David;

Dittos to Chris...I suggest you let your wife drive another BW35 equipped Volvo to get a feeling for those awfull slushboxes. But here's an important suggestion: Get someone else - like a friend of hers - to teach her how to clutch and shift...and preserve your marriage! In my opinion, the cost of a replacement manual tranny, after your present one gets chewed up (maybe) teaching her how to clutch and shift, is STILL better than changing over! Also, standard 122s had a 4.10:1 diff, automatics a 4.30:1...standard 1800s had a 4.56:1 and I don't know what automatics had-I presume higher still...the point being that if you changed a standard 1800 to automatic without also doing the differential, you would have not only a slushbox, but also diff. gearing favoring the top end, which will make the car even more sluggish off the line - and that's certainly the exact opposite of the improved performance you want!

Regards,