S80 Tyre Recommendation

Discussion in 'Volvo S80' started by Freddy, Jan 6, 2004.

  1. Freddy

    Freddy Guest

    2001 Volvo S80 now looking to be re-booted with a new set of front tyres.

    The car was delivered from Volvo with Michelin Pilot HX tyres but I'm
    wondering now what would be a good recommendation to replace them with. I
    believe that the Michelin tyres are a fairly soft compound (this set have
    lasted 22,000miles) and I'm thinking that a longer lasting tyre may be more
    financially suitable. What though would be the effect on handling/ride
    quality of a move away from Michelin?

    I live in Northern Scotland where the roads can be less then perfect and
    quite twisty and I rarely get to experience high speed driving on motorways.
    With that in mind I would appreciate any advice or comments from other
    owners as to what would be a good tyre to choose.

    The only other tyre I'm familiar with is the Pirelli P6000 which were used
    on V70's I owned a few years ago.

    Many thanks in advance to all who reply and drive safe.
     
    Freddy, Jan 6, 2004
    #1
  2. Freddy

    Freddy Guest

    Just looked at the tyres again and they are Michelin Pilot HX MXM 215/55
    ZR16. I'm unfamiliar with the ZR rating, can I use V or W rated instead?
     
    Freddy, Jan 6, 2004
    #2
  3. Freddy

    Peter Milnes Guest

    No you must use what is on the car size-wise, and you should not use V or W
    rating for your car. It is to do with the maximum speed of which your car is
    capable, not the speed at which you drive. 22.000 m miles from the front tyres
    of a Front wheel Drive car is not much short of miraculous. If you can get the
    same tyre ratings by Viking then I would say use them. They make the Gislaved
    brand used throughout Sweden and other countries for icy conditions.

    Cheers, Peter.

    : Just looked at the tyres again and they are Michelin Pilot HX MXM 215/55
    : ZR16. I'm unfamiliar with the ZR rating, can I use V or W rated instead?
    :
    : : > 2001 Volvo S80 now looking to be re-booted with a new set of front tyres.
    : >
    : > The car was delivered from Volvo with Michelin Pilot HX tyres but I'm
    : > wondering now what would be a good recommendation to replace them with. I
    : > believe that the Michelin tyres are a fairly soft compound (this set have
    : > lasted 22,000miles) and I'm thinking that a longer lasting tyre may be
    : more
    : > financially suitable. What though would be the effect on handling/ride
    : > quality of a move away from Michelin?
    : >
    : > I live in Northern Scotland where the roads can be less then perfect and
    : > quite twisty and I rarely get to experience high speed driving on
    : motorways.
    : > With that in mind I would appreciate any advice or comments from other
    : > owners as to what would be a good tyre to choose.
    : >
    : > The only other tyre I'm familiar with is the Pirelli P6000 which were used
    : > on V70's I owned a few years ago.
    : >
    : > Many thanks in advance to all who reply and drive safe.
    : >
    : >
    :
    :
     
    Peter Milnes, Jan 7, 2004
    #3
  4. Freddy

    bajaman Guest

    I just put a set of Michelin Pilot XGT H4s on my S80 T6 and couldn't be
    happier with them. They replaced a set of Continentals (Conti Contacts)
    that had about 40,000 miles on them. The Contis were EXCELLENT tires, I
    have no fault with them and would recommend them to anyone.
     
    bajaman, Jan 7, 2004
    #4
  5. Freddy

    Guest Guest

    I would rate the P6000 for good wear and good grip. Yes the Mich's are a
    softer compound and wont last quite so long, but possibly give you slightly
    less noise on the poorer roads. 22k on a set of fronts on the S80 is
    superb!!!

    V, W, ZR rating for speed in asending order. You must use a tyre that has a
    speed rating higher than the top speed of the car. Insurance companys can
    get stroppy if you were to have an accident and the speed rating was found
    to be lower .

    Tim..
     
    Guest, Jan 7, 2004
    #5
  6. Freddy

    Mike F Guest

    " Tim (Remove NOSPAM. Registry corupted, reformated HD and lost alot of
    One caveat for P6000, there are 2 types, one is all season and has more
    sipes (thin cuts in the tread blocks). My dad has these (all season
    version) on his 2001 V70 T5 and they are noisey, noisey, noisey. Even
    his Gislaved snow tires are quieter! Apparently the non all season
    version does not suffer from this problem.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    NOTE: new address!!
    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Jan 7, 2004
    #6
  7. Freddy

    JohanE Guest

    I had conti on my s80 2,9, and agree, great tires. Now i have goodyear eagle
    F1 in the summer. Great performance, but I think wear wont be as good as
    conti. Gas mileage is worse with F1.
     
