V70: Gearbox Questions about sport mode

[I-S]

I have a few questions about sport mode on the gearbox.

1) Does it lock out top gear? On my father's BMW 740iL, sport will only use 4 gears (5 speed box), so wondered if the volvo was the same.

2) Does putting the gearbox into sport mode alter the throttle response? It seems a great deal more eager at part throttle...

3) Does polestar alter the gearbox software? I am surprised by how aggressive sport mode is - rather more aggressive than the BMW, which is surprising given that marque's sporting position. I haven't driven a standard D5, so curious to know if they're all this aggressive, or if it's part of the polestar mod.

[H20 VOLVO]

Originally Posted by I-S

I have a few questions about sport mode on the gearbox.

1) Does it lock out top gear? On my father's BMW 740iL, sport will only use 4 gears (5 speed box), so wondered if the volvo was the same.

2) Does putting the gearbox into sport mode alter the throttle response? It seems a great deal more eager at part throttle...

3) Does polestar alter the gearbox software? I am surprised by how aggressive sport mode is - rather more aggressive than the BMW, which is surprising given that marque's sporting position. I haven't driven a standard D5, so curious to know if they're all this aggressive, or if it's part of the polestar mod.

1) don't know - you'd have to be knocking a ton to know I'd reckon.
2) I'd say so.
3) I think remap is engine ecu only.

Sport does change the car quite a bit, but generally I only use when pulling out at a dangerous junction or overtaking. Driving it in Sport full time would become tiresome IMHO.

As you know, Polestar boosts BHP but narrows the torque band. Rather than getting a spread of torque, it hits you at a more defined rev point.

I thought about Polestar, but decided that the broader torque range would make it more driveable, so didn't bother. Not sure if 0-62 time or top speed is affected by the remap, would possibly guess not?

[I-S]

I use it for overtakes or to hold lower gears down hills mostly (yes, it will do this to some extent in D, but there's a mile-long downhill in a 30 limit on my commute to work, and its kinder to the brakes to hold a lower gear).

I've not driven a non-polestar D5, so can't say on how different the driveability is. However, I disagree with your concept of "broader torque range". That's the problem with looking at the numbers on paper (ie it goes from 420Nm 1500-3250rpm to 460Nm 1750-3000rpm). Yes, it seems like a narrower range.

Look at it on the graph though:


So yes, PEAK torque occurs across a narrower range, but you're never left with less torque than standard. So where you've hit 420Nm in a stock D5 at 1500rpm, you have 450ish on Polestar, and where you're still at 420 at 3250rpm on stock, you have 440ish on polestar. Is it still a narrower range if you write this: 420Nm+ 1250-3750rpm?

Polestar give figures of 8.8s 0-100kmh for stock and 8.3s for Polestar on our 2011 model.

As to the real world difference I do not know - it just happened that the car we bought had it.

[H20 VOLVO]

Yeah, fair point - hear what you are saying.

If you didn't have Polestar, based on those figures, would you pay the circa £500 more? Not far off the cost of a front camera....

I didn't in the end, but absolutely understand why some would.

What's tyre wear like? Mine at 215 is never great!

[I-S]

We've only had the car a week, so no idea on tyre wear yet. I don't know if I would polestar or not... We did test drive the XC70 D4 2.4 (163) and I definitely felt that that was a let-down higher up the rev range. I guess I might if I'd had a D5 and felt it lacking still. If not then no.

[si10001]

Hi

I have a 2012 V70 D5 with Polestar. My previous car was a 2006 BMW 330D touring.

Re your points 2 and 3, with the gearbox in D, it's certainly a much more sedate drive than the BMW. However I agree with you - when the car is in Sport mode, the throttle seems much more responsive and it does feel like there is a lot more power at your disposal (though obviously I acknowledge that there isn't in totallity!).

The difference between D and S in the Volvo is certainly greater than the BMW (D is more leisurely, S is more mental!).

Like you, I haven't driven a standard D5 so can't really compare.

Cheers
Simon