What to do for winter tires and wheels. Size & wheel Q's...

[Lotus99]

We've got the 18 inch OEM all season tires right now (the Pirelli Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico 235/50/18's), which did ok actually in a bit of snow last year (we're on the west coast so don't see a ton of snow), but we might go up to the local mountains more this year, so was considering getting proper snow tires.

I've got the 2009 XC70 with the T6 engine. I've been poking around TireRack, and am not sure I want to pay big money to get the 17 or 18 inch wheels and tires for this car. 16's will also fit on it from what I can tell.

Any major disadvantage other than looks in going with the 16's? Will handling be that much worse than my 18's, seeing the tires will be 215/65/16 compared to my current 235/50/18? I can get a 16" package for only $1,150 US, which is tempting, compared to at least $1,400 for the 17"!

The stock wheels are 7.5 inches wide, with 55 mm offset. Here are a couple of 16" wheels I was looking at:

Option 1 - 16x7.5 with 42 mm offset - Outer position will EXTEND an extra 13mm. Don't think it'll be a problem with this car, will it? Just might spray more slush up since it sticks out a bit more than the OEM's? But on the plus side, it might look more aggressive! [thumbup]

One worry I have is this: technically the 215 mm tire will fit fine on this wheel. But since they're 7.5" wheels, the wheel might be wide for the tire and offer little protection from curb rashes... My current wheels that are the same width have the 235 mm tires on them.

Option 2 - If those aren't recommended, there are these 16x7 wheels with 50 mm offset, which will only RETRACT by 1mm on the outside. They just cost more.

So I was wondering if the first set of wheels would be fine?

Lastly, is the load rating a big deal? The 18's right now have a rating of 97. The OEM 16's are 102 though, which is like 200 pounds more per tire. Many of the 16's I found though have a rating of 98. I don't think being lower by that much is a big deal, is it? I won't be towing anything or loading the car up a lot with these tires.

[thumbup] for the help!

[Lotus99]

Here's what they'll look like on the car, BTW:

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq266/Lotus100/Winters.jpg

[MartinK]

I recently bought a second-hand set of Volvo XC90 “Antaeus” rims (needed spigots to make them fit) off EBAY, and have bought some Vredestein WINTRAC tyres. Not tried them in snow yet, but in the recent heavy rains, they have been excellent. Done around 1000 miles, and so far really impressed.

The standard Sargas wheels are in the garage, I'll re-fit them in spring when the roads are cleaner & dry...

[Cimbro]

I recently bought a second-hand set of Volvo XC90 “Antaeus” rims (needed spigots to make them fit) off EBAY, and have bought some Vredestein WINTRAC tyres. Not tried them in snow yet, but in the recent heavy rains, they have been excellent. Done around 1000 miles, and so far really impressed.

The standard Sargas wheels are in the garage, I'll re-fit them in spring when the roads are cleaner & dry...

I asked to volvodealer but nobody can give me an answer: if I would buy XC90 rims, what exactly need to adapt them on the xc 70?
Everyone is telling me that is not possible to fix on the 70 and nothing else.
An help would be appreciated.
Bye
Davide

[beavenx5]

I got some 17" Neptune wheels from a 2007 XC90 and installed them on my 2009 XC70 T6 as winter wheels. I only needed to add hubcentric rings as spacers around the hub. The hub of the XC90 is slightly larger than the one on the XC70. They are working perfectly.

Here is a post about this:
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14850

And my original quest:
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12437

Feel free to send me a PM if you have concerns.

[mader$]

I recently purchased a 2008 3.2 XC70 with 17" wheels. On Craig's list, I purchased a set of nearly new 16" studded snow tires on steel rims from a 2004 XC70. Before purchasing them, I went to our local tire shop with one of them and asked them if they would fit. They looked at the 16" wheel, and checked their "book" and said they would fit. This weekend, I went to put them on and they don't fit-they hit the caliper. The tire store did not even have an option (one of their 16" alloy wheels did not fit either) other than buying new 17" wheels and snow tires. Apparently I can purchase 16" steel rims from Volvo for about $100/each. It looks like I could also get 16" alloy wheels from Tirerack for about the same price. I would like alloy wheels but at this point, I am tempted to get the steel wheels from Volvo just because I have had so much trouble so far. Any other advice or suggestions?

[Art]

Whatever wheels you end up with, just make sure that they are hubcentric. The hub bore size on your '08MY is slightly smaller than the previous generation. (63.4mm vs 65.1mm) Ask the dealer if the steel wheels are in fact hubcentric for that model year.

[XCovlov70]

Just out of curiosity?

If you swap between 16, 17 & 18 inch wheels, how do you 'adjust' the Speedometer, as it is set up for the wheel size that the car came delivered with?

