Performance-Focused Polestar 2 Surfaces At Goodwood

It seems that Polestar has been busy developing an “experimental” version of its award-winning Polestar 2 EV that is packing quite a bit of go-fast goodies under its modestly tweaked exterior and gorgeous Snow Matte paint. And, to prove their performance-enhancing worth, Polestar is taking this rolling testbed to the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

“I challenged the design and engineering teams to play with Polestar 2 and come up with something that makes a strong statement for Goodwood,” comments Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “For a few months I have enjoyed driving another experimental Polestar 2, nicknamed ‘Beast’, around our Gothenburg campus, which inspired the team to come up with this version for Goodwood.

Based on the long-range, dual-motor version of the Polestar 2, this one-off’s power output has been boosted from 408 to 476 HP. The car has a more aggressive stance, too, with a track that’s been widened by 10 mm front and rear and a suspension that’s been lowered by 30 mm (that’s a little over an inch for you and me). The wheel arches have been widened too, in order to fit a set of lightweight 21” wheels and a set of top-shelf, six-piston Akebono brakes from the Polestar 1 PHEV supercar. Those components dramatically reduce the car’s unsprung mass, and what’s left is being managed by a set of Öhlins 3-way performance dampers which are approximately 30% stiffer than the road and track originals. A carbon fiber strut tower bar — sourced from the Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered — has been fitted as well, to further improve stiffness.

“This car is what happens when we are given freedom to go beyond our limits,” says Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chief chassis engineer. “We already have such great handling and performance characteristics in Polestar 2, but when Thomas asked me to make something special for Goodwood, I was really excited to up the stakes.”

And, remind me, did I call this car a one-off? It’s a one-off, for now, but Polestar has a habit of turning concepts into production cars. “We want to flex our muscles and explore opportunities,” says Ingenlath, so maybe send some emails to your local Polestar contact if this is something you might be interested in ordering, you know? Otherwise, the only way to see this awesome machine is at the First Glance Paddock at Goodwood, adjacent to the Polestar stand. The car will be piloted by Polestar’s own Joakim Rydholm, who made his first appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018 driving an early prototype of Polestar 1.