Wheels/Tyres: XC90 D5 Choice - reinforced/xl?

[rav]

I was looking for some tyre advice on my XC90 D5. I currently have Michelin Diamaris which lasted 6000 miles on the front so I am not too impressed with these. I am now considering replacing all 4 tyres with either Continental Cross Contact UHP 235/60 R18 V (107) reinforced or Pirelli P Zero Rosso V.

I have only just noticed that that you have reinforced and extra load options on some tyres and am tempted to go for these as I have felt the ride a a little "wobbly" - not sure how to describe it technically. Anyone with any experience and advice on this and also on longer lasting tyres?

[adamnash]

rav, I have just got through two sets of Continentals each set lasting 12,000 miles so Im now looking at Grabbers.

[bobdabuilda]

steer clear of the contis if you want better wear, lucky to get 8k! Go for grabbers, kumhos or nokians

[AyrshireXC90]

I have just replaced the two front tyres on mine; I went like-for-like, and put on Continentals. The first set lasted 14k, and would have lasted longer had they not worn at the outer shoulder. I looked at several tests, including Which? - in all of them, Continental get praised for all their tyres due to being consistently good at everything. OK, they don't last as long as some brands, and are costly, but I feel they are worth the expense for me (an individual opinion, I accept). Having had Kumhos on my VW Fox, I was glad to get rid of the front set and replace them with some quality rubber. The original tyres were never inspiring, and lasted less miles than the Contis on my XC90!
For the XC90, I went for 103 load tyres, as per the factory spec; I suspect the 107 (XL) version would firm up the ride a bit?

[drpepper]

General Grabbers a fantastic all round tyre at a great price

[moncman]

Tyres are such a complicated issue and yet should be so simple.

Interesting that normally less life expectancy goes hand in hand with a softer compound which in turn would suggest more grip and better performance. The Contis however seem to get a pasting on these threads for poor cold/ice/snow performance which is counter intuitive to the short life.

I used to have a Ford S-Max which would also eat tyres and the OE goodyears were cr@p. I replaced with Khumos which were much better but lasted around the same. The S-Max was absolutely pants in the snow.

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by bobdabuilda

steer clear of the contis if you want better wear, lucky to get 8k! Go for grabbers, kumhos or nokians

I have just changed mine 12000 miles and still 5mm tread left ... not really much to complain about ... driving style and tracking are the biggest culprits to poor wear I'd guess .

[rav]

Thanks for all your advice.

It does seem that individual experiences are quite different even when considering the same tyre on the same type of car.

I should have expanded when commenting on my experience of the Michelin Diamaris. Though I do not drive aggressively, I do live in Milton Keynes so it's roundabouts do have part to play getting only 6000 miles on the fronts but this is still unacceptable in my view. I also found that I had to keep pumping up the tyres much more often as they seemed to gradually leak air on the fronts. The garage where I had these fitted put it down to the nature of the alloys. On the plus side, I found the tyres to be very low on road noise :-)

If I manage to get 12K out of the tyres without swapping fronts to back then I would be very happy.

[400-ascona]

Originally Posted by rav

Thanks for all your advice.

I also found that I had to keep pumping up the tyres much more often as they seemed to gradually leak air on the fronts. The garage where I had these fitted put it down to the nature of the alloys.

Will more than likely be because the garage that fitted them didn't clean the beading on the wheel properly brfore fitting the tyre. Any dirt or corrosion will cause slow leaks. A good wire brushing before is all that is needed.