Volvo XC90 T8 Polestar revealed

The most powerful Volvo ever is a large SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain tagged the XC90 T8 with Polestar Performance Optimisation.

Australian pricing is already available for the performance Volvo flagship and, while it does come with a hefty 314kW and 680Nm, it doesn’t come cheap.

Beyond the XC90 T8 priced from $122,950 plus on-road costs, the Polestar Performance Optimisation package adds around $1850 to the price – ‘around’ because labour costs vary from dealer to dealer, and including GST but plus another 33 per cent of the option price to cover the Luxury Car Tax (LCT).

The big chunk of Swedish metal’s 65kW/240Nm electric motor is unchanged, however the 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine it mates with gets a 15kW/40Nm bump to 250kW/440Nm.

Sadly there is not a Yamaha V8 engine in sight, despite the T8 model designation. However there is no arguing with a tenth pulled from this four-cylinder plug-in hybrid’s claimed 0-100km/h – now 5.5 seconds – nor the claims of improved throttle and automatic transmission response.

If the circa-$125K XC90 T8 with Polestar Performance Optimisation is still beyond the family budget, Volvo’s tuning company now provides other speedier and identically priced ($1850) packages for its large SUV range.

With the $89,950 XC90 D5 oiler, power moves from 165kW to 179kW and torque from 480Nm to 500Nm. In the case of the $93,950 XC90 T6 petrol, power shifts from 235kW to 249kW and torque from 400Nm to 440Nm.

Further packages for other models in the Volvo range will follow, particularly as the S60 switches to MY17 specification and will deliver a 2.0-litre turbo and supercharged boost to its bespoke Polestar-badged sedan flagship.