power/torque thing, the geartronic remap, and also rebalances drive a bit more to the rear bias, that'd probably make this pretty much my ideal Volvo! So I'm sorely tempted, but not sure if it delivers all these things for my car. Anybody know?

The upgrade is amazing. So much better, amazing mid range torque. It is my understanding however that it is only the newer models that also get a gearing upgrade although thought your might be included in that. i'd speak to a dealer.

That seems to suggest it's only the SPA and CMA platforms, ie more recent than mine :sad_smile:

I had it done on my 2017MY V60 diesel hybrid, but don't think it did anything to the AWD.
However, that maybe because the RWD is from the battery ISG rather than a Haldex?

On saying that, I can definitely get the back end to swing out if you floor the accelerator with a bit of steering lock in Power mode, and all 470 lb/ft is deployed at once. Safe but unexpected !

This maybe of interest, and answer a few of your questions!

Attachment 141892

Thanks, and as suspected, it doesn't work on my previous-gen V60CC. I presume it's down to not having different driving modes like 'dynamic' so there's nothing in the ECU that can be reprogrammed, and probably the Haldex diff isn't electronically controlled so can't be tweaked. Or something.

Useful press release.

It says about the hybrids being read-biased already because of the battery power only to the rear axle. Logically that sounds the same for the previous gen V60 hybrid, as it drives more weighty at the back end.

I hope you considered a transmission oil change to go with all that extra torque.

No, it's a Volvo upgrade and the car itself is under a Volvo warranty.

It's not really a car that you either need or want to thrash much, but it's a worthwhile boost over standard.

Rica and Polestar tuning
 

I had the RICA on a S80 D5 (185 bhp) and the polestar on a V90 D5 (235 bhp). Although the RICA was on the paper increasing power more than the Polestar, the effect of the Polestar on the drivetrain settings (gearbox, AWD) was a completely different game. It felt like the RICA increased just turbo boost, the car was “going more”, but it made turbo lag more evident. The Polestar was simply impressive, the car was driving differently. Add that it was difficult (two big insurance companies said no) and eventually expensive (premium more than doubled) to insure the car after the RICA tuning, while the Polestar tuning did non increase the cost of the insurance, and to me it is a no brainer: the Polestar tuning may cost more upfront, but in the long term is more cost effective and more fun. Despite both promising improved MPG, in reality MPG did not change in normal use, and was significantly worse if the extra power was used. I am no expert, but extra bhp and better MPG seem to good to be true…
I am, however, unsure whether the Polestar tuning will affect your drivetrain settings or simply the engine- I think the drivetrain is affected from 2018. Worth checking before deciding.

I have the same car as you and having the Polestar Optimisation fitted made it a lot more driveable and responsive. I can't confirm if it alters the AWD at all but in sport mode it feels very rapid.

Feels a lot more different afterwards than my previous S60 D5 did

Hello,
I'm thinking of a remap or perhaps a TDI kit - i tow a caravan so the added +NM would help. Does anyone know if there is also a fuel saving benefit, TDi kits promise this but don't back it up with facts from what i can remember.