I have an 81 242 and my brother has an 83 245. Both are manual and, from what I understand, have the same transmission. The peculiar thing though is that his "top" speed is much higher than mine. I don't have a tach, but based on how the engine feels I engage the OD around 50 or 60, depending on accelleration needs. My brother's car, however, can go up to 70 in 4th and not feel strained. 85 or even 90 is a comfortable speed for his engine, where as I don't even like to get much over 75.

So I guess I have a couple questions:

1)- does anyone have an 81 manual, and does this sound right? The spedometer only goes up to 85, so I assume it is.

2)- I also assume that the difference is in the axel, but why would Volvo make the 2 door "coupe" model with more torque than a wagon?

3)- would getting larger tires make a significant difference? Swapping the axel is well beyond my own ability, and I shutter to think what a shop would charge, but I hate running my car at such high rpms just to keep up with the flow of traffic. I've resorted to driving a mazda on highway trips, but that defeats the saftey reasons why I have a Volvo in the first place.

thanks in advance for your input