Another unusal question.

Has anyone noticed that 850 T-5 has too much power for some?
Not to be a sexist, but I'm wondering if it'll be too much for
my wife. Also, I'd like to keep this car for a looooong time,
till my son is old enough to drive it (>10 years). Assuming
the turbo still works well, I wonder if it would be a bad 1st car
for a beginner driver.

TIA.

I would never put this kind of power in the hands of a teenager, especially with the serious torque steer this package has when used (abused) the way a teenager typically might.

Your wife would have no difficulty with this car, and might appreciate the slow boil of the bigger HP turbo as acceleration is slower at first than with the LP turbo. My wife is a sane, sedate driver and likes this car a lot.
--
(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)

My first car was a 1980 244DL and that was a great car to learn on. Pick-up on the freeways wasn't the greatest, but it was a solid car which I sadly parted with when I moved to Oregon. I highly recommend the use of a educational driving school first as it might reduce your insurance and give your daughter a better understanding of the skill of driving before it's one of your cars.

1997 Low-pressure turbo is the way to go!!!!

My daughter drives a 5.0 V8 Colony Park she inherited from mom. After 14 years and 180,000 miles, a lot of the horses that were snorting at the gate in 1988 have since left the corral for parts unknown. It's still amazingly smooth, but the car's really a slug now.

The extra HP of the T5 is hidden in a part of the power curve where most people don't spend a lot of time. Unless she likes to drive aggressively and get the revs up, your wife won't even notice it.

My wife drives my 98 T5M and is not really a car person; she just
notices that it really goes when it has too.

As for learning, I think it is a very poor choice for that. Power
delivery is not smooth enough and will surprise a novice driver (and
it only has to happen once).

Get the 850 Turbo. Not only does it have Volvos reliabilty and safety, but it has power! The only thing that is hard to get used to is the torque steer, since it's a high powered front wheel drive car. Actually, if you drive around in "Economy" mode, it's very easy to drive and very easy to control. Once you put it in "Sport" mode, you better hang on! I definately think you should get the 850. Just my $.03


--
'95 Volvo 854 Turbo: Gold Edition
K&N Air Filter, Leather, 6 disc CD-changer, Rear Spoiler
13% tinted windows

Or, should I keep 240 or 940 as my son's 1st car?

The 240's and 940's are great cars. Solid, and Safe being the words that come to mind. Great cars to learn how to drive in.

I guess an equivalent question would be...would you let your wife or son drive a V8 Mustang? Lots of people do. The T-5 and R models are about in that league. Of course they don't look as sporty but they do go really fast when you put your foot to the floor.

I have a 97 R and my wife loves it. She can easily handle the power and actually wants me to do a few mods to up the power even more. That just might happen pretty soon.

As for your son, that still a long way away to be thinking about your son driving. Too many things can happen between now and then to base a decision on that.

--
Nathan Valles, Black 855R, Tint

I own a 1995 850 Turbo and find that it has just the right amount of get up and go. I love the ride. My daughter wanted a car last year (she was 16) and my first thought was the 240. After driving a number of them, I thought that it was too sluggish and could possibly present a danger to her trying to get on our freeways here in So Cal. Got her a 1990 325 BMW instead. Much better power and manueverabilty.