Tested: 2023 Polestar 2 Performance Package Is a Power Ranger

For 2023, the dual-motor Polestar 2’s optional Performance package includes more in the way of actual performance. As before, it adds Brembo brakes, adjustable Öhlins dampers, gold seatbelts, and distinct 20-inch wheels, but now it also nets an additional 67 horsepower and 15 pound-feet of torque over the standard dual-motor 2. That brings its totals to 469 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque (figures shared with the limited-run BST Edition 270), making the Performance pack–equipped 2 noticeably quicker than its less powerful kin.

Booting the right pedal pushes the all-wheel-drive model to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and past the quarter-mile mark after 12.2 seconds, 0.2 and 0.5 ticks, respectively, ahead of a 402-hp Polestar 2 that we tested two years ago. This newfound muscle is not so evident at low speeds, however, with the 2023 car’s acceleration below 30 mph matching that of its less powerful 2021 counterpart. Dip into the two AC motors’ reserves while on the move, and the surplus power propels the 2 forward with formidable force, shaving 0.3 second from both the 5-to-60- and the 50-to-70-mph times and goading the driver to pin the accelerator and delight in the motors’ ample thrust.

Marc Urbano|Car and Driver

HIGHS: High-speed acceleration, more power as well as more range.

Maintain a light right foot, and the EPA rates the dual-motor Polestar 2—with or without the Performance pack—at 100 MPGe combined, an improvement of 11 MPGe over the 2022 car. The 75.0-kWh battery pack is unchanged, but the 2023 model’s added efficiency raises the driving range by 11 miles to 260. Over the course of our test car’s stay, we averaged just 75 MPGe, and in our 75-mph highway range test it managed 210 miles.

A dual-motor BMW i4 M50 with 536 horsepower returned 83 MPGe during its stay with us, against an 80-MPGe EPA rating. The Bimmer, also wearing 20-inch wheels, nets an EPA-rated range of 227 miles—33 worse than the Polestar—but went 220 miles on our highway test. The Tesla Model 3 Performance, meanwhile, offers competitive peak output to the 2 with the Performance pack, and yet it nets an EPA combined rating of 113 MPGe combined and an estimated range of 315 miles.

Our issue with the Performance package centers on the adjustable Öhlins dampers. While the ride quality in the default Nominal setting struck some as just a little too stiff, things settle down nicely when the dampers are placed in their Comfort setting (others include Comfort Compliant, Rough Road, and Track).

Alas, changing the dampers’ settings requires exiting the vehicle and manually adjusting each individual unit. We are not against a little manual labor, but our test car came in at just south of $70,000. Such a luxury vehicle should allow owners to accomplish this task with reasonable ease. This is not the case, though. Adjusting the rear dampers, for instance, involves raising the vehicle and removing multiple plastic nuts that hold the inner fender lining in place. Polestar offers one complimentary damper adjustment within the first year of ownership, after which it charges customers for this service.

Marc Urbano|Car and Driver

LOWS: Adjusting the dampers is a real PITA, not as efficient as segment leaders.

Not all of Polestar’s cash grabs are this egregious. For instance, the automaker is offering owners of qualifying older dual-motor 2s the option to add the updated Performance pack’s power-adding software to their cars as part of an $1195 over-the-air update. That’s more than twice the amount the same lines of code tack on to the package’s price for 2023, which now stickers for $5500, or $500 more than last year. Even so, the update’s fee surely is less than the cost of upgrading from a one- or two-year-old dual-motor Polestar 2 to a 2023 model with the Performance package, which retails for $58,800.

Specifications

Specifications

2023 Polestar 2 Performance

Vehicle Type: front- and mid -motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE

Base/As Tested: $58,800/$67,650

Options: Plus pack (improved heat pump, panoramic roof, Black Ash wood interior accents, Harman/Kardon stereo system, wireless device charger, heated front seats, steering wheel and wiper blades), $4200; Pilot Pack (parking assist, 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, blind-spot information with steering assist, cross-traffic alert, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, LED fog lamps), $3400; Midnight metallic paint, $1250

POWERTRAIN

Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC

Rear Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC

Combined Power: 469 hp

Combined Torque: 502 lb-ft

Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 75.0 kWh

Onboard Charger: 11.0 kW

Peak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 155 kW

Transmissions: direct-drive

CHASSIS

Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink

Brakes, F/R: 14.8-in vented, cross-drilled disc/13.4-in vented, cross-drilled disc

Tires: Continental SportContact 6

245/40R-20 99V POL

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 107.7 in

Length: 181.3 in

Width: 73.2 in

Height: 58.0 in

Passenger Volume: 91 ft3

Cargo Volume: 16 ft3

Curb Weight: 4714 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 3.9 sec

100 mph: 8.9 sec

1/4-Mile: 12.2 sec @ 116 mph

Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.

Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.0 sec

Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 1.5 sec

Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 1.9 sec

Top Speed (gov ltd): 128 mph

Braking, 70–0 mph: 160 ft

Braking, 100–0 mph: 317 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.92 g

C/D FUEL ECONOMY AND CHARGING

Observed: 75 MPGe

75-mph Highway Range: 210 mi

Average DC Fast-Charge Rate, 10–90%: 72 kW

DC Fast-Charge Time, 10–90%: 57 min

EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/City/Highway: 100/105/96 MPGe

Range: 260 mi

C/D TESTING EXPLAINED

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