Hi delic,

Yeah, I agree about the 960/S/V90's tranny (AW30-40); It is kinda slow on the sporty shifting. All sport mode does is let the engine rev higher before up shifting. I don't think it does anything else (anyone?). It would be nice if it made it downshift sooner too, but I didn't notice that. They are super smooth though, you barely feel upshifts when driving normally. Sounds like you'd enjoy an 850 T-5 or R. Lots of fun. I've driven quite a few turbo 850/S/V70s and they can be pretty fun. The '96 855R I drove was pretty quick :) I'm just not a big fan of the 850/S/V70 becasue they seem to be quite problematic compared to the RWD Volvos and many of the parts on the FWD's are overly and needlessly complicated, and can be quite expensive. My Volvo mechanic thinks it's rediculous. He just says; "What was wrong with the way this use to be?!" I agree. The FWDs are lovely driving cars though, a good friend of mine has a '98 V70 non-turbo that his dad bought new (his dad has a '04 V70 AWD now) that now has just over 260K km (~163K mi) on the odo. It works great and has the orignal tranny (due to keeping the fluid clean). They've had a few problems with it (A/C, lots of brakes, window switches, etc), but nothing too bad. BUT, they've always taken good care of it and I think that has a lot to do with it's condition at that mileage. Anyway, enjoy your 850 and I hope that S90 finds a good home! My 745T is my play Volvo; Rebuilt engine, IPD sways, chassis braces, a nice sticky set of Kumho tires, etc and it's gonna get a manual tranny conversion this spring :) Lots of fun and it's a wagon! Ha! :)
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 291K km and '91 745 NA, 389K km.