The V8 engine that will power Volvo’s attack on the V8 Supercars Championship is under development in New Zealand now and should be in a race car and testing by December.

Based on the Yamaha-developed B8444S 4.4-litre V8 production engine that saw service in the XC90 SUV and S80 sedan, it will be bored and stroked to 5.0-litres for the Car of the Future S60 V8 Supercars that will debut at the 2014 Clipsal 500.

Polestar, Volvo Car Group’s global motorsport and performance car partner, has responsibility for engine development along with Volvo in New Zealand, while Garry Rogers Motorsport in Dandenong will build the chassis of the new cars, design the bodywork and aerodynamic package.

“We are on the dyno in early December with the engine and then we get it in the car as quick as possible,” confirmed Polestar CEO and owner Christian Dahl at yesterday’s announcement of Volvo’s factory backed attack on the V8 Supercars Championship.”

Dahl, who has attended several V8 Supercars events including the SKYCITY Triple Crown last weekend, is in no doubts about the challenge his engineers face in developing an engine that will be competitive against the long-established Ford and Holden pushrod V8s.

And he is also aware of the difficulties Nissan and HWA (Benz) have encountered achieving competitive outputs and fuel economy from their production-based engines in 2013.

“Driveability is a big part and as we can see from the race weekend the rear tyres have quite a tough life and the engine is part of that together with the driver,” said Dahl.

“Then we have to test what we can and get the information from the drivers and Garry Rogers team, what they are wanting in the driveability and where they want the power and everything. We will attend a few races with our engineers later on in the season to talk to the drivers and see what they do on the track.”

Dahl praised the common Car of the Future chassis and componentry that now underpins V8 Supercars, predicting it would help Volvo get up to competitive speed more quickly.

“It is the modern form of racing and it gives Volvo a good opportunity to hit the ground running and then of course we have to race to gain further. There are a couple of tenths to the best cars in the field and we really want to close that gap as soon as we can, but I do not underestimate the challenge.

“I think Holden and Red Bull is a little bit on top of everyone at the moment and it’s a bit of job to catch up to them. But I think with more resources from Volvo, a bit of experience from Polestar and a really good foundation at Garry Rogers we have all the tools to do it.

“Of course you need the time, we are quite restricted on testing. You can’t just go off for five weeks and test but I think we have a good basis to start with and we build on that.”

Dahl also praised the quality of the Championship compared to tin-top racing in Europe: “We are used to this balance of performance and turbos and weights up and down. Here you do a good job and you are allowed to win. There is stiff competition and we are really proud to be part of it and it will be a big challenge.”

Dahl said the plan was to eventually integrate Polestar more heavily into the overall development of the S60 racers and having staff seconded from New Zealand to Dandenong was “being looked at”. Already Polestar has supplied bodywork data to GRM, while Dandenong has sent digital chassis and suspension files to New Zealand.

“Garry and myself are taking about how we can integrate both our support, but of course Garry Rogers Motorsport will be the base for the running of the team in Australia and hopefully Polestar can be a good link between Volvo Cars in New Zealand and Garry Rogers in Australia to speed up communication and bring our experience.

“We have been working with Volvo Cars for 16 years and we can put that experience into the team and into the Championship.”

Dahl, who has also visited the GRM shop several times, said he was confident the two organisations would mesh well.

“I think the set-up of the Garry Rogers team is quite similar to what we have in New Zealand, the mentality of the team is quite laid back and I think it should be a good chemistry of people working together. They have what they need to do the job there and to add some resources from Volvo Cars in New Zealand and Polestar I think is really good.”

Dahl admitted there was a chance that a Polestar driver could race for the V8 Supercars operation, although he downplayed any expectation it might happen in the near future.

“There is talk but I think we want continuity when you go into this, you want the drivers that have done the Championship before so you have continuity in the feedback.”