I just bought my C70 and was wondering how it does in the winter without snow tires. Minnesota winters are tough. Any helpful hints would be appreciated.

 

I drive my c70 in the winter time............tag reads WNTRBTR. I use Continental Conti Extreem tyres with no problem. It is a good winter beater vehicle!

r.

 

I think that as long as you are using all-season or M+S tires, you will do fairly well. Although, in Minnesota there will also be times when only a 4WD will do, and you will need to temporarily park the C70! This is one time when the FWD C70 is arguably better than some of its RWD competitors.

With the new C70, I have seen bad reports of the winter-performance of the Pirelli PZero Rosso "summer tires" that come with the 18" wheel option package. These are not good at all in the winter, due to their tread compound getting very stiff in the cold. If you were getting a new C70 for use in a locale that had cold winters, you would be much better served by the Michelin all-season tires that come with the base 17" wheels. (For some reason, Volvo didn't see fit to offer all-season tires with the 18" wheel package, not even as an option. At least that is the case in the US. Seemed somewhat strange to me for a Swedish company.)

 

The reason the M/S tyres are not used is because of the noise they make. The premium auto makers now install high speed summer tyres on all their models. Run-of-the-mill Ford, Chevy, and the like use B temp all season tyres. It is thought that if you purchase a premium auto you will replace the 'summer' tyres and wheels with heavier steel wheels and appropriate snow tyres. Interesting how the manufacturers are changing things in the up-scale lines.............BMW no longer has an oil dipstick. The crank case is sealed and you must rely on the oil level read out in the instrument cluster. Continental extremes will work well in the snow belt. A Volvo was never meant (c70) to drive off road and believe it or not............we here in the northern states actually have our roads plowed. It is seldom that a freak snow storm hinders our driving on surfaced roads.

r.

 

The reason the M/S tyres are not used is because of the noise they make. The premium auto makers now install high speed summer tyres on all their models. Run-of-the-mill Ford, Chevy, and the like use B temp all season tyres. It is thought that if you purchase a premium auto you will replace the 'summer' tyres and wheels with heavier steel wheels and appropriate snow tyres. Interesting how the manufacturers are changing things in the up-scale lines.............BMW no longer has an oil dipstick. The crank case is sealed and you must rely on the oil level read out in the instrument cluster. Continental extremes will work well in the snow belt. A Volvo was never meant (c70) to drive off road and believe it or not............we here in the northern states actually have our roads plowed. It is seldom that a freak snow storm hinders our driving on surfaced roads.

r.

 

I concur with reg, and I live close to Toronto. After I slapped on some winter rubber I took my car to Mt. Tremblant ( in Montreal) in a blizzard. I didn;t feel worried at all. I had my summer tires on for the first snow fall, and it was scary. Invest the coin, and you'll be fine.


S.

 

Reg,

I agree with you that truly bad road conditions in northern states are not common, due to good plowing infrastructure, etc. Although I live in CA now (where we have to drive up to Tahoe to see snow), I lived in Chicago for 30 years, and never used winter tires. Once decent all-season radial tires became available, there was no real need for "snow tires", although RWD cars still tend to be a little dicierthan FWD cars. Actually, I have more need of a real 4WD vehicle here in CA than I had in Chicago, since there are chain laws and extreme snow conditions up in the Sierra during the winter, on a more regular basis. (The annual snowfall along the summit near Lake Tahoe averages around 400 inches a year, which is about 8 or 10 times the annual snowfall in Chicago.)

I should probably distinguish M+S tires from all-season tires. The first category sometimes implies a tread pattern that is more open, etc., and probably contributes to more noise. But all-season is more of a tread compound distinction, with a wider temperature range that stays relatively soft at low temperatures. (The letter grade temp ratings are really for high-termperature conditions, and I don't think they say much about low-temperature behavior.) The high-performance all-season category offers almost as much performance as high-end summer tires, and don't really have a noise penalty. As an example, Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires come in both summer and all-season versions, with very similar performance. I'm considering the all-season versions when my original set of P-Zero Rosso summer tires wears out, if for no other reason than the fact that they will wear quite a bit longer.

And I fully agree that off-roading in a C70 is not a good idea! Even if there was ever an AWD C70, the ground clearance leaves a little something to be desired. :-)

 

I have a 2006 C70 and the OEM Pirelli's are the worst tires I have ever tried to drive on in snow. If there is any snow or ice on the road the car will hardly move; if you have traction control on the accelerator doesn't work, and if you turn it off the tires spin.

Simply put a good all-season or winter tire on it and you'll be fine.

 

I agree with Shaun, spend the extra coin on some good winter tires, it's your life that you're rolling on...it's a good investment. This will be the first winter in quebec where winter tires will be manditory...we'll see how it goes, but i think it's a good move..
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