[Clan]

the "small brakes " on the T5 would be completely shot after one stop from maximum speed ( 150 mph ) I guess its a compromise with the speed limits here so they cut costs and make them just adequate for 100 mph ..

The rear brakes of a big volvo still offer a lot of useful stopping power due to there still being some weight on them when braking ..

Volvos are extremely stable under hard braking from high speed .
On the other hand you have cars like a Citroen C1 which is over servoed and feels like it is pivoting on its front wheels and the rears doing absolutly nothing under the same circumstances , and feels unstable .
The best braking experience is in a light ( 600kg) rear engined car where brake balance idealy is 50-50 , you can brake with confidence hard into a corner when you need to and the size of the brakes are tiny in comparison ...... Braking is not an effort , its all over in a second or two what ever speed you are doing . Whilst in say a T5 you see people running down hill to a roundabout at 70 mph with their brake lights on for 100's of metres . I just think of the pads burning away , especialy if they do that every day!