Joey's New Volvo S60: Wheels and Tires V2.0

[Joey D]

As much as I loved my Tacoma, I thought it was time for a change. I also got an epic trade-in deal on it that resulted in me losing $2,000 over the course of three years of ownership. I've wanted another Volvo since getting rid of my C30 R-Design just after I bought my truck. After searching around and finding something I really liked I made a trip to the Volvo dealer here in SLC last night and drove away with this.

It's a 2013 S60 R-Design, AWD with the T6. Currently, it's good for 300 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. As part of the deal though I worked in getting the Polestar optimization done to it, which should happen sometime next week. This will bump the car up to 325 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. That should be enough to notice a difference I'd think. It's still plenty quick right now though.

It's a CPO which is nice and only has 33,000 miles on it. According to the phone setting, some lady named Karen owned it and was a fan of the iPhone 6.

Until spring hits, I don't plan on doing much to it, but once the snow is gone it'll get better wheels and tires. Also, I'm trying to find an exhaust I like and will definitely tint the windows since that's legal here in Utah.

Modifications:

• Polestar Tune
• Borla Exhaust
• Osram Xenarc CBB HID Bulbs
• Fast CO FC04 Wheels

 

[Huzar]

Having dealt in sales, there are no deals on trade ins. Just happy customers, dealt with a good dealership i take ?

Go all out, front splitter back diffuser boost controller upgraded turbine some sticky rubber. I may be overthinking this a bit.

 

[Joey D]

Having dealt in sales, there are no deals on trade ins. Just happy customers, dealt with a good dealership i take ?

Go all out, front splitter back diffuser boost controller upgraded turbine some sticky rubber. I may be overthinking this a bit.

They gave me $27,000 for my truck which I only paid $29,000 and some change 3 years ago for. I was honestly expecting about $22,000 on a trade in since that's what it blue booked for and what other dealers quoted me. However it worked out though, I'm happy and they'll be able to sell the truck at one of their Toyota dealers for probably $33,000 or more. But ya the dealership was excellent and the salesman actually knew a ton of technical details about the car which is something I typically don't get.

And I've considered a front and rear diffuser, but I need to see how it handles the snow first. I don't want to turn it into a plow

 

[homeforsummer]

Great looking cars these. They drive really well too. Only driven the two extremes - the full Polestar and the diesels - but I imagine the T6 is equally good. Among the comfiest seats in any production car too...

 

[Rage0329]

Good looking car. I've only ever had the luxury of driving/renting one Volvo so far in my life. All the tech inside impressed me.

 

[Greycap]

If those wheels are genuine Volvo Ixions, at least they look like them, think twice before getting rid of them as they're quite highly valued among enthusiasts at least around here.

 

[-Fred-]

I've been eyeing a V60 T6 as a replacement for my EVO X ( I'd really go for a Polestar but the wife said no, but the T6 would be a good compromise), so I'm genuinely interested in what you'll think of the car.

 

[Joey D]

If those wheels are genuine Volvo Ixions, at least they look like them, think twice before getting rid of them as they're quite highly valued among enthusiasts at least around here.

They are genuine Ixions, however, they're fairly ragged. The previous owner must have hit every single curb in Utah with them. If I do end up getting new wheels, I'll still keep the OEM ones for winter tires since I do like the look of them. I with the offset was better though, they is far too much space between the edge of the tire and the fender. Something with a 40 offset would be perfect instead of the 55 the wheels currently have.

I've been eyeing a V60 T6 as a replacement for my EVO X ( I'd really go for a Polestar but the wife said no, but the T6 would be a good compromise), so I'm genuinely interested in what you'll think of the car.

For sure, I'll let you know once the honeymoon period is over with the car and I find everything I hate about it.

The good thing about the T6 is that you can easily get the Polestar tune for it. There's also a handful of other tunes out there for the car as well. The Polestar itself is incredibly expensive and I'm not really sure why other than the blue paint (which is awesome). It's essentially just an R-Design with the tune added and a couple other Polestar things tacked on. They say it has an exhaust on it but it's still pretty civil and the Heico sports suspension is cheaper and better than the Polestar one.

 

[-Fred-]

The Polestar itself is incredibly expensive and I'm not really sure why other than the blue paint (which is awesome).

