2023 Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 First Test: A True Electric Beast?

When we reviewed the original Polestar 2 electric car in late 2020, we concluded the sedan-like hatchback still needed some work to deliver a fun driving experience for enthusiasts. We were mostly unimpressed with its understeer-biased handling balance and its crashy, stiff suspension setup. But then the company turned up at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed with a special "experimental" performance version of the dual-motor Polestar 2 it dubbed the "Beast." Nearly a year later in summer 2022, it indeed confirmed a limited edition production version of the Goodwood machine, the 2023 Polestar 2 BST edition 270 we got our hands on recently for some hard numbers testing.

The 2023 Polestar 2 BST edition 270's name references both the prototype's "Beast" nickname and the fact Polestar will build just 270 examples of the production car. In a nutshell, the BST edition 270 begins life as a dual-motor Polestar 2 with the optional Performance Pack—Polestar also sells a front-wheel-drive, single-motor 2—before receiving a more aggressive suspension and powertrain setup.

Upgraded software raises the total peak horsepower and torque figures to 476 hp and 502 lb-ft versus the 408 and 468 delivered by the regular dual-motor Polestar 2. The suspension rides 25 mm (1 inch) lower, and it features stiffer front and rear spring rates, plus high-end Öhlins BST Edition two-way manually adjustable dampers. You'll need to access the rear shocks from below to fiddle with them, but the fronts are accessible via reservoirs in the frunk. (These Öhlins pieces are upgraded compared to the ones included on "normal" Performance Pack-equipped Polestar 2s.) As Polestar describes the wide range of adjustment, the dampers "may be configured for the driver's preference of city driving, commuting, touring or track driving—or anywhere in between." But it's not the work of a moment to do so.

Polestar also added a new front strut brace, revised performance launch control, and new pedal-response tuning. The electric car rides on unique 21-inch (1 inch larger than comes with the Performance Pack) BST edition forged aluminum wheels with grippy Pirelli P Zero rubber (245/35).

At our test track, we achieved our best acceleration runs using launch control by holding the brake and accelerator pedals, then releasing the former. This yields quicker runs than simply mashing the go pedal. Our quickest 0-60-mph time came in at 3.9 seconds, and our quickest quarter mile registered 12.2 seconds at 115.5 mph. Despite the power and torque boosts, the 0-60 time only bested the dual-motor Polestar 2 Launch Edition we tested previously by 0.1 second—though our number beat Polestar's official 0-60 claim by a significant 0.4 second. Things improved slightly in the quarter mile versus the Launch Edition as the BST edition 270 defeated it by 0.4 second and 5.5 mph in the speed trap. We noted the car became negligibly slower with each acceleration attempt we made, losing less than a tenth of a second each time.

In our braking test, the 2023 Polestar 2 BST edition 270 delivered stopping power that's almost exactly what its maker promises: Our best stop of 106 feet from 60 to 0 mph is 1 foot longer than Polestar's spec sheet claims. We'll call it even, but it's worth knowing our three other best results measured 107, 109, and 109 feet. This is all respectable performance, and we noted the BST Edition 270 exhibits good body control throughout the braking event.

The stoppers were also relevant in our handling tests. Unlike most EVs, the Polestar 2 BST's brakes are quite easy to modulate. This meant we could trail them into the skidpad with ease, where we found the car boasts decent balance with neither a preponderance of understeer or oversteer. (We left the Öhlins dampers in their track setting for our testing purposes.) That's a big improvement from the original dual-motor 2 we tested. However, the steering in its standard setting is still quite numb, and firming it up doesn't actually deliver a more true feel.  Still, acceleration around our figure-eight course was excellent and (of course with an EV) linear, but without any ability to drift or kick the tail out on the power. This car would be more fun with some more rear-power bias, but it acquitted itself in our handling tests overall as quite a sporty electric car in terms of feel and confidence.

Putting its performance into quantifiable numbers, the 2 BST edition 270 averaged 0.96 g around our skidpad, slightly better than the Launch Edition's 0.95 g average. It lapped our figure-eight circuit in a best time of 24.2 seconds at an average 0.80 g, half a second quicker than the launch edition while just barely beating its average g-load by 0.1.

After we completed our numbers testing, we put several of our MotorTrend editors behind the wheel of the 2023 Polestar 2 BST edition 270 on the Streets of Willow road course. Because numbers never tell the whole story, here's a smattering of comments logged in our notebook:

That last point, along with only small measurable performance gains, leaves us wanting more from the 2023 Polestar 2 BST edition 270—especially when a similarly equipped standard Polestar 2 dual-motor version starts at $66,400, or $10,500 less than the BST's base price. (Our test car's only option was the exterior-stripe package, for $1,000.) It's a definite improvement overall, but there are several untapped areas for improvement should Polestar desire to move the car forward another tangible step or two.