New Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 review

Verdict

Polestar’s BST Edition 270 is a strange but still-impressive offering. It certainly delivers when it comes to performance, and the brand’s focus on chassis tuning is a breath of fresh air compared with rival makers obsessed with headline power outputs. However, even with all that, the car is still a little short of personality, which is no fault of Polestar, but rather a challenge the performance-EV world as a whole will have to overcome.

We all know BST stands for British Summer Time, but in the case of the Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 it’s actually an abbreviation of ‘Beast’ – a name given to a development version of this car that ran at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021.

The BST Edition 270 was the brainchild of Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, who still drives ‘The Beast’ around in Gothenburg. We’re behind the wheel of the production model here, which is limited to only 270 units globally. Just 40 of them are coming to the UK, and they’re all already spoken for.

So what exactly is this rare Polestar 2 edition? Well, it gets the same 78kWh battery and powertrain as the dual-motor model fitted with the optional Performance Pack. Total output stands at 469bhp, while there’s a chunky 680Nm of torque available.

This doesn’t translate to that big a change on paper, however. The BST is 0.1 seconds quicker to 62mph than the car it’s based on, and has the same top speed. Range drops to 287 miles from Polestar’s claim of 367 miles for the Long Range Dual Motor.

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These figures make the BST 270 more than a match for a standard Porsche Taycan, though, which takes a second more to reach 62mph and costs an extra £6,510 over the £68,990 Polestar (provided you were quick enough to grab a BST 270). That price tag doesn’t account for the optional (£1,000) central stripe, mind you.

We imagine pretty much all buyers have specced the stripe, but if they didn’t, you’d have a tough time spotting this model. The interior is almost unchanged from the regular car’s, although annoyingly, that stripe runs all the way down the sunroof.

The BST 270’s party piece is its chassis. Polestar has once again looked to Ohlins for a bespoke suspension set-up. There are two-way adjustable dampers on the front axle, allowing for rebound and compression changes via controls you operate under the bonnet. The rear dampers are altered by jacking the car up and doing it manually.

With EVs perhaps not having the same crowd-drawing effects as some internal-combustion engines, maybe Polestar is showing us the future for car enthusiasts by placing emphasis on suspension parts.

It’s not just some fancy damping technology either. Polestar has developed a bespoke aluminium strut brace and the BST sits 25mm lower on springs that are 20 per cent stiffer than standard; its 21-inch rims are clad in Pirelli P Zero tyres specifically designed for the BST 270. Even the car’s Brembo brakes are 20 per cent lighter than those on the Polestar 2 Performance Pack.

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Despite being the most performance-focused Polestar 2, the BST 270 has the best ride of the bunch. On country roads and motorways it glides over bumps in the softest setting, but at slow speeds there’s no hiding the fact it’s a heavy car on large wheels, so you’ll feel potholes and ridges sometimes jarring the comfort.

Whack the damping to its stiffest and it’s still far from uncomfortable, while Polestar says seven clicks of rebound and the same for compression is best for road use. We’d certainly recommend trying out different combinations to suit your driving style.

There’s an impressive level of grip and a very settled and balanced feel, given the 2’s weight. There could be more feedback to the steering, but it’s quick and has a nice weight.

The extra power is welcome, while the instantaneous torque allows for mid-corner adjustability. The BST 270 doesn’t quite have the stomach-churning acceleration of some EVs, but it feels sporty. The brakes are phenomenal and pedal feel is wonderful, too.

Polestar hasn’t set about creating a vocal augmented sound system for the BST 270, as some German manufacturers have. So the refinement is still excellent and it’s matched by a beautifully designed, spacious interior.