Volvo S60 V8 on Schedule

The factory Volvo S60 V8 Supercar remains on schedule to have its first shakedown test just before the end of 2013.

However, the exact timing of the historic outing for the Garry Rogers Motorsport-built car is dependant on the 5.0-litre V8 engine being developed by Volvo’s global motorsport partner Polestar Racing in Sweden having a problem-free initial dyno outing.

If that goes to plan, an example of the B8444S engine will be shipped to Melbourne for an installation run, prior to vital aerodynamic parity testing in January.

“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,” Christian Dahl, owner of Polestar Racing, told v8supercars.com.au at Bathurst.

Dahl is certainly bullish in his expectations about what the dyno will reveal: “It is going to be an awesome engine and it is going to sound fantastic,” he predicted.

Polestar simulations show the Volvo V8 will be on par with the other engines in the category, but Dahl says the push is on to produce competitive outputs sooner than the AMG M159 and Nissan VK56DE that have debuted this year in the Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Nissan Motorsport Altima.

“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.

“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.

Establishing how competitive the engine is in terms of both fuel consumption and driveability will have to wait until the engine is running on the dyno and in the car.

“Fuel consumption is one of the things that is very difficult to simulate,” Dahl admitted. “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 driveability 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.”

The B8444S is an unusual engine because it has a narrower 60 degree vee angle rather than the usual 90 degrees for a V8. It was originally designed for Volvo by Yamaha for transverse installation to power front and all-wheel drive cars and as a result is very compact.

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was Dahl’s fifth trip to Australia this year. When the engines do start arriving from Sweden, Polestar staff will be stationed at GRM in Melbourne at least temporarily to provide technical support.

GRM, rebranded as Volvo Polestar Racing, will race two factory-supported S60s in the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship with sponsorship from Fujitsu, Valvoline and Cummins.