I'm not even sure it's exclusive, there's this one currently on sale a few hours away from me that really caught my eye...

 

[Joey D]

Finally got around to getting the Polestar tune done to the car, between work and scheduling with the dealer I had to wait a bit longer than I wanted. Never-the-less though the car now has 325 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 is somewhere right around 5 seconds depending on the source you look at. I've seen it as low as 4.5 seconds but I don't think it's that fast.

I also took the car up in the canyons today and it was a ton of fun. The roads were mostly empty since only half the ski areas are opened. The car handles really well despite the so-so Pirelli all-seasons the car wears. Once spring rolls around I'll be getting some wheels for it that have an offset that doesn't make it look like a toy car and probably some Michelin Super Sport tires. It should really eat up the corners then. I've also found a rear sway bar for the car too and apparently, that's the best thing you can do besides tires to make the car handle better. For $200 it seems worth it.

 

[lbpomg95]

Having been to a few Volvo meets, I can definitely say there's a reason why the full-beans Polestar V60 is worth so much.

For a start, they look miles better than R-Design Volvos (and they already look brilliant), but the T6 used in the Polestar makes 350bhp (or 370 if you get the hateful new 4-cylinder twin-charged model). The T6 in the full polestar sounds glorious as well.

One of the gentlemen who goes to the local meets I go to has about 400bhp from his. Beyond power, there's the wheels, exhaust and splitters. And there's a lot of exclusivity. I've seen two polestar V60s in my life. I've seen plenty of polestar upgraded standard Volvos, though.

Great to see a fellow Volvo owner, though!

 

[Joey D]

Nice day here in Utah and many of the mountain roads are now open. Figured I'd take the opportunity to go for a bit of a run up some of the canyons.

And while on the way back, I past something called the Devil's Slide, which apparently is something to see in northern Utah. It wasn't super exciting, but figured I would at least cross it off the list.

And when I got back home, I fiddled around getting my Scangauge working with the car. I really wanted a boost gauge and something to tell me the engine temps since the instrument cluster doesn't do that. Mounted an angle bracket with some heavy duty velcro and then just plugged it into my OBDII reader. Took me about 30 minutes to get the gauges all working, but now I have what I want. I think the boost needs some more work though since it's sitting at -9 psi, which I don't think is right.

 

[lbpomg95]

Damn Volvo make some sleek looking cars.

Question - I drove a V60 and an S60 a few times, and I found the seating position felt a bit too low, and visibility isn't the best - I was curious what you'd found from driving this one?

 

[Joey D]

Damn Volvo make some sleek looking cars.

Question - I drove a V60 and an S60 a few times, and I found the seating position felt a bit too low, and visibility isn't the best - I was curious what you'd found from driving this one?

I'm coming from a truck, so everything seems low. But compared to the C30 I had, I feel like I sit better in the S60. The seat is super adjustable so it's in a good position, but it did take a ton of moving around to get it where I wanted it.

As for visibility, there are some weird blind spots, but the blind spot sensors pick everything up pretty good. With the way the backend is shaped though, sometimes backing around in tight parking garages is a bit of a challenge, but I've gotten used to it for the most part.

 

[lbpomg95]

I'm coming from a truck, so everything seems low. But compared to the C30 I had, I feel like I sit better in the S60. The seat is super adjustable so it's in a good position, but it did take a ton of moving around to get it where I wanted it.

As for visibility, there are some weird blind spots, but the blind spot sensors pick everything up pretty good. With the way the backend is shaped though, sometimes backing around in tight parking garages is a bit of a challenge, but I've gotten used to it for the most part.

I think part of my experience was down to the fact that the owner had the seat stupidly low (I guess he thought he was a pimp or something) but he told me not to adjust it. In hindsight I would've adjusted it. Y'know, either I drive it my way or crash because I can't see?

 

[Joey D]

After a slight debacle with customs, I finally got my wheels. They're Fast Co FC04 18x8 ET40 and weigh in at 18lbs - 7 lbs lighter than the OEM ones. I think they look rather good on the car, although I didn't realize they'd be that dark, especially when the website said something like Hyper Titanium or something equally XTREME sounding.

