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Hi. re: "...The metal braces on the rear calipers and body are for rear impact control! helps accordion the body metal outwards away fron passengers inside...."
Yes, it's to protect the passengers from a rear-end impact. But what that piece actually does is provide a connection to dissipate energy in a less harmful or destructive way.
In the event of an impact, with the rear structure being pushed forward, that "fan-shaped" structure (that you'll see just rear of the brake caliper's protuberance) will engage the brake caliper through its protumberance (i.e., the brace or stop that you referred to), which in turn is strongly bolted to the rear axle. Thus, energy is directed into the massive rear axle (whose great mass can safely dissipate a lot of kinetic energy) rather than into the passenger compartment's bulkhead and safety cage. The fan shape, being vertical, ensures that the two pieces will engage each other regardless of whether the axle is high or low at the time of impact.
But as 'trick-bricks' pointed out, you'll want to use the proper caliper (the ATE), which has this feature in order to maintain the crashworthiness that Volvo originally built into the car.
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