Ice Cold: Exclusive Drives of the 2025 Polestar 2, 3, and 4 Arctic Circle Editions
Sweden’s electric-car maker goes ice racing with three one-off models to remind everyone it delivers fun performance.
0:00 / 0:00
Problem: You’re an electric vehicle manufacturer that makes quite decent cars, but by dint of them all being four-door kinda sedan-y SUVs, they don’t necessarily scream excitement at first glance. You had a wildly great-looking and -driving halo coupe, but you only built 1,500 copies of the Polestar 1. Compounding all this is the fact enthusiasts aren’t exactly lining up to purchase EVs. Moreover, your home country of Sweden is known for practicing lagom, the art of moderation. So if you’re Polestar, what do you do to gin up some buzz about your brand? How about building three different ones-offs to participate in this year’s FAT International Ice Race? That ought to do the trick. Meet the Polestar 2, 3, and 4 Arctic Circle Editions.
Say What?
You might remember reading about a Polestar 2 Arctic Circle here previously. Indeed, you did, as our own Frank Markus drove the one-off prototype in Quebec’s frozen tundra two years ago. Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chief engineer of driving dynamics and the man behind all three of the FAT ice racers, points out his team’s car was done before the either the Porsche Dakar or Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato made it to production. (Though I do point out to him that we first drove the Sterrato prototype in 2019.) Also worth mentioning is not just Rydholm, but no one on the Polestar team had ever heard of or seen a photo of the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, a vehicle that would be a direct competitor to all three Polestar Arctic Circle vehicles should any make it to production. Polestar had invited us over to Zell am See, Austria, to not only get flung around in the electric performance cars as a passenger during the ice race itself, but to drive all three in freezing conditions around the bucolic Carinthian countryside.
What Makes ’Em Special?
While Rydholm and his team had to work around each vehicle’s particulars, the trio is more alike than not. The basic formula—copied from the original set of three-way-adjustable Öhlins dampers like those found on the oddball Polestar 2 BST Edition 270—for winter wonderland duties: The dampers are clicked down to a much softer setting; longer, softer steel springs are added; and downsized (and killer-looking) OZ Racing wheels are added and wrapped in either studded tires at the ice race or Pirelli Scorpion winter tires for street/donuts in parking lots. Like on the OG Arctic Circle car, the front seats of all three are replaced by big-bolstered Recaro race buckets, though as I discovered during a taxi ride in the back of the Polestar 4 Arctic Circle during the race itself, rear buckets would also be totally appropriate.
Those are the broad strokes, and then each car gets a set of specific tunes. Like the one that came before, the Polestar 2 here gets a 1.2-inch lift. It features the literal same dampers from the BST, 30percent softer springs, and a thinner front anti-roll bar. There are a set of Steli Quad LED lights mounted on and under the grille. The wheels are 19-inchers instead of the standard 20-inchers found on Polestar 2s, and if you take a look, they barely clear the brake calipers. However, the 2 is on a geriatric platform as the Volvo CMA chassis dates to 2017, so it’s not as stiff as a modern car. To address this, Rydholm’s team added a rear brace that only eats up a little luggage space. The other interior change is a set of paddle shifters that allow the driver to select the battery regen levels, though if you pull them both at the same time you activate launch control. Polestar also mounted two sets of skis on top, a nod to FAT International’s love of skijoring (that’s where insane people ski behind cars holding onto a rope).
Next up is the Polestar 3 Arctic Circle, the most off-road capable of the bunch. Similar formula, different details. The biggest one being the 1.6-inch lift, as opposed to the 1.2 inches on the 2. The 3 Arctic Circle employs the same type of Öhlins dampers, though as the 3 is more than 1,000 pounds heavier than the 2, these are in fact beefier. Whereas the 2 needed rear bracing, Rydholm and his crew found it necessary to brace the 3’s front end in an attempt to make the steering feel better. Like all Polestar 3s, the rear features brake-based torque vectoring. The 3 also rides on larger 20-inch OZ wheels. In addition to the front-mounted Stedi lights, the 3 Arctic Circle gets more lighting installed on its massive roof basket. Three nicely integrated buttons behind the cupholders turn these on and off. There’s also a full-size spare tire found in the basket, also holding traction boards and general-purpose containers.
The Polestar 4 Arctic Circle edition is the most far-fetched of the three vehicles. Again, same formula, though this one was built to specifically whoop some backside at the FAT International Ice Race. Featuring just a 0.8-inch lift, with vehicle-specific Öhlins, springs, and front anti-roll bars, this 4 is the sportiest of the bunch. It’s also the most modern platform (and noticeably the stiffest), known as Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) and used for various Jis, Volvos, and Zeekers, though it was developed in Gothenburg, Sweden. What really makes the 536-horsepower off-road buggy tick is the big Formula D–style hydraulic handbrake. The pro drivers Polestar had flinging us around the FAT International track made excellent use of the handbrake, with one even catching up a Porsche Taycan or two.
