The 2025 Volvo XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered is remastered music

It was a dark and stormy night. No really, it was. Hurricane-style. And I found myself behind the wheel of this Volvo XC60, my family in the car with me, and the rain coming down in buckets. I could barely see. My main concern? Getting them home safely. Ironic then, that I was in a Volvo.

But come on, you know me. What else was I thinking?

Damn, this car is a lot of fun!

The 2025 Volvo XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered Overview

Nothing like a little crucible to see how a car does under pressure, and thankfully Volvo sent this car to me at just the right time.

And in just the right spec.

This XC60 is in fact engineered by Polestar, Volvo’s all-electric performance division. That means big (really big) numbers. 455 horsepower and 523 lb-ft of torque from a hybrid powertrain. A zero to sixty time that matches a BMW M3. A range of over 500 miles. And the styling of…actually, I don’t know – it’s just really pretty, in a world full of me-too German-ness.

But there’s a lot of other stuff here too, like supreme comfort inside, plenty of room for a family of four, and all-wheel traction. Peep those brakes! Just don’t look at the price yet. Really, everything you thought a Volvo was – stodgy, boxy, buttoned up – toss it all away. Not the safety bit though, that stays.

If you’ve never considered looking at this car before stepping into an Audi or Mercedes show room, let me give you some reasons why you should.

Performance Score: 7. Top Shelf

This is not an easy car to pin down. On one hand, all that power, speed and handling make the XC60 a fun SUV to push. The problem is that this Swedish meatball isn’t always in the mood to get frisky. You gotta ask nicely, like you’re Tom Cruise and Colonel Jessup is on the stand.

You can’t handle performance!!

Engine

Let me sing praises first. The XC60 features a 312-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that’s paired with a 143-horsepower electric motor. Charge the car and keep it local, and you hardly ever need to ignite the dinosaur blood.

But crawl through Volvo’s complicated menu interface to find “Polestar Engineered” mode. The fact that it’s buried suggests that Volvo almost prefer you not use it. Turn it on, and the four-banger stays lit as you access all 455 yellow and blue horses. It’s seamless, smooth, and if you really dig into it, very fast.

But the thing is despite that all fancy technology, the XC60 isn’t aggressive. It won’t poke you to pass grandma in the left lane. Imagine dating a supermodel that you’re never in the mood to touch.

Eh…I dunno. Maybe tomorrow night.

That’s living with the XC60, and you’re the driver left in its cold embrace. The uninspiring sound and gruffness the engine adds when it’s turned on doesn’t help excite either.

Really is a brilliant powertrain though.

Transmission

Tied to the power is an Aisin eight-speed automatic transmission that’s pretty good about behaving itself. Offering smooth kick downs, the transmission doesn’t provide much in the way of manual control (no paddle shifters on the column), but it does have “B” mode – essentially one-pedal driving.

This allows you to have the best of both worlds – drive the car like this and you almost never need to touch the brakes, while the powertrain recharges the battery like a true electric car. The overall effect is not ZF-enthusiastic, but it matches the Volvo’s personality well.

Steering and Chassis

The XC60’s steering is light and direct, pretty much staying out of the way and never drawing attention to itself.

The chassis is a different story. There are adjustable Ohlins dampers tied to the drive mode of the car, but no matter what mode you’re in, the XC is harsh. I’m talking X5 M levels of ouch. Put it in Polestar Engineered mode, and the ride will crush your spleen.

This XC60 also gets a front strut brace and optional 22-inch wheels embraced by the loving touch of Pirelli summer rubber. At only 265mm wide, they aren’t Arby’s meats, but they offer good grip. I can attest that the all-wheel drive system works well and keeps the car planted, though it’s not quite as grippy as Audi’s setup, especially in the wet.

The upside of all this is when you push the XC60 Polestar Engineered, the chassis comes to life. Minimal body roll, flat in corners, confident at higher speeds. I can slice through traffic with ease. It’s just not as playful as a Porsche, or even some Mercedes.

Brakes

Look behind those 22-inch wheels to find huge Akebono gold calipers clinging to vented and cross-drilled discs. They look terrific and add some much needed pop to the car’s grey exterior, but like the Hyundai IONIQ 6, I left on brake regen and never really needed to touch the pedal.

The XC60 has all the ingredients, and I found it nimble, fast, and responsive. What’s missing is that encouragement from the car to engage with it. Say what you want about BMW, but they don’t hide their sport buttons.

