winter tires needed?

[chinapat]

Hi. I'm about to embark on my first winter with our 2007 XC. With only 8,000 kms, The factory-installed allseason Scorpion tires are pretty close to perfect. People in Montreal are advising me to buy snow tires for the winter. Not for the snow so much, but for the ice lurking beneath.

Any thoughts on from any other XC owners out there?

[VolvoStew]

Nokian hakkapeliitta 5. Best out there.

[gibbons]

I hated the Scorpions in snow, and sold them after 1200 miles. I use dedicated snow tires now.

[Phrog]

If you're concerned about ice, you might want to consider studded tires.
They are noisy, rougher-riding, and probably less grippy on dry roads,
but much better on ice.

-Phrog

[tgwillard]

Snow tires give you best traction available. Consider studs if driving on icy roads is necessary. Invest in rims and they will pay for themselves in a few seasons. That said when conditions are really bad here in northeastern PA, my wife and I stay home. Often the roads are closed and regardless of what tires you have, if traffic has come to a stop so have you.

[travelkids]

When I purchased my XC in 02, the scorpions were just great. I would drive through 3 ft of snow with great traction. You must remember that Ice is another beast!! As 'tgwillard' stated you might want to consider studded tires. I think you are fine off with the scorpions instead of buying winter tires. If it is ice, consider buying a second set of steel rims with studded tires. I now ride contis and carry cables for if it dangerously icey I can put those on.......hasn't happened yet.

[Forkster]

If money is no object, then like Volvostew said, any Nokian winter tire. However, being a canuck living up north here, especially in Montreal, ice is not too bad, but when it snows in the morning, then rains at noon,then it freezes before supper, then it melts that night again... yep, you do need snow tires.

All Season tires technically speaking stop working when it gets really cold up in Canada, like at -2C. Seeing how my sister has studded snows for Montreal (she's in Kirkland), perhaps that is what you need to look at? Dedicated studded snows?

[gibbons]

Studded tires are great on ice, but I think they are a lot slicker on dry. I used to use them, but the noise got too annoying and they chewed up my driveway and garage floor just rolling on them. I put a Premier Garage floor covering in my new house's garage, and I wouldn't want it to get eaten. No more studs for me.

[mbsl98]

Snow's or just all-season's is a continuing debate. However, you might remember that if you are keeping the car for a while, the cost of the snows is really just a prepayment of your next tire bill, since you only wear down one set at a time. Personally, I run snows on all my Volvo's, including the '98 XC and the '07 XC, and think it makes a real difference in stopping and turning. The XC's will get going from a stop with almost any tire. One added note re: '07's. They have tire pressure monitoring as standard, at least here in US. That means that you must buy a $90 sending unit and hardware for each new wheel you add - $360.US added to the cost of the snows and dedicated wheels. Based on this, I opted to skip the wheels for the '07 and just have the snows remounted - should be cheaper for the first 5-6 years at least, compared to cost of package.