Polestar and Oxford put driving thrills to the test

Polestar and researchers from the University of Oxford have explored whether the thrill of driving can be measured, using everything from steering effort to pupil size to assess how drivers respond to a performance car.

The small pilot study suggests the experience involves more than acceleration and cornering forces. Confidence in the car, a sense of control and intense concentration also featured in drivers’ accounts of what made the experience enjoyable.

Researchers from Oxford’s SDG Impact Lab worked with 12 participants at Sweden’s Gotland Ring circuit. Each drove two versions of the Polestar 4 in calm and dynamic conditions: the 200kW Rear motor and the 400kW Dual motor with Performance pack.

Vehicle telemetry was combined with heart-rate monitoring, eye tracking, psychological assessments and interviews, allowing the team to examine what the car was doing alongside the driver’s physical and emotional response.

One of the more interesting findings came from comparing fast laps at virtually identical pace. The Dual motor with Performance pack delivered 32 per cent higher peak acceleration while requiring 15 per cent less steering effort than the Rear motor.

It also generated greater cornering loads and more frequent hard-acceleration events. Those figures describe differences in how the cars delivered their performance, rather than a reduction in lap time.

Drivers rated the more powerful version higher, too. It scored 89.2 out of 100 on the study’s Performance/Dynamics scale, against 67.7 for the Rear motor. For overall experiential quality, the respective scores were 93.0 and 77.9, with most participants favouring the Performance version on both measures.

Eye tracking revealed that participants blinked less, had larger pupils and held their gaze longer during dynamic driving. Researchers described those patterns as consistent with deeper attentional engagement. They could also link vehicle telemetry with changes in drivers’ physiological activation.

The interviews added some context to the numbers. Participants described a mix of physical excitement, trust in the car and the feeling of remaining in control while approaching their own limits. Several independently likened it to a “controlled roller coaster”.

One said the car “makes you feel like a better driver than you are”. Researchers found that drivers associated the Performance version more consistently with that combination of thrill, trust and control.

“Performance is not simply about going faster. It is about giving the driver a sense of confidence and control through predictable vehicle responses,” said Max Klapow, doctoral researcher at the Oxford SDG Impact Lab.

“Our research takes a step towards measuring that human experience, by connecting what the car does with what happens to the driver.”

With just 12 participants, the findings remain preliminary. Researchers emphasised that this was a feasibility pilot, with a larger study needed to establish the reliability and validity of the results.

For now, it offers an early look at how vehicle data and driver feedback might help explain something a specification sheet can’t: why a car feels rewarding to drive.