Good for you! Be sure to rotate them (front-to-rear only for directionally-oriented tyres) at every or every other oil change to get the most out of them.


JPN

 

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XC90V8, '05.
Nokian SUV-WR
....
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Hello safetyfirst,
What is your opinion about these tires? Hownoisy are they?

I am about to order the new XC90. Among all additional options I saw MICHELIN DIAMARIS 235/65 R18 tires.
So you wouldn’t recommend them, right?
Would it be good idea just to accept the standard Volvo tires which are coming (Continental I suppose) or could you recommend some other solution like to change them directly to these Nokian ones and to have them all year round then?

 

XC90V8, '05.
Nokian SUV-WR
....
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Hello Petrovich. I find these tires as quiet as the OEM Michelins when they were new. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nokians are MUCH quieter than the worn Michelins.

Actually, I have used Michelins a lot in the past. They are very good tires. However, the XC90 is a heavy vehicle and tires and brakes get worn quickly. The Nokians' treadwear rating in US is 500, compared to the 300 for the OEM Michelin, so they should last 1.6 times as long. The Nokians have a deeper tread to begin with, which may explain a better tread wear rating (bigger number is better). I was concerned that with a 500 rating, the tires might be very hard, but this does not appear to be the case. They are quiet and handle as well as the original Michelins. As they are an extreme weather tire, I was interested in using them up in the High Sierras where snow is a concern. Actually, last year the OEM Michelins did very well in the mountains and I did not require snow chains. The Nokians have frost warning buttons on the sidewall - they change form green to dark grey at close to freezing point.

Conti's are nice tires, but every tire is different. OEM tires re often not as good as after-market tires. I'd suggest you use what ever comes with the car, then get new tires later ! An important suggestion would be to have your alignment checked after you take delivery. Many XC90's come from the factory with poor alignment. This causes the tires to wear quickly - see thread on Swedespeed web site forum with tire "feathering". Get the alignment performed at your delivery dealer. If it is not correct, you can ask the dealer to pay for it. If it is correct, they don't have to do a realignment. Either way, it's worth the investment.

Good luck.

 

I replaced my Michelin OEMs at 21K miles for the Goodyear Eagle ResponseEdge (235/60R-18 103V VSB and treadwear rating of 440).50K mile warranty from GoodYear. Got mine for about $169/tire installedby GoodYear w. extra road hazard warranty. Live in Colorado and we ski every weekend.Still waiting for a solid snow fall in the Mountains so I can test them in snow. 9K miles so fare and happy with the performance (I drive hard). No noticeable wear.

 

Hi all,

Adding my 2 cents worth to this thread. I was surprised to read of all the issues with tires on the XC90 and the premature tire wear by so many(or what I consider premature anyway).

Our XC90 is an '05, and came factory equipped with Michelin Pilots. We took delivery of it as a demo vehicle with 4,800 miles on it in January of '06, so exactly 2 years ago, and it now has 53,800 miles on it with the orginal tires. I was just looking at them the other day,and they are still in fine shape! I think we'll be able to make it through this winter, and perhaps into the summer before I look to replace them at this point.

We have poor roads here in Michigan, and also live on a dirt road so the tires have been subjected to weather and road abuse these two years and have held up well in my opinion.

I can say that we've been having the vehicle dealer serviced since new, religiously taking it in for the 7,500 mile maintenance intervals at which time the tires get rotated (front to back only of course). I also make sure they are properly inflated at all times. I wonder if those little things are making the difference?

My wife drives the vehicle every day. While she's not a speed demon she does have a lead foot and there's never any grass growing beneath her tires. Her driving is a combination of freeway speeds and light to light city driving, a total of 75 miles every day. Whenever I drive it it's on the long hauls, and usually sail along at 80-85 mph. I continue to remark about how quiet these tires are compared to other SUV/tire combinations I've had, including two Explorers and an Expedition, and the handling has been fantastic in all weather conditions. I am still trying to figure out if it's the Volvo or the tires or both, because they really are that quiet.

I'm not quitesure why we're having this type of tire life in contrast to the experience of other posters are having... can therotation schedule and inflation really make that much difference? Our XC is the V8 AWD, incidentally. Thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

 

We have a 2004 AWD model and have found that the inside tire has completed eroded (beyond bald) on all four tires. The tire store said it was our maintance, the dealership said it's the tires.

We've owned the vehicle for 6months - new tires at time of purchase and have driven a total of about 15,000 miles mainly highway driving. We have the vehicle serviced every 3,500 milesand the tires rotated/balanced each time (this was because it always seems to be pulling to the left or right by the time we need to take it in).

I've checked other forums (tire ones) and noted that bridgestone (the one we have on our truck) is noted for buldges and bad tread and I've also seen that this particular vehicle also seems to have issues. I'm not sure what the problem is - the car, the tire, or what...but if I have to spend $1500 for 4 new tires/alignment every six months, we won't be keeping it for a long time as it'll be too expensive to maintain.

We've owned BMW, Subaru, VW, GM and now Volvo...we love the Volvo for overall feel, safety, etc - but this tire thing is the first time we've had this type of experience and are disappointed that so many others also seem to have issues similar to ours.