Volvo XC90 Polestar to pack around 360 horsepower

When a new Mercedes comes out, we can’t help but wonder how the AMG version will shape up. Ditto BMW and its M models, S and RS models from Audi, the emerging SVR line from Jaguar and Land Rover, and numerous more. So when Volvo revealed the new XC90, speculation almost immediately ramped up over an eventual Polestar performance model. And here we have some of the most concrete projections we’ve seen to date.

Speaking with Volvo’s powertrain chief Michael Fleiss, Auto Express reports that the XC90 Polestar should arrive sometime next year with a series of upgrades.

For one, Fleiss reportedly revealed that (globally speaking) there will be two Polestar versions of Volvo’s new flagship crossover: one burning diesel and the other gasoline. The former will pick up where the 222-horsepower D5 diesel leaves off, but wouldn’t likely be offered in North America. The latter, which we would be more likely to see Stateside, will be based on the 316-hp T6 turbo four, not on the 400-hp T8 hybrid, with power output to slot somewhere in between the two – so expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 360 hp, which would be pretty darn impressive for a four-cylinder engine.

Of course the racing gurus at Polestar won’t leave it there, equipping both versions with upgraded aero, suspension, brakes and other equipment as well.

That output range wouldn’t give the XC90 (pictured here in R-Design spec) enough to compete head-on with the likes of the BMW X5 M and Mercedes GL63 AMG, both of which produce upwards of 550 horsepower, but with turbocharged V8s, guzzle a lot more fuel. The XC90 Polestar, then, might give Volvo something with which to compete with lower versions of the Porsche Cayenne, which offers 300 hp in the base model and 420 in the Cayenne S.

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