Polestar’s North Pole stars: Ice rally-inspired Arctic specials show Swedish brand’s wild side
Trio of startling ice-rally concepts revealed in Australia demonstrate the high-performance potential of Polestar
Polestar has revealed one-off ice-rally versions of each of its three current models at the F.A.T. Ice Race held at Zell am See in Austria. The concepts are lightly modified with bespoke styling elements and subtle suspension changes… and one even has a fly-off handbrake!
All the models feature custom Öhlins three-way adjustable dampers with external gas reservoirs, meaning a ride height increase of between 20mm and 40mm depending on model. This is complemented inside by unique trim elements and Recaro Pole Position bucket seats.
From here, the spec of each starts to diversify, with the Polestar 3 and 4 packing a rear strut brace and 20-inch OZ Rally wheels in a new Rally Legend design. These are wrapped in Pirelli winter tyres for road use, or studded tyres for progress in snow.
The Polestar 4 goes even further by featuring a fly-off handbrake – something only usually seen on competition rally cars – situated within a bespoke carbon housing on the centre console. The Polestar 4 is also the most powerful of the trio, with 536bhp generated from its dual-motor set-up.
The BMW iX-sized Polestar 3 is nearly as powerful with 509bhp, but hits back with a greater 910Nm combined torque figure from its two electric motors. Other unique features for the 3 include additional snow ladders and an LED light bar.
The Polestar 2 features its own array of distinct elements, including not one, but two, strut braces and slightly smaller 19-inch wheels and tyres. Its powertrain has also been tweaked, but produces the same 469bhp and 680Nm of torque as the most powerful Dual Motor Performance Pack model.
Beyond this, each has a white and yellow livery with lots of rally-inspired features. These include LED spotlights, roof racks, mud flaps and gold tow-hooks.
However, don’t get too excited… while the concepts provide a flavour of what’s possible from Polestar, there is no likelihood of the company creating a performance sub-brand inspired by them any time soon.
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