Driven
Back to Library >
Polestar 2 review
5 years ago
The original muscle car
The Pontiac GTO may have created North America’s most coveted class of car, but it didn’t live long enough to reap the rewards, says Hamir Thapar
Targa by Stilo
What, relative to expectations, is the worst motoring experience of your life? Mine was doing a lap of the Piccolo Circuito della Madonie, otherwise known as the Targa Florio...
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster review
Another month, another new Aston Martin to review. Guess someone has to do it. This time it’s Andrew English snarling his way through the Alps
Ten years of the i3
An entire decade after BMW showed off the i3 as an oven-ready concept at the Frankfurt motor show, it remains one of the most intriguing small electric cars you can buy...
If I’m being super critical I think there’s something odd about the car’s not-quite-a-hatch, not-quite-a-three-box-saloon silhouette, but that aside I love the way the Polestar looks. I also adore the interior with its high-grade materials, the attention to detail that’s evident throughout and the superb Google-based infotainment system. I would gladly while away a long commute in this cabin, feeling as relaxed as I would in my living room.
Without the adjustable Öhlins, which bring abundant body control but also a tense ride, the Polestar 2 is very comfortable indeed. I assumed pillowy cornering behaviour would be the trade-off for that smooth ride, but despite its hefty mass the car is composed and well-controlled in bends with strong grip and decent agility. It’s unusual to drive a front-driven car with near [50:50] weight distribution and you do feel that balance in corners.
Performance is sprightly but nothing like as potent as that of the range topping model, which is to be expected. However, anyone stepping out of a mid-range Golf, for instance, will find even this Polestar 2 surprisingly swift below 50mph and not too tardy above it. A real-world range of little more than 200 miles won’t work for all and £39,900 isn’t buttons for a car this size, but those two points aside I found the cheapest Polestar 2 hard to fault.
Polestar 2
Powertrain: Single motor, 64kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed auto, FWD
Power: 221bhp
Torque: 243lb ft
Range: 273 miles
Weight: 1940kg
Power-to-weight: 114bhp/tonne
0-62mph: 7.4 seconds
Top speed: 99mph
Price: £39,900
Ti rating 8/10
Join The Intercooler's thriving community today and get access to:
Award-winning magazine
Ad-free on website and app
Subscriber-only podcasts
Listen without ads
Audio articles
Listen on the go
Full Library access
1500+ stories, 2m+ words
