New tires intalled

[Prepo]

Those of you interested enough to follow my previous posts will know that Volvo Canada last year would not provide assurance of warranty if I upgraded to 17" Volvo wheels on my 2001 XC.  While knowing that this had been done by others and with a selected tire size to give the same rolling diameter as the stock Scorpions, I decided to surrender and back off anyway, and Volvo lost a tidy profit on the proposed expensive rims.

I have just made a compromise by upgrading the tires (same rims) to Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 225-60 - 16".  This is rated as a high performance tire. If your are not familiar with tire sizing, it gives an extra 10 mm in width while keeping the same 27" overall diameter as the replaced Scorpions.  Although the Scorpions had still a lot of tread left after 50,000 km, I had had enough of the loud road noise and the rather vague tracking capability.  

The performance on dry road is like night and day compared with the Scorpions.  Tracking and steerability are now very precise with no wandering.  Steering is now responsive to even the slightest turn of the wheel. Tire noise is now barely perceptibe.  On cold mornings, there is not the feeling now of driving on square wheels for the first mile or so!  I am surprized how well they behave in snow - no worse than the Scorpions - and they seem to work better than the Scorpions on ice.  So, so far, I think they have been well worth the relatively high cost and the XC is now much better to drive.

If I were buying a new XC all over again (and not being familiar with the type of Scorpion currently being supplied as stock) I would negotiate with the dealer on getting upgraded tires such as mine from new with a Volvo dealer credit on the Scorpions.  Also, now that the Haldex AWD seems to have encouraged Volvo to offer upgraded wheels, I would get 17" Volvo wheels of my choice for the new car delivery, complete with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 235-55-17" (or possibly the equivalent 225 mm width).  Well, that's just my opinion. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[wiz]

Prepo thank you for the detailed report and I agree with your opinion! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

This year I'm probably going to replace my Scorpions and I do favor the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. You can get them here in the U.S. for ~US$150 each, they are expensive but you get what you pay for. The higher end Michelins generally balance very well, ride very well, grip well and are quiet.

The Scorpions are junk in comparison, I'm afraid. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[Nick Roger]

What about mileage?
Are Michelin expected to last more or less miles?

Thanks for the interesting post Prepo!  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[budrichard]

Thanks for the info. Volvo USA does not offer any other wheel/tire combination. When the Pirellis go, I will switch to the Michelins and for the winter I am going to steel wheels and NordFrost III' as I have always done. You still cannot satisfy year round driving with one set of tires and wheels unless you live in Florida. -Dick

[Prepo]

I had no complaints about the wear on the Scorpions, Nick.  I doubt if I will get the same mileage out of the Michelins.  However, from what I have read, the mileage should be very good for such a high performance tire but we will see.

Regarding winter tires, Dick: I agree with you that an all season tire is a compromise.  However, the original Scorpion tire has the same compromise as the new Michelin A/S.  I get my share of winter conditions where I live and I did not choose to have separate snow tires before.  So nothing has changed.

Also, Dick, I realize that Volvo in the USA and elsewhere do not offer different tire options.  I think a new car buyer can now order different rims.  According to my dealer, Volvo has been touting to them  this increase in profitabillity to accompany the new Haldex AWD.  Since it is too late for us both to do it over again, it would be interesting to hear from the several new car purchasers who have posted recently whether upgraded wheels were offered or discussed.  With regard to upgrading tires from new, this is not a Volvo USA (or anywhere else) issue but a negotiation with the dealer concerned.  This is perfectly normal when buying any new car.  The dealer can either install different tires or install tires provided by the purchaser (much cheaper) with a credit for the new original tires.     Moreover, this has nothing to do with Volvo warranty - tires are warranted by the manufacturer of the tire not the car manufacturer.  Overall, the best time to upgrade tires and rims is at the original time of purchase before the original wheels become "used" and when the dealer has a lot of incentive to negotiate if he/she wants to sell you the car!

BTW, I hear the quality of the original tires on the Audi Allroad are not up to the price of the car.  I imagine that some creative negotiation from new would be in keeping there, as well.

[Willy]

New XC70's are still on Pirelli Scorpions.
I guess Volvo dealers also know this is not the best tyre for this car since when I ordered a XC70last week I was allowed to have it delivered on tyres of my choice at no extra cost (I think I will go for Pirelli P6000 - at least for the summer).
Greetings,
Willy

[Prepo]

Willy, I thiink you are on the right track.  Remember that you don't have to have your dealer's permission to get different tires.  He wants to sell you the car and you should get your best deal with whatever tires you want.  Aren't the P6000's original tires on the V70 (not XC)?  Apparently better than the previous stock tires on this model but, before making your decision, you may want to check out the reviews which accompany the P6000 on Tirerack.com.  There are some complaints that may be relevant to your case. Also, I am assuming that you drive in Belgium where severe snow conditions are only very occasional and may not justify the expense of a separate set of rims and snow tires.  The P6000's will be quite inadequate even on light snow. You might want to consider some premium all season tires.  Good luck with your decision and your new car. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[wiz]

Completely agree with Prepo.  The  P6000's are prone to blowouts.  I would look at the Michelin A/S tires that have been discussed a lot in this forum.  (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 225-60-16, 10mm wider than the stock Pirelli but an identical outside diameter of 27.0 inches.)

[Willy]

Hello,
I will certainly take a look at reviews and other choices of tyres.
You are right Prepo, Belgium has no heavy snow although some 20 inches of snow fell in the Ardennes recently :-)
But I still prefer "winter" tyres (I spend chrismas holidays in the Ardennes) since below some 8° Celcius, summer tyres become to hard and therefore loose their grip. I decided on AWD for safety and in that view I will get M&S tyres as well.
Greetings,
Willy

[wiz]

I had forgotten that Prepo has just fitted the Michelins we were talking about (sorry Prepo)...  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif    How is the noise level on these Michelins compared to the Scorpions, BTW?

Willy, you might want to take a look at the Dunlop SP Sport A2 as well (pic. of the tire below).  I've used these tires and they were great...

One word of caution:  The tire doesn't come in an exact dimensional replacement for the Pirelli Scorpion.  What you do need is the outside dimension to be as close to 27 inches as possible.  The Dunlop SP Sport A2 comes in a 235-60-16 size which has an OD of 27.0" - perfect.  However at 235mm width it is 20mm wider than the stock Pirelli.  You need to check that at full lock on the front wheels you have 20mm of space on each side.

[Prepo]

Wiz, the noise level is VERY much reduced among the other great features of the Pilot Sport A/S.  I couldn't be happier.  I continue to be impressed by the unexpected good performance on snow and ice, as well as the performance aspects on dry pavement.   http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[emil]

Wow! I just read on the Volvospeed that sbd had Pilot Sports on c70 T5 and they lasted only 20k km! That makes them  really expensive tires  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[wiz]

He must have been either drag racing the car, or his wheels are out of alignment or unbalanced.  The tire has a pretty good reputation for durability.