Photo: Volvo

Polestar expect Volvo V8 Supercar engine to be competitive quickly

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Volvo Polestar Racing is currently working hard on the V8 Supercar engine set for the Swedish manufacturer’s debut in the Australian championship next year.
”It is going to be an awesome engine and it is going to sound fantastic,” said Polestar CEO Christian Dahl to the official championship site.

The performance of the B8444S Volvo engine, originally designed by Yahama for Volvo, is quickly going to be compared performance-wise next year to the progress of the VK56DE Nissan and M159 AMG engine.
”The new manufacturers coming in this year have had a bit of a struggle reaching the power levels they expected, so hopefully we can reach that a bit quicker and be competitive early in the season,” said Dahl.

The first start of the B8444S Volvo engine is scheduled for mid-December and Dahl is confident that the thorough work with simulations will get them to a flying start.
”If the engine runs okay on the dyno then you can put it in the car quite quickly. But if you run into trouble on the dyno that will prolong the program. Simulation wise it seems possible to reach the levels we need to reach. Then we have reliability on top of that. But I think we can produce an engine on par with other engines in the championship and do it quicker than the new manufacturers have done this year,” said Dahl.

While Dahl is bullish on his expectations of the new engine, the Swede is aware of the issues Nissan and Erebus Mercedes have faced during the 2013 season in term of drivability and fuel consumption.
“Fuel consumption is one of the things that is very difficult to simulate. You can simulate power and revs and gas exchange and stuff like that, but fuel rates and fuel consumption is very difficult unless you have the proper engine. The drivability is one thing you really must work on, but that is something you have to do together with the drivers at the track … adjusting the tune during the day and the throttle maps and everything. I think that is the key to getting the car and the engine that works together with the driver,” said Dahl.

Polestar cooperates with Garry Rogers Motorsport for the 2014 V8 Supercars programme which will feature two Volvo S60s, one driven by Scott McLaughlin and the other by a yet to be confirmed driver.