The Volvo S60 Polestar

It all started one chilly morning here in Dubai, I still remember how freezing it was, barely able to think straight I managed to make it to the wall and turned off the aircon. After a few minutes the blood starting pumping normally and I began to regain clarity and perspective, in this enlightened state, the first thing that I realised was that I needed a Volvo. I whipped out the tablet and started looking around the internets and to my surprise Volvo here in Dubai had an S60 Polestar, dealer demo on sale!

A few days later I owned it, and this ones a keeper. For the first few years I just drove it the way it was, after all, the car was under factory warranty and had a service contract, both of which I extended for the maximum amount of time, so doing anything to the car from a project perspective was not really an option. Now however, it's 2025 and the car has been outta warranty for a couple of years and still going solid with no real issues. It's still a serious beast on the road and I think geniunely surprises a few people with just how quick it is. Although, Dubai for me is not a place to do project work on a car, I don't have the space or the local contacts to get the right things done at the right price. The roads here aren't the best for this type of car either, it's fine on the main drags but if you want to go anywhere else, the unbelievable amount of speed humps and bumps seemingly haphazardly put all over the place, and the condition of the roads in come places really plays havoc with the car and makes ride rather uncomfortable. All things considered though I can't bring myself to let this go, even with a couple of offers randomly on the street asking whether I wanted to sell her. I even looked at exporting it to another country to keep it there, but both other places I live drive on the other side of the road!

So 'Polly' is here to stay, and it's time to start mucking around with her. To be honest, at the time of writing this I've already done a few small things which will be documented in the various sections below, but the major stuff starts later in 2025 and beyond, like performance mods, rim upgrades, entertainment system hacks. I'll be searching far and wide for all kinds of subtle things to change and/or upgrade in the car, I say subtle as I love the way it looks (and drives) so I don't want to do anything too drastic, just a few tweaks here and there to make it even more enjoyable to drive. Stay tuned for all the fun and excitement of slightly modifying a white Volvo sedan.

Posted 28.03.2025

Body Work - Keeping the look right

As lovely as this city is, it's tough on cars, as a result, without even wanting to do any kind of body modifications, you end up having to do stuff to maintain it. So yes, the only body work that'll be happening here is fixing the little knicks, scratches and sometimes bumps that despite your best efforts to avoid, happen here. I mean there is little you can do when parking in a packed mall and someone opens their door straight into your paint work is there?

Updated 28.03.2025 | Continue Reading »

Gadgetry - Hey Volvo, start the car

Being a car that was manufactured in 2016, its that perfect blend of having some tech but not quite enough for today, and by today, I also mean tomorrow, as each month and year tick by it gets more and more out of date. It's also not cool and old school enough to leave untouched. We'll primarily look at what things we can upgrade without changing the look and feel too much.

 

Updated 28.03.2025 | Continue Reading »

Performance - Vrroomm Vrooommm

Let's be clear, the stock car is plenty fast, so for years I never felt the need to do anything to it, but now, being outta warrantly and possibly being migrated to a semi-fulltime project car, let's see what we can play with to push a little more horses out. Volvo are notorious for leaving a little room to tweak. We'll probably start with something simple like a chip mod and see what happens from there.

 

Updated 28.03.2025 | Continue Reading »

Rollers - Your cars feet

Here in Dubai, your wheels are safe from one perspective, getting stolen, however they are still susceptible to the other common issues that plague our shiny rims, and sometimes more so here with all the extra sand and dust in the air. The stock Polestar wheels are beautiful and unique, I doubt they're changing, however we might wrap them up or something? Brakes and related topics will also be documented here.

 

Updated 28.03.2025 | Continue Reading »

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