    JohanE, Jan 7, 2004
    #7
  8. Freddy

    Pete Guest

    Actually, it does. The summer P6000s are quiet at first, but become really loud by the time you hit 10K+ miles. Had them in size 225/45/17 on my A4. Overall, they aren't too great. Their dry grip is OK, but their wet grip only so so... you can do much better. In addition, they're famous for bulging out on the sidewalls after hitting even small potholes.

    Cheers,

    Pete
     
    Pete, Jan 7, 2004
    #8
  9. Freddy

    Spanky Guest

    I highly recommend the Bridgestone Turanza LS-V (225/55/16) which I have
    used for about 10,000 miles and am very favorably impressed. They
    out-perform the stock Michelins in just about every category. I find them
    more secure as well as being quieter and more comfortable in real-world
    driving. Their one disadvantage, they are pretty expensive.

    Don't waste your money on the Z rated tires but do get the V-rated tires
    (rated up to 149mph/240kph).

    It seems other users are quite pleased with the performance of these tires
    also:

    http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/gtas.jsp
     
    Spanky, Jan 7, 2004
    #9
  10. Freddy

    JohanE Guest

    So my tires ar rated pretty good, and I agree.
    http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/max.jsp
    http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+GS-D3

    But over here we have to use 2 sets, one for summer and studded M+S for the
    winter season. So my F1´s are in the basement waiting for the varm dry
    spring roads.....

    Johan
    -99 S80 2,9
    Sweden
     
    JohanE, Jan 8, 2004
    #10
  11. Freddy

    Mike F Guest

    I had heard otherwise on the summer only, but have no personal
    experience, so I bow to your first hand experience. Their one saving
    grace it that they wear like iron, but if the all season ones from my
    dad's car were on my car I'd toss them, they're that noisy.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    NOTE: new address!!
    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Jan 8, 2004
    #11
  12. Freddy

    thomas reid Guest

    Freddy

    Stay away for the Pirelli I only get around 9000-10000 out of them on my
    S80. The Michelins get me 20,000 plus.- same ones as you.

    Also do stick to the ZR rating. If the car came with it and you put anything
    else on then your insurance company will probably invalidate the policy.

    Tom
     
    thomas reid, Jan 12, 2004
    #12
  13. Freddy

    Spanky Guest

    Don't be ridiculous, Pirelli has an entire range of tires, with an entire
    range of compounds. Not all of their tires are short lived. If you are
    referring to the P6000's specifically mentioned by Freddy, he already stated
    he was familiar with them.
    That's silly. In all my years I've never heard of an insurance company
    checking the speed rating of a tire and then denying coverage. Besides,
    winter tires are not even available in Z ratings. Do you think the insurance
    company is going to deny coverage because the owner was smart enough to put
    winter tires on for the winter?

    The V rated tires are tested up to 149 mph which is way more than adequate
    for use in Northern Scotland. The roads up there aren't engineered for those
    types of speeds. Freddy didn't say which model S80 he had but he couldn't
    exceed 149 mph in an S80 unless it was a T-6 anyway which was not one of the
    most popular options in that region. Why buy a speed rating if the car is
    not even capable of attaining that speed? In a cool weather climate like
    Northern Scotland a V rated tire may perform slightly better as it may build
    a warmth slightly easier.

    No need to waste your money on low production volume Z rated tires when V
    rated tires exceed your needs in every respect.

    Here is the list of speed ratings provided by Tire Rack:

    N 87 mph 140 km/h Temporary Spare Tires
    P 93 mph 150 km/h
    Q 99 mph 160 km/h Studless & Studdable Winter Tires
    R 106 mph 170 km/h H.D. Light Truck Tires
    S 112 mph 180 km/h Family Sedans & Vans
    T 118 mph 190 km/h Family Sedans & Vans
    U 124 mph 200 km/h
    H 130 mph 210 km/h Sport Sedans & Coupes
    V 149 mph 240 km/h Sport Sedans, Coupes & Sports Cars

    When Z-speed rated tires were first introduced, they were thought to reflect
    the highest tire speed rating that would ever be required, in excess of 240
    km/h or 149 mph. While Z-speed rated tires are capable of speeds in excess
    of 149 mph, how far above 149 mph was not identified. That ultimately caused
    the automotive industry to add W- and Y-speed ratings to identify the tires
    that meet the needs of new vehicles that have extremely high top-speed
    capabilities.

    W 168 mph 270 km/h Exotic Sports Cars
    Y 186 mph 300 km/h Exotic Sports Cars
     
    Spanky, Jan 12, 2004
    #13
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