Matt, I've been driving for 3 weeks with my father-in-law's Mitsubishi Delica people mover, because my parents came to visit us from overseas and there is just not enough space (??!!) in either a 140 or 240 sedan for 4 adults, 2 kids, and luggage. And with all the driving it helped that the Delica runs on Diesel, which is in this part of the world half the price of 98. But man, even though the Delica is a late-90's model, the brakes does not come close to either my '88 or '71 Volvos. My mother-in-law has a fairly recent Nissan Serena people mover, the one with sliding doors on both sides, and that is better than the Mitsubishi, but still not as good as Volvo. You step on the brakes and wonder when the car will decide to stop. I agree, Volvo brakes are more than enough for me.

On the same note, here in New Zealand the crash impact test results are said to be a good indication of car safety, but after the Delica (it has been almost 4 years since I've driving anything other than 3 Volvo's, which includes a 760), I'm taking the impact test with a pinch of salt. For me it is now more important that you can avoid an accident, e.g. how stable the brakes are, how comfortable the seats are for keeping you relaxed and not stressed, how much you can see out the windscreen, etc. Being 1.85m tall, I have to move the seat of the delica back and up for leg room, then my head bumps the roof and the C-pillar prevents me from seeing around corners...

OK, enough wining. My point is, old Volvo brakes are great compared to average new cars, but I would also agree that more power would be nice for a powerfull tuned engine.

There is one failure mode for the Volvo brakes, and that is if the block with the failure switch fails. You can then have total brake failure. In any other failure mode you loose only 1 circuit, and something like 80% braking power is retained.

Have fun...