Volvo Polestar Racing show off their new V8 Supercar engine

Volvo have unveiled the engine which will power the new Volvo Polestar Racing S60s which will compete in next year’s V8 Supercars Championship.

The covers were lifted off the new race engine at the Sydney 500 by the managing director of Volvo Car Australia Matt Braid, with Volvo’s technical director Martin Persson and commercial director Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin also attending the launch.

“As the first luxury car manufacturer to field a factory team in the V8 Supercar Championship, we’re delighted to share this milestone moment with you and reveal our race engine for the 2014 V8 Supercar season,” said Matt Braid, Managing Director of Volvo Cars Australia.

“The race team at Polestar have worked hand-in-hand with the engineering team at Volvo Cars to design, build and develop a race engine in Gothenburg, Sweden, to compete in Australia’s premier motor racing category.”

Volvo will campaign a pair of S60s in next year’s Championship under the banner of Volvo Polestar Racing. The team will be run by Championship stalwarts Garry Rogers Motorsport, who will end their long association with the Holden brand which dates back to the Championship’s first year in 1996, though Rogers notably worked with a variety of manufacturers during Australia’s Super Touring era, including Alfa Romeo, Nissan and Honda.

Volvo’s B8444S 4.4-litre production V8 engine has been modified and developed specifically for the V8 Supercars Championship by Polestar, whose recent racing experience comes from competing in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, which they won the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles this season, and the FIA World Touring Car Championship, where they have run cars as part of an evaluation exercise in the past.

“We have completed a number of high-rev simulations and long-distance runs and we’re very happy with the figures and outcomes we’ve achieved,” said Polestar managing director Christian Dahl. “The next step is to fit the engine to the race car and continue the pre-season development timetable.”

Technical Information

Block: Modified Volvo B8444S, 60 degree aluminium cylinder block
Heads: Modified Volvo B8444S, aluminium
Bore x Stroke: 95.5 x 87.1
Capacity: 4989cc
Compression Ratio: 10:1
Max revs: 7500rpm
Induction: Naturally aspirated, eight throttle bodies
Fuel: E85
Liners: Cast in steel liners
Valve Train: Double overhead camshafts, direct acting tappets, chain drive
Ignition: Volvo B8444S coil on plug
Injection: Port injection, one injector per cylinder, injection pressure: 5.5 bar