[Lotus99]

I recently purchased a 2008 3.2 XC70 with 17" wheels. On Craig's list, I purchased a set of nearly new 16" studded snow tires on steel rims from a 2004 XC70. Before purchasing them, I went to our local tire shop with one of them and asked them if they would fit. They looked at the 16" wheel, and checked their "book" and said they would fit. This weekend, I went to put them on and they don't fit-they hit the caliper. The tire store did not even have an option (one of their 16" alloy wheels did not fit either) other than buying new 17" wheels and snow tires. Apparently I can purchase 16" steel rims from Volvo for about $100/each. It looks like I could also get 16" alloy wheels from Tirerack for about the same price. I would like alloy wheels but at this point, I am tempted to get the steel wheels from Volvo just because I have had so much trouble so far. Any other advice or suggestions?

16 inch alloys fit just fine on the 09 XC70, as I have done, so that's proof enough! I'm sure if they fit the 09's, they'd fit the 08's. Not all 16's would fit obviously, which is where Tirerack's configurator (or any other dependable shop, you'd think) comes in handy. That's where I got mine from. You plug in your car model and year, and voila, they tell you all the wheels that fit. The XC70 even comes with 16's if you get the 3.2 and don't upgrade the wheels (or it used to in prior years).

[Lotus99]

Just out of curiosity?

If you swap between 16, 17 & 18 inch wheels, how do you 'adjust' the Speedometer, as it is set up for the wheel size that the car came delivered with?

You don't need to, since the XC70 came with all those wheels, first of all. Car is not "set up" from the factory for any particular wheel!

The thing that matters is that the total diameter of the wheel and tire must remain the same. That's why when you get a 16" tire and wheel combo, the tire has a larger profile, and you can go to an 18" wheel with a lower profile tire (which is usually wider), and still keep the same total diameter and be almost identical.

Go here and play with it: http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

Plug in the Volvo OEM tire / wheel sizes of 215/65-16, 235/55-17 and 235/50-18 and see how far off they are from each other. Not much! Less than 1%!

Or go all out, and put 20" wheels on your ride with 245/35-20 tires on there! Speedo will be just as accurate!

This one's fun to play with too: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[mader$]

16 inch alloys fit just fine on the 09 XC70, as I have done, so that's proof enough! I'm sure if they fit the 09's, they'd fit the 08's. Not all 16's would fit obviously, which is where Tirerack's configurator (or any other dependable shop, you'd think) comes in handy. That's where I got mine from. You plug in your car model and year, and voila, they tell you all the wheels that fit. The XC70 even comes with 16's if you get the 3.2 and don't upgrade the wheels (or it used to in prior years).

So exactly which 16" wheels did you get from tirerack for you 09 XC70? Did the hub size seem to be correct?

[Lotus99]

So exactly which 16" wheels did you get from tirerack for you 09 XC70? Did the hub size seem to be correct?

Both of the ones above should have fit, as Tirerack presented them as options for my car, but I bought the second set (Sport Edition F2), since I didn't want too much slush getting stuck in all the spokes the first one has, and thought it would be harder to clean too.

The wheels came with hubcentric rings in them, so they've even thought of that already in their database, before suggesting wheels for your car.

Another set of wheels I got from them for my BMW didn't have hubcentric rings in them though, so it depends on which wheels you order I guess, but bottom line is that if they're offered for your car, it should work.

I see the ones I got are still for sale on their site, for $85 each (plus shipping). For that price, there was no way I was getting steel wheels from the dealer. I think it was even less than getting steel 16" wheels and hubcaps from the dealer.

[Northern Rider]

One solution is to get any set of wheels from a 2nd generation XC and use the hubcentric rings from Just for wheels. Here are some pics of my 011XC with a set of Telus 16" from an 02XC. The car came with Sargas 17"
Mind you the hubcentric dimension sold by Just for Wheels are shown as Od 65.1mm X Id 63.5mm (measuring these shows that they really are 63.4mm) have a look at the pict. A perfect fit for the 3rd generation smaller hub.
For winter driving I find a narrower tire handles better in the snow.

[mader$]

I was told that the problem with my steel wheels off the 2003 xc70 was that they hit the calipers on my 2008. Do the hubcentric rings push the wheel out/away from the hub so there is adequate clearance? If true, that would be great!

[Lotus99]

No, the rings are so that if the hub is of a different diameter than the inside of the wheel, to match them up. Spacers move the wheels out.

[rk_xc70]

I kept my standard 16" wheels and got myself the 'Nokian Nordman 2' tires for $100 a piece. The tires are excellent!! the damn thing doesn't want to slide anymore... the only drawback of the tires is that now the car sounds like it has an electric engine, because of the noise the tires make. I would put the winter tires on the 16" rims because they give you some room on the sidewalls and just in general for different impacts, such as the curbs that i tend to hit when i slide around.