Volvo's clever engineers - with some additional input from the company's Polestar Racing arm - have come up with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that makes a colossal 450hp.
The High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept (HPDPC) features intriguing 'triple-boost' technology to liberate such output. Working off the basis it can get 320hp reliably and smoothly from existing Drive-E 2.0-litre units, the HPDPC uses two parallel turbochargers that are fed by an electrically powered turbo compressor.
This third item pushes compressed air into the two conventional turbos, rather than into the cylinders, in order to spool the blowers up quicker and eliminate lag; that's right, Volvo says it eradicates lag, rather than merely reducing it. Fuel is fed to the whole shebang by a dual pump working at a massive 250-bar pressure.
The HPDPC attracted the attention and involvement of Volvo Cars suppliers AVL, Denso and Volvo Polestar Racing (VPR) at an early stage, which 'allowed theories and technologies from racing applications to be infused in the development process'. Which, if it means we get 450hp road-going Volvos in the near future, is nice.
Anything else?
Over to Mattias Evensson, race engine director at VPR, who says: "This was a very exciting project as we pioneered a combination of technologies in the same application, and the result is a quite unique engine with its high power yet quick response.
"Above all, its compact size improves weight distribution between the front and rear axle and lowers the centre of gravity - two factors that have a significant effect on the handling, whether it is a race car or a road car."