[Osmium_Mike]

Hello fellow Swedespeeders!

I'm new here after a brief and intermittent lurking period.

I came here first looking for a solution to add Paddle Shifters to my Osmium Grey 2017 S60 (non R-design) T5.

I only found threads about retrofitting a paddle-fitted wheel to older (pre -14) vehicles but I took a leap of faith and ordered one from a reputable scrap-shop here in sweden.

After some trouble undoing the Airbag I managed to swap the wheel, plugged it in, and to my surprise, it just worked!

No wires had to be drawn, no error messages had to be resolved. It was pure plug and play.

Now I've had the paddles for a day and I must confess, although I'm very happy with the install, I would be alot happier if the actual shifts happened a little faster.

Of course I've tried the manual sport mode before and noticed the characteristics of the 8-speed Geartronic gearbox and I'm very impressed by its smoothness, but in manual mode i'd love for it to be just a bit more snappy and responsive.

Now, I guess my question is mainly pointed towards fellow drivers that has experience of a similar vehicle both pre and post a Polestar Optimization..

I am already happy with the power and torque of my car… But will I get a quicker response out of my gear changes if I give my local Volvo technician many many coins of local currency and go through with a Polestar Optimization?

Thanks in advance, and please go and see my car on Instagram @Osmium_S60T5 and double tap on one or more of my pictures. I don't post too often, but i really enjoy Seeing all the other Volvo enthusiasts cars out there!

 

[Rally_V60]

So the answer is yes. I personally do not have the tune but a bunch of people say it helps. I personally don't have the tune (I don't see it worth the price). A good alternative to the polestar software is getting a torque limiter delete from Hilton. Should help decrease shift times, but you need to be careful not to put to much stress on the trans since there is little/no TCU help with torque.

 

[MidnightSnooze]

We recently picked up a 2020 Ford Escape with the 8 speed, 2.0T and AWD. Similar power and weight specs to my Volvo T5e. It has paddles and a sport mode.
There is a massive difference in the way the two cars handle gearchanges and reaction to the paddle inputs. The Volvo is much more in line with the previous DCT cars that i have owned. Especially when it comes to up shifts. Downshifts are a bit slow and seem to unsettle the car more than a DCT would.
In comparison, the Escape has noticeable delay and lag. It doesn't matter if it is WOT or part throttle, the input to reaction time is too long. There is enough time to click the paddle and place you fingers back on the wheel before the gear changes. The Volvo is near instant.
To be honest, i cant recall how it was before the P* tune. I didnt have paddles in the car at that stage either, so not much good in relation to your exact question. I can say that as far as 8 speed transverse transmissions, i think this one does a pretty good job.

 

[paradoxicallymodified]

So the answer is yes. I personally do not have the tune but a bunch of people say it helps. I personally don't have the tune (I don't see it worth the price). A good alternative to the polestar software is getting a torque limiter delete from Hilton. Should help decrease shift times, but you need to be careful not to put to much stress on the trans since there is little/no TCU help with torque.

+1 on Hilton. No need to worry about the torque limit delete. I've had it for going on 3 years now and zero issues. Obviously the harder you drive anything the shorter the lifespan. I am by no means gentle on the trans and shifts are instant. Another thing to note that people seem to forget/overlook is that these trans are adaptive in that the ECU will 'learn' your shift habits. ie. Drive and shift like grandma and the car will too. Use the paddles for awhile and shift like you want and it will start to catch on. I notice this phenomenon when driving in auto for a few long road trips and then when you go to get on it, it shifts wonky. So I use the manual gear tronic 100% of the time for perfomance driving.