How Do They Drive?
Great! Well, great enough considering the wintry conditions. And the fact I wasn’t allowed to drive them without a Polestar employee seated next to me, since the cars are all one-off prototypes. I’ve personally never been a Polestar 2 fan, but the rear bracing and grippy winter tires felt excellent. However, the Polestar 3 Arctic Circle was the real star for me, a big improvement over the standard 3 Performance Pack, specifically the front end. There’s more control, more bite, more feedback, more fun. The 4 version also seemed fun to drive, and no mods were required since the platform is so new and stiff. As such, it’s closest in nature to the production version. The bummer was we just couldn’t find an empty frozen parking lot to give that handbrake a good yank.
Do We Care?
Yes, I think we do. Sure, the loud liveries and the fact there are three of these cars are an unmasked attempt to drum up interest in the brand at this year’s ice race. No crime there. However, I think two of the Polestars are certainly machines American customers would be into. You only need to take a quick peak at Subaru and its Wilderness edition vehicles, a trim now available for the Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback, and which accounts for more than 16 percent of sales, with the Forester Wilderness approaching 20 percent. Essentially just a lift, distinguishing characteristics, and a wheel/tire package, customers eat these things up. The vehicles also happen to be quite good off-road. Then there’s the previously mentioned Mustang Mach-E Rally, which is even closer to the Polestar vehicles in execution with its white OZ Racing wheels. Same formula—lift it, give it new wheels and tires—and like with the Subaru Wilderness models, the result is much better than the Mach-E GT it’s based on.
As of right now, the big, more SUV-like Polestar 3 Artic Edition probably makes the most sense. It also seemed to benefit the most from the changes as it drove much better than a standard Polestar 3. The higher lift means you can overcome more obstacles and get to more places, especially when you factor in the inherent advantages of EV torque when it comes to off-roading. The 3 is based on the Polestar 3 Performance pack, which offers 510 hp and 671 lb-ft, making an Arctic Circle edition an off-road/no-road force to be reckoned with.
Price is the potential downside, because the 3 Performance pack already starts at $80,800. How much more to go Arctic? Probably another $10,000 on top feels about right. To get into the three Subaru Wilderness models and the Ford, you only need plonk down around an additional $5,000. However, the Öhlins dampers are pricey, and Polestar is a luxury brand. What about the Polestar 2 Arctic Circle? I’d recommend the company produces both, but that model is a bit long in the tooth.
Could Polestar decide to make a limited run of these like it did with the 270-example BST? Sure, though an off-road-intent 2 would likely interest many more people. It should be a regular production car, not a limited edition. As for the 4 Arctic Circle, well, naw. At least not in this form. While American consumers welcome more hardcore off-road creations, this one seems too focused on ice racing—that’s a polite way of saying it’s a bit much.
Will Any of It Happen?
Polestar, for its part, said nothing to us on the record about this. Nor off the record. I kept asking, “So are you going to build any of them?” To which I received the industry-standard boilerplate, “We have no plans to at this time.” However, perhaps it’s worth noting that the company has now built two Polestar 2 Arctic Circle vehicles. If these were really just intended for the FAT International Ice Race, why not call them Polestar FAT Editions or Polestar Ice Race Editions? Pardon the cliché, but where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. We have no clue as to when, but be surprised if we don’t start seeing some off-road-intent Polestars in the near or near-ish future. And hey, Arctic Circle is as good a name as any and beats the pants off BST Edition 270.
When I was just one-year-old and newly walking, I managed to paint a white racing stripe down the side of my father’s Datsun 280Z. It’s been downhill ever since then. Moral of the story? Painting the garage leads to petrolheads. I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always had strong opinions about cars.
One day I realized that I should combine two of my biggest passions and see what happened. Turns out that some people liked what I had to say and within a few years Angus MacKenzie came calling. I regularly come to the realization that I have the best job in the entire world. My father is the one most responsible for my car obsession. While driving, he would never fail to regale me with tales of my grandfather’s 1950 Cadillac 60 Special and 1953 Buick Roadmaster. He’d also try to impart driving wisdom, explaining how the younger you learn to drive, the safer driver you’ll be. “I learned to drive when I was 12 and I’ve never been in an accident.” He also, at least once per month warned, “No matter how good you drive, someday, somewhere, a drunk’s going to come out of nowhere and plow into you.”
When I was very young my dad would strap my car seat into the front of his Datsun 280Z and we’d go flying around the hills above Malibu, near where I grew up. The same roads, in fact, that we now use for the majority of our comparison tests. I believe these weekend runs are part of the reason why I’ve never developed motion sickness, a trait that comes in handy when my “job” requires me to sit in the passenger seats for repeated hot laps of the Nurburgring. Outside of cars and writing, my great passions include beer — brewing and judging as well as tasting — and tournament poker. I also like collecting cactus, because they’re tough to kill. My amazing wife Amy is an actress here in Los Angeles and we have a wonderful son, Richard.Read More
