I have to agree with you io...... How the hell does my car (740 '88 NA) appear to go reasonably well? to say the car weighs a ton, is a joke, it weighs 1.5. How can a 4 cyl engine on a 3.31 diff (yes, you read right), appear to go so well? First gear, low down, plenty of torque, but not a lot of acceleration, but once you reach the top of first/mid of second the car seems to launch, even my girlfriend went "geez"..... I have also noticed that from about 2,500rpm, in the wet spinning the wheels on the spot is no trouble at all, with reasonable tyres. (When i first got it, trying to hill start!). I have (on a flat surface) also accidently (well, basically, i couldn't be bothered going to first after starting to move) took off in 3rd gear, sure, the car, or clutch, didn't love me for it, but it was reasonably comfortable with taking off in third gear.....the only other car i've ever been in that car do that was an '88 M5 BMW manual.... so how come the volvo seems so powerful?

Don't forget the 135 torque.

Rene

There have been several independent dyno tests performed on the 230 in Sweden. They all indicate that the hp rating is accurate.

Volvo, as many other facturers, used the SAE standard (measuring without alternator, fan etc) in the 60´s. The DIN standard, including these things, is relatively fair but doesn´t include the transmission power loss (about 10% with a manual and 15-20% with auto). For an example, a single carb 1965 B18A produced 75 hp SAE but 68 hp DIN. The B30E was 175 hp SAE but 160 hp DIN, etc, etc. The DIN standard has been used since the 70´s and nothing indicates that Volvo hp ratings should be more fictional than other´s.

The first 850´s in 1992, however, wasn´t really up to the 170 hp rating - those engines produced something around 160 hp but after modifications to the exhaust and ignition systems these cars were up to spec in 1993-94.

When it comes to acceleration figures, hp is one factor but torque, gear ratios, engine/trans mounts and suspension are important too. Aerodynamics won´t be a that big aspect in speeds below 60 mph. But reaching the optimistic Volvo figures will be hard or impossible - it seems like only BMW and Porsche are reliable in that aspect.

/Martin