Experimental Polestar 2 revealed at Goodwood with 469bhp

Polestar has revealed a new one-off prototype version of the Polestar 2 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which has been developed as a more track-honed version of the firm’s Tesla Model 3 rival with more power and new chassis technology. 

Based on a Long Range version of the 2, with the same 78kWh battery pack, its dual-electric motor powertrain has been given a software recalibration to produce 469bhp - an increase of 67bhp on the standard, road-going version of the 2. 

However, it’s also been given a chassis makeover. The tracks front and rear are 20mm wider and the car is lower, too, dropping 30mm. Widened wheel arches have been fitted to the Polestar 2’s body to accommodate the extra width, which is bookended by new 21-inch wheels taken from the Polestar 1 coupe, shod on Pirelli P Zero Rosso performance tyres. 

Behind the huge new wheels sit brakes massively increased in size, with the front brakes the same six-piston Akebono brakes equipped on the Polestar 1. 

There’s new suspension technology as well. The adjustable two-way Ohlins dampers have been replaced by new, custom made three-way dampers around 30 per cent stiffer than the road car’s, while the springs are 80 per cent stiffer at the front and 40 per cent at the rear. 

The Polestar 2 leverages the carbon-fibre strut from the Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered, and there’s a custom made rear strut bar too, both delivering improved chassis rigidity. 

The car is finished in white with a single racing stripe running from front to back. The bumpers, side skirts and fascia are all finished in a colour coded shade, while there are subtle aero tweaks in the bodywork, and a new lower section on the front bumper, to aid cooling. 

No performance figures have been revealed, but the Experimental 2 will go up the Goodwood hillclimb in the hands of Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chief chassis engineer.

“We have spent thousands of hours fine-tuning its driving characteristics. The new chassis set-up for Goodwood has really taken it to the next level,” claims Rydholm.

Now read about the new Polestar 3 due to arrive in 2022...