Strut braces would do a better job of making the car look like it handles better, as few people get excited about bending down to the ground to catch a glimpse of a shiny new swaybar. Swaybars, however, will make the car handle better in a way that you will notice immediately. Strut braces are more subtle and would be more noticeable once you have done other suspension modifications so that you are challenging the structure of the reasonably solid Volvo unit body to a greater degree. Right now, you are probably just challenging a lot of old and tired rubber bushings, and a strut brace will not help that. In my opinion, the best strut brace that is readily available is the Cherry Turbos brace now sold by IPD and possibly others.

Philip