Lifestyle Score: 10. My kingdom for a seat

I know your typical car reviews will tell you important numbers: The XC60 holds four pieces of IKEA furniture, while an Audi holds six. Snoooooooozzze.

Look, the Volvo is a bit smaller than the competition in the trunk and back seat, but I didn’t notice in day-to-day living, and the smaller footprint does help it feel more nimble.

In front…I’m going to dream of these bucket seats forever. Seating position and being comfortable are so important to how you drive, and Volvo really has perfected the design. Adjustable bottom cushion, soft leather, and supportive side bolsters that are easy to climb in and out of.

I could go on forever, but know that if you’re Big & Tall like me, the seats alone are worth the price of admission.

Fuel Economy 10. Not dollars, but sense

The Volvo XC60 has a range of 500 miles, and that’s really infinite if you’re a local driver and plug it in at night. The little V gets 28 MPG combined, but also 63 MPGe if you were to use it as an exclusively electric car. Best part – no range anxiety.

Now on one hand, it doesn’t make sense to give a car two engines because of the weight, complexity and cost. But on the other, this feels like a helluva solution to saving the planet. And since this is a performance car as much as it is an economical one, you and I still get to have fun. It’s also better than something like a pedestrian 330e.

The way the XC60 integrates it all is so seamless, you hardly notice the transition from lighting to thunder. BMW can’t even get their freakin’ auto start/stop to work properly, let alone the coordination Volvo puts into this.

Features and Comfort: 7. Aging gracefully

This car debuted in 2018, which feels like an eternity. Despite that, the look inside and out remains both fresh and on the inside, somewhat timeless.

Let us now mention the staggering MSRP of $77,345. That’s $30,000 more than a base model’s price.

I don’t have to tell you that’s a lot for a small SUV, even though I just did.

Tug job

As you can see from my pretty pics, stepping up into the XC60 is a bit like sliding into an IKEA-furnished bedroom. Lots of straight lines and cleanliness. I like it. Feels very high-end, with its crystal shifter, Polestar-Engineered exclusive yellow seat belts, and a little Swedish flag tucked into the seat like an Easter egg. There’s also a wonderful Bowers & Wilkins stereo (sounds like a bad buddy cop movie), HUD and 360-degree camera.

But there are some problems. It’s so dark inside at night – almost no ambient lighting. The infotainment system is woefully outdated, requiring you to plug in your phone to use Apple CarPlay. Making it worse is the cleanly-designed digital dash – it causes the center screen to look like you’re in MS-DOS.

The bigger issue is the driver safety systems. The adaptive cruise control slows down waaaay too early behind other cars, so that you almost never do the speed you set. Worse is the Lane-Keep assist. If the XC60 even thinks there’s someone in your blind spot, it’ll tug the wheel from you violently enough to file an assault charge.

Holy shit, I got it Volvo!

So yea, showing its age a bit considering the price tag.

Box be gone

I was walking along the beach the other day when a Volvo V70 R wagon drove by. Remember how boxy these things used to be even 15 years ago? Not so now, it’s beautiful.

Painted Vapour Grey (a new color for 2025), and stuffed to the brim with extras like gloss-black trim and 22-inch polished wheels, the XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered looks the part, but not enough to differentiate it from its lesser XC siblings. It’s also devoid of any pretense, save those gold calipers. No big exhausts or slits and slats. Just clean, like a shark.

It’s one of the better-looking entries in the segment, and remains fresh despite advancing age.

The The 2025 Volvo XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered is the hybrid as symphony

I’ve been listening to shoddy Spotify streaming quality for so long, I’ve forgotten how music is supposed to sound. But if I go back to some of my old CD’s, I can hear all the details that fill out the sounds of 90s rock. The jangle of a highly-strung guitar or the rumble of bass makes the music sound much more full.

That’s what driving the XC60 T8 Polestar Engineered is like. A regular car, with a regular engine that just so happens to have all its dead spots filled with seamless electric power and thrust. What’s missing is that special something to really tie all those ingredients together.

Yet there’s also an intangible here. The car just left, and I miss it. I was looking forward to driving it again. Makes an X3 feel old school in a less-than-flattering way. At nearly $80,000, it’s a tough sell, but I found myself wishing I hadn’t just ordered a new car.

Fun. Fast. Safe. The XC60 got us home without drama through terrible conditions, and it’s easy to fall in love after an experience like that.

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