Winter wheels and tyres / XC60 2022

[alexaris1985]

Originally Posted by James77

We also drive to the Alps. The rule is you must carry chains (in France, Austria you must have both chains and winter tyres) these will be side fitting and expensive mine have only been out of the packaging for a trial fit. I bought mine from roofbox.co.uk
You do not require winter tyres, however, as you say for peace of mind I have a set and they will cope with pretty much anything apart from the full on snow when chains will be necessary and the local law enforcement will not let you ascend without them.
The winter tyre debate is one that rattles on, my view it's too late to wish you had bought them when your summer tyres give up and you're sliding toward a collision.
Personal choice but with my kids in the back under 1500 quid for a second set plus winters is a price worth paying.

I fully agree with you! Took a bit of time convincin my wife that it is a cost worth taking. I will pay £1300 for 18 inch basic 5-Y spoke silver alloys plus Pirelli Scorpion Winter 2. I will have to hand the car back to Volvo as part of my Care by Volvo subscription in Feb 2025, but I can always keep them (if I do continue with another Volvo car) or sell them at Ebay. I assume after 2 and a half winters on the winter tyres the tread depth will be good enough to sell and claim back a £500 for all 4 of them!

[alexaris1985]

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

It's been very mild until now in the French and Swiss Alps. We are there for skiing for the first time in 6 years, but I'm leaving the Cross Climate 2s on as they are a good enough with an AWD car, unless we get a proper dump of snow over there. I think it's unlikely. If I was lucky enough to be there for a season (which I'm not), I would buy full Winters.

You should be fine with cross climate. If the car was mine and not Volvo's, I would sell existing summer tyres, change to all season and save on the annual storage and swapping cost. Last year, we rented a car from Lyon, a BMW 3 series estate and the tyres were all season, but no snow on the road. This was February! In fact we were driving under 15 degrees, only got cold when driving up the mountain...

[sk546]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

Reducing the wheel size from 21 to 18 will improve noise, handling, vibration, harshness and performance. 21inches only look good and allow the manufacturer to see expensive tyres so no concerns to that end.

I agree with the majority of your conclusions with reference to reducing from 21" to 18" as far as improving noise, vibration and harshness due to having a larger sidewall on the smaller wheel size, however, I must question how you conclude that reducing tyre size improves handling and performance?
The reduction is size of the tyre sidewall on the larger wheel size means that the sidewall has to be stiffer. This has a 2 fold affect on the larger tyre size, it increases the tyres noise, vibration and harshness compared to the smaller wheel size but gives the tyre a sportier handling balance as the tyre can be abused more in the corners without being deformed and the feeling you are rolling off the side of the tyre. As such, when pushed to the tyres limit, the 21" tyre would, on the vast majority of the time, have better handling and performance than the smaller wheel size.
There will always be a few instances when this isnt the case (when comparing an 18" snow tyre to a 21" summer tyre in winter conditions for example) but when compatible tyres in different sizes are tested, the above is usually true.

Not trying to be rude or aggressive in my question, just curious in the basis of your conclusions.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by sk546

I agree with the majority of your conclusions with reference to reducing from 21" to 18" as far as improving noise, vibration and harshness due to having a larger sidewall on the smaller wheel size, however, I must question how you conclude that reducing tyre size improves handling and performance?
The reduction is size of the tyre sidewall on the larger wheel size means that the sidewall has to be stiffer. This has a 2 fold affect on the larger tyre size, it increases the tyres noise, vibration and harshness compared to the smaller wheel size but gives the tyre a sportier handling balance as the tyre can be abused more in the corners without being deformed and the feeling you are rolling off the side of the tyre. As such, when pushed to the tyres limit, the 21" tyre would, on the vast majority of the time, have better handling and performance than the smaller wheel size.
There will always be a few instances when this isnt the case (when comparing an 18" snow tyre to a 21" summer tyre in winter conditions for example) but when compatible tyres in different sizes are tested, the above is usually true.

Not trying to be rude or aggressive in my question, just curious in the basis of your conclusions.

I think (only my experience of driving 18” and 22”) once we get to already fairly low profile tyres (18” not being overly tall) you tend to find the ultra low profiles are known to brake away more urgently then normal profile tyres and are more jittery, bumpy and subject to imperfections on the road.

On a track ok, I agree, but probably not on the road.

I will say however I was probably not clear in stating reduction in performance, that’s probably incorrect, it’s maybe better to say no significant performance improvements.

My experience is also not with T8 models which does have considerably better performance than other models and may be able to exploit the ultra low profile tyres,

Thanks for pointing it out.

[Lexman8]

Note that tyres marked 'M&S' (Mud & Snow) comply with the 'Loi Montagne II 2016' that came into effect last year. However, from 1 Nov 2024 tyres must have the full '3PMSF' (3 Peak Mountain Snow Flake) symbol to comply.

I changed to CrossClimates from dedicated winter tyres a couple of years ago as I now always fly to the Alps in winter. The CCs are good but I'd be hesitant about using them in the Alps when conditions are bad.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Lexman8

Note that tyres marked 'M&S' (Mud & Snow) comply with the 'Loi Montagne II 2016' that came into effect last year. However, from 1 Nov 2024 tyres must have the full '3PMSF' (3 Peak Mountain Snow Flake) symbol to comply.

I changed to CrossClimates from dedicated winter tyres a couple of years ago as I now always fly to the Alps in winter. The CCs are good but I'd be hesitant about using them in the Alps when conditions are bad.

Very interesting! I didn’t know that!

I have not been to the alps but would be reasonably confortavle taking the xc to the alps. However it is AWD.

[Stueey]

Hi all I’ve done the same and had the dealer swap the summer 21 over to winter 18 with a labour cost of 1 hrs as was told there is a software upgrade needed, can i swap them out at home and just do a tps reset?

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by Stueey

can i swap them out at home and just do a tps reset?

A TPMS reset only affects the tyre pressures. According to Volvo, a change of wheel requires a software update:

When changing to new wheel dimensions, new software must be downloaded. Updates speedometer, steering gear and tire dimensions. Ordered according to separate procedure and downloaded using VIDA.

I've swapped between 19" summers and 18" winters doing it myself without a software update and with no apparent problems. However, the bigger size difference between 21" and 18" wheels may mean it is necessary.