I also got my exhaust - well muffler - on the other day too. It's a Borla unit and gives the car a deeper exhaust note without sounding super loud. I kind of wish it was louder, but at the same time, I'm probably glad it isn't. If in a month or so I think it needs to have the volume turned up, I can just replace the resonator with a Y-pipe.

Now next up is getting the windows tinted.

 

[eiriksmil]

Looks rad, when will you lower it

 

[lbpomg95]

I like the choice of wheels! They look a little bit like the Polestar ones! Nice ,subtle exhaust, too!

I kinda wish the R-Design models didn't have silver wing mirror caps though.

 

[Joey D]

Looks rad, when will you lower it

Not sure, I want to lower but it's hard to get Heico stuff in the US. Viva just signed on to distribute the stuff, but it's a bit hit or miss right now. Its sport suspension kit though lowers the car 30 mm and uses bespoke Bilstein shocks. It's not a bad price either at $1,400. If I can sell my old wheels and the rest of the stuff from my truck, I might pull the trigger on a kit even if it takes like 8 weeks to get here.

I like the choice of wheels! They look a little bit like the Polestar ones! Nice ,subtle exhaust, too!

I kinda wish the R-Design models didn't have silver wing mirror caps though.

Ya I'm not a fan of the silver caps, but they are a pain to replace. Some company makes carbon fiber ones, which I'd be interested in.

 

[Bram Turismo]

The Polestar itself is incredibly expensive and I'm not really sure why other than the blue paint (which is awesome). It's essentially just an R-Design with the tune added and a couple other Polestar things tacked on. They say it has an exhaust on it but it's still pretty civil and the Heico sports suspension is cheaper and better than the Polestar one.

I've driven one a few weeks ago, and I can honestly tell you that the full-blown Polestar is a magnificent sleeper. My friend works for Volvo, and apparently Polestars are V60s and S60s that get shipped to Sweden when the customer buys one. In Sweden, they completely overhaul the T6 engine, so that it's both turbocharged and supercharged. The supercharger whine in this car is pretty epic considering it's a family car with AWD that takes you anywhere.

I'm not sure if all of this is true, but it really is a completely different animal than the standard T6. It grips pretty epic as well with Pilot Super Sport tyres on it, which come on it from the factory.

The only thing less positive about it for me was that it was an uneventful car. I respect it for being a sleeper, but aside from its acceleration it doesn't really seem to have any character to it.

 

[Clark]

@Bram Turismo The newer polestar uses the current T6 engine which is a twincharged 2 litre four, as opposed to the older inline six.

 

[lbpomg95]

Yep, it's both more powerful and less entertaining all in one!

 

[Joey D]

I somehow completely glossed over I had the car for over a year now, still feels pretty new too. Looking back I managed 11,000 miles in the first year, which is extremely low for me. With my truck, I was averaging nearly 20,000 and the Focus was hitting 22,000 a year.

I have made a few more updates to the car. The Pirelli tires were getting kind of ragged and I didn't really trust them in the snow. They probably would've been OK for the handful of days we get snow in the valley, but with a new baby I didn't want to chance it. I wanted to get Continental DWS tires for it since those are nearly always rated as the best performance all-season. But, Big O Tires had a Black Friday special for buy 3 tires get one 1 on a handful of tires. One was the Continental SureContact RX, which as far as I could tell was almost exactly the same as the DWS, but with a tread pattern made for Big O. Given that and after spending about an hour reading some reviews, I went with those. Plus I found them cheaper from a reseller and Big O price matched them. So I got something like a $1,000 worth of tires for $600 - can't complain about that.

I also went and got my windows tinted. I've been wanting to do it since I bought the car but for whatever reason never had the time. I went to a local place where the manager loved Volvos. I ended up getting a discount since we chatting about the cars for a while and they did an awesome job. In Utah 50% on the front side windows is legal, so I went with that. On the rears, I went with 20%, but looking back I probably should've done 5%. It's heat reflection tint though so it should help the summer. It's also SPF rated so it'll protect the leather seats better too.

Next up is new brakes. I'm looking around to see which one will work for me the best. I don't need track pads or anything, but something a little nicer for the canyons would work. Portfield makes a set of pads that apparently work really well with the car, so I'll probably do those. Rotors I'll probably just stick with OEM or move up to the ones found on the XC60 since they're supposed to be a little beefier.

