What tire TYPE on 2011/2012 XC70?

[optimist]

Does anyone with a 2011 or 2012 XC70 know what the season rating on the tires? Besides being all weather, do they have any other markings (like MW or M&W)?

I am picking up a new XC70 at the factory in December. I live in Minnesota, so I have some clue about driving in the snow. I also have done some research to know a little about the laws concerning winter tires in the countries through which we are traveling.

But I am a cheapskate and would rather buy winter tires back in the states for about half the cost. If the factory tires have the Mud and Snow rating, I'll legal in most of the countries, in most of the possible weather. Otherwise, I may just bite the bullet and order the factory snows and wheels.

Thanks.

Optimist
2012 xc70 (Well..almost)

[XCovlov70]

Our MY2011 XC70 has M+S on the sidewalk of the Pirelli's that are fitted. In Sweden I think I would also be required to have a set of Studded Tyres for Winter use.

[rovermark]

Does anyone with a 2011 or 2012 XC70 know what the season rating on the tires? Besides being all weather, do they have any other markings (like MW or M&W)?

I am picking up a new XC70 at the factory in December. I live in Minnesota, so I have some clue about driving in the snow. I also have done some research to know a little about the laws concerning winter tires in the countries through which we are traveling.

But I am a cheapskate and would rather buy winter tires back in the states for about half the cost. If the factory tires have the Mud and Snow rating, I'll legal in most of the countries, in most of the possible weather. Otherwise, I may just bite the bullet and order the factory snows and wheels.

Thanks.

Optimist
2012 xc70 (Well..almost)

What size are you tires? My 17 inch ones were Conti 4x4 Contact tires; you can look up those tires at TireRack for full info on them if yours are the same size.

[marcinrudzki]

You can find some info here:

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthr...OSD-deliveries

[optimist]

Our MY2011 XC70 has M+S on the sidewalk of the Pirelli's that are fitted. In Sweden I think I would also be required to have a set of Studded Tyres for Winter use.

Thank you for that information. Do most cars, at least those with 16in wheels, come with the Perellis these days? If all had the M+S designation, that would be great!

In Sweden, studded winter tires are allowed, but not required. This is according to the Swedish Transport Agency's (English language) site

http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/en/...s/winter-tyres

We aren't going north from Gotenborg, so the M+W would be sufficient in most conditions.

[optimist]

You can find some info here:

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthr...OSD-deliveries

Thank you marcinrudzki and, in fact, I reference the Swedish government site in a reply above. BTW, good source of information, even if they misspell tires ;-)

But it doesn't tell me if we are legally compliant with the 16in tires which come on the car. I finally accepted that the price on the extra winter tires and rims isn't bad, but I still would rather not drive around Europe with four extra tires and rims with my wife and daughter complaining about the smell.

[rovermark]

Thank you marcinrudzki and, in fact, I reference the Swedish government site in a reply above. BTW, good source of information, even if they misspell tires ;-)

But it doesn't tell me if we are legally compliant with the 16in tires which come on the car. I finally accepted that the price on the extra winter tires and rims isn't bad, but I still would rather not drive around Europe with four extra tires and rims with my wife and daughter complaining about the smell.

you could always visit the dealer's parking lot is see what tires are on the 16 inch car.

You have to be careful about buying tires in Sweden - first they will take all of the boot space leaving you with no room for anything else, second as far as I know you have to ship them back as you cannot put anything in the car when you return it to the port. That will add a significant amount to the cost of the tires + you will probably have to pay tax too back in the U.S.A

[budrichard]

My wife's 2011 XC70 was purchased last December. It came with Conti 4x4 Contact M&S rated. It went through last winter just fine and we had a lot of snow.-Dick

[optimist]

Thank you all.

Based on responses here and from some more research by my OSD person, William Mark (with my hardy recommendation), I cancelled the additional tires and rims, for exactly the reason budrichard gave--just takes up too much room. I do think they allow you to ship the car back with the extra tires--but that would have to be verified.

For those going further north in the winter, and returning to Gotenborg, renting winter tires is also an option, at about $75. In our case, we weren't leaving from Gotenborg.

There is a lot of disinformation on the whole topic of winter driving in Europe, so it's best to find official sites (most have English as an option) or military web sites for American soldiers deployed to Europe.

[budrichard]

I would have no problem driving in modern winter conditions with the 4x4 Contact. what we have seen in the USA and I suspect in much of Europe is that with modern snow removal and treatment techniques, plus Global Warming, icy conditions and snow cover are the exception and only for brief periods of snow. Now further North where roads may remain snow covered throughout the winter, I would switch to dedicated snows such as Hakka's. Without constant snow cover, dedicated and even tires such as Nokian WR G2's touted as 4 season, wear prohibitively, at least for me and it costs me a fortune in tires to maintain.-Dick