New XC60 T5 Order - Wheel Size Problem

[simonjedrake]

Hi
My current (2nd) XC60 D5 has just reached it’s 3rd Birthday and has given me a 100% trouble free experience over 33,000 miles but now I am retired (lower milege) the lure of the T5 Powertrain and the latest tech has beaten me into submission.........and with still no sight of the T6 Powertrain to the U.K. market............I placed an order yesterday for an XC60 T5 Inscription Pro with most “toy” boxes ticked as you do!
BUT the only problem I have is with the wheel size with the lowest size available being 20” v the Inscription only model of 19” as Standard.
The dilemma I have is that living in rural Shropshire I travel on a lot of pot holed lanes hence my 2 previous XC60’s have been on 18” wheels - as after all an XC60 is an SUV not a low rider sports car that demands tyres resembling black rubber bands..........

But in the spirit of compromise and with the air suspension of my XC60 I will accept 19” wheels but off course I cannot unless I down spec from the Pro model to the Inscription which I will not.

So my question to the forum is has anyone any suggestions on how to solve my predicament when the new car arrives?

[volvocat]

You can order any XC60 with 4C, including Momentum trim which has 18 or 19 inch wheels as standard, so the sytem obviously doesn’t need 20 or 21 inch to work properly, so even if you can’t factory-order it with smaller wheels, surely the dealer could offer you a ‘down-grade’? Most folks who change their wheels go larger, so dealers sometimes have spare sets of smaller wheels available.
No harm asking anyway...

[techdave]

Not sure how it is in the UK, but I'm sure the dealer wouldn't mine swapping the wheels with those from a lower trim model for free. Then they would probably charge more for the next buyer for the upgraded wheels of course!

If not, find another member to swap with.

I've heard a couple of guys did it here in Australia, as the Inscription only come with 20" wheels here (they swap with Momentum 19"s).

[NewVolvo]

Or simply buy a set of 18” or 19” as accessory. Fit them and sell the 20” on the bay or similar. 18” or 19” are fitted as winterwheels so yes, they would fit.

[nu11eaf]

Your dealer would have no problem swapping over your wheels from another model he has in stock, this was offered to me when I complained about the noise level of my 20" wheels on my XC90 but unfortunately the 19" wheels that were available in stock at the time were not very nice and I wanted the same style as my inscription but 19", which were available but not on any cars in stock at the time.
Like you I did not want 20" or larger wheels but the inscription could not be delivered with smaller wheel sizes.

[bobby2000]

Originally Posted by simonjedrake

Hi
My current (2nd) XC60 D5 has just reached it’s 3rd Birthday and has given me a 100% trouble free experience over 33,000 miles but now I am retired (lower milege) the lure of the T5 Powertrain and the latest tech has beaten me into submission.........and with still no sight of the T6 Powertrain to the U.K. market............I placed an order yesterday for an XC60 T5 Inscription Pro with most “toy” boxes ticked as you do!
BUT the only problem I have is with the wheel size with the lowest size available being 20” v the Inscription only model of 19” as Standard.
The dilemma I have is that living in rural Shropshire I travel on a lot of pot holed lanes hence my 2 previous XC60’s have been on 18” wheels - as after all an XC60 is an SUV not a low rider sports car that demands tyres resembling black rubber bands..........

But in the spirit of compromise and with the air suspension of my XC60 I will accept 19” wheels but off course I cannot unless I down spec from the Pro model to the Inscription which I will not.

So my question to the forum is has anyone any suggestions on how to solve my predicament when the new car arrives?

I had the exact same problem, but decided to downgrade to the inscription and then add the extras that I needed, and managed without some I would have liked. Because I had one of the 1st cars available there was not alot of movement on deals, probably easier now.

[Bernard F]

Why don’t you try the 20” and take the pot holes easy. I am semi rural with plenty of quite bad pot holes and don’t have a major problem, just keeping a close watch on the road in difficult areas. There is still plenty of rubber on 20” wheels, not quite the rubber band kind.

[SuffolkBoy]

As I live in rural Suffolk, I too was concerned about the optional 20” wheels that my Inscription came with (it was an ex-stock MY18 that was part of the Volvo sales incentive last October). I don’t have the Active Four-Chassis to go with the 20” wheels as on the Pro model.
I needn’t have worried, the ride comfort on these wheels/tyres is very good and noise levels very low.
As already suggested, you just need to keep a keen eye out for potholes - not difficult these days as there seems to be more potholes than tarmac on many stretches of road!
I would certainly recommend trying a Pro model with the 20” wheels, you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Converted]

Originally Posted by SuffolkBoy

As I live in rural Suffolk, I too was concerned about the optional 20” wheels that my Inscription came with (it was an ex-stock MY18 that was part of the Volvo sales incentive last October). I don’t have the Active Four-Chassis to go with the 20” wheels as on the Pro model.
I needn’t have worried, the ride comfort on these wheels/tyres is very good and noise levels very low.
As already suggested, you just need to keep a keen eye out for potholes - not difficult these days as there seems to be more potholes than tarmac on many stretches of road!
I would certainly recommend trying a Pro model with the 20” wheels, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Trust me, it's not easy to avoid potholes for me as I am not getting any younger. I think this winter, I have managed to avoid 40% of potholes I encountered. Fortunately, the ones I did hit failed to damage the tyres. I wonder if they ever will introduce Pothole Detection to cars. I think Ford has been researching into that for years. Haven't seen any of their cars with such features yet. Surely Volvo can incorporate this in one of their future Pilot Assist versions, being the leading car manufacturer on safety and driving intelligence...