 

[Joey D]

So I felt the need to get a new car and I found a 2019 S60 R-Design for sale at the local dealer. Has the Polestar Optimization on it giving it some more horsepower, a sportier steering feel, a punchier throttle, and the ability to make it rear-drive bias when it Polestar Mode (why would I drive it in any other mode?).

It feels pretty good and it way more comfortable than my previous S60. The supercharger also eliminates any lag, which makes getting on the expressway pretty fun. It's pretty much fully loaded and has things like the Pilot Assist, LED headlights, heated steering wheel, sat nav, and whatever else that came on the car. Whoever owned it didn't own it very long, which seems weird. It was purchased brand new in Sept 2019.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Congrats on the new S60! Gotta say it looks good in Osmium Grey.

 

[eiriksmil]

Whoever owned it didn't own it very long, which seems weird. It was purchased brand new in Sept 2019.

I guess many can't afford their cars anymore in these times. Nice car, I was eyeing a V90 for a while. Love the stuff Volvo is pushing out these days.

 

[Crash]

Congrats, Joey! Let's see some interior shots; IMO Volvo has got some of the best interiors right now.

 

[Joey D]

I decide to take the car on a day trip today and made my way up into Wyoming (for alcohol obviously) and then took the long way back through the Unita Mountains. This takes you over Bald Mountain Pass which is the highest paved road in Utah at 10,175 ft.

Getting out of Wyoming proved difficult though. I got stuck behind a cattle drive for over an hour and having a traffic jam caused by cows is the most Wyoming thing I can think of.

After making it through the cow blockade, I wound my way around to Mirror Lake, which is pretty beautiful and set near Bald Mountain

I then went a little further to Bald Mountain Pass

All-in-all the car was great on the mountain roads and I even averaged right around 35mpg too since I could coast for large parts of it. I got my windows tinted yesterday afternoon, so I, unfortunately, couldn't roll them down and take in the cool mountain air. It was about 60 up there when down in SLC it was pushing 90. There was even some snow still up there too. For all the crap I give Utah about being backward, it really is an amazing place with its landscape.


=====

Congrats, Joey! Let's see some interior shots; IMO Volvo has got some of the best interiors right now.

I love the interior, the seats are about the most comfortable things I've ever sat it with regards to a car. They're also super adjustable and it took me nearly 20 minutes to get them dialed in. But there's very supportive and do wonders for my bad back. I also really like the moonroof, the big panorama roof is pretty cool and my son absolutely loves it, so now I have to drive everywhere with him with the moonroof open. I don't really mind but my head is getting pretty sunkissed.

One thing I really don't care for is the infotainment system. I suspect it's because I'm not used to it yet.

 

[Joey D]

I put on a Polestar grill badge today, I'm positive it added at least 100hp.

And before someone asks, yes it has the Polestar optimization done to it. Also, yes, it's posing and no, I regret nothing.

New wheels should be here in a week or so and then I need to figure out if Utah is done snowing or not. Considering it snowed in June last year, I'm not certain. I'll probably just get the wheels and tires on when I get them and then just deal with Mother Nature later.

 

[Joey D]

So excuse the carport pictures, but we're getting one of our four rain days a year today and I wasn't going to get overly moist trying to get pictures. But anyway, I did get my new wheels on this morning. They're 19x8 Forged PIAA Super Mesh and I went with a set of Goodyear Excite tires since they're still kind of all-season. As much as I'd like summer tires, I do have to go up in the mountains from time to time for work and even in July, it can be cold and snowy up there. I didn't really want to risk driving down the mountain on what equates to hockey pucks that the Michelin Sport Cups would've been if I would've gotten those. I really wanted a set of Conti DWS tires but I'm guessing COVID hit the manufacturing plant because there's virtually none in the US and Discount told me it would be at least a couple of months due to backorder.

Oh and excuse the four lug nuts, the wheel lock didn't fit so they are ordering one that will. It'll be in later today and I really didn't want to sit around Discount Tire with a bunch of maskless boomers.

The combination is noticeably lighter despite being a +1 setup, which is nice and the tires are noisy, but whatever.