What are the best tyres to put on an XC90?

[Terra1]

Thought I would share my experience last week. Read this thread and decided on replacing current Conti's with the Nokian WR3's. I live near Reading and nobody locally seemed to be able to source them.Did some searching and found http://www.nordiccartyres.com/ . They're based up in Scotland and specialise in argricultural tyres but also do car tyres. Paid £120 .79 per tyre (235/60/18) which was almost as cheap as the German importers. Ordered at 14:00 and had them delivered the next day for free! Customer Service/communication was excellent. Got them fitted for £10 a tyre at my usual fitter (Bracknell Tyres). The only thing worth mentioning is that Nordic Tyres get a container-load of tyres every few weeks (I think) so you might have to wait if they don't have any in stock. All in all a very positive experience.

[joolshs]

Was looking for General Grabbers (UHP no longer available, replaced by AT) and came across this advice on Kwik Fit's website about tyre rotation which is mentioned in several posts on this thread.
"Many tyre manufacturers agree that it is no longer good practice to rotate your tyres in order to extend their legal life. The reasons for this are;

Partly worn tyres are more likely to experience punctures – particularly in wet weather conditions.
Front tyre deflation will create an under-steer effect which is easier to control than over-steer (the effect produced by a rear tyre deflation)
In the unlikely event that a tyre deflates suddenly, then it is easier to control the vehicle if this occurs at the front of the vehicle. For improved handling and stability it is now recommended that the ‘best’ tyres should always be fitted at the rear of the vehicle. This is irrespective of whether the car is front or rear wheel drive.

Because of this at Kwik Fit we do not recommend tyre rotation and we do recommend fitting your best tyres at the rear of the vehicle. If you are replacing a single tyre then this should be paired with the rear with the tyre having the most tread depth. There are some circumstances when this advice does not apply, such as;

Where front and rear tyre sizes are designed to be different.
Where a vehicle is designed to have directional tyres at the front and asymmetric at the rear.
If you are not sure about the fitment on your vehicle, the contact your local centre manager for advice"
Any other views?

[xco]

Originally Posted by micky1uk

Hi did you have your tyres fitted by any well known tyre company ? Or did you use just a local man thank

I used a local and trusted small tyre firm.
I have used them before when I used to buy my tyres from BLACK CIRCLES and MY TYRES.
My local man is a designated fitter for both firms so is known and trusted.

[xco]

Originally Posted by TruckbusUK

Was that a 4 wheel alignment, or just the fronts?

I asked for a 4 wheel alignment but he told me at ATS that the back axle set was static which I have since found out from my volvo indi garage that that is b$$$$$$t!
So I will look for someone who does hunter locally get it done and ask for a refund due to the fitter not knowing WTF he is talking about.

I asked for the £63.00 alignment on their website which I assumed would be hunter or equivalent to be told they only use lasers but no read out is given before or after for comparison.
Perhaps I should have been suspicious then.
All he has done is aligned the front wheels to the back wheels it seems.

Watch this space.

[xco]

Update to last post
I have found a garage /accident repair centre that specifically does hunter 4 wheel alignment for £35.00 per hour +vat which I think is excellent.
Ironically I had to drive past this garage to go to ATS on saturday when I had them aligned because I didnt even know they were there!

Armed with the computer readout I will then proceed to ATS for my refund and demand to see the manager and the lad who aligned them and b$$$$$$$$$d me and proceed to breath fire on them for their errant ways.
Plus the heated letter of complaint that will be going to head office

There thats me, rant over.LOL

[xco]

Originally Posted by JimG

I agree. 33-35mpg is about average I think.

Thanks jimg it was thanks to your post re alignmycar that I found the garage doing the aligmnent tomorrow.
I already looked at the link last friday but missed it in the list of closest garages (DOH LOL)

[JimG]

Originally Posted by xco

Thanks jimg it was thanks to your post re alignmycar that I found the garage doing the aligmnent tomorrow.
I already looked at the link last friday but missed it in the list of closest garages (DOH LOL)

No problem, definitely worth doing.

I've just ordered 4 x Nokian WR SUV 3 from TyreLeader and will have the alignment checked after they're fitted. I've had perfect wear from the current WR G2's, they've done about 30,000 miles now and have 3mm of tread left on all 4 tyres.

[xco]

Back from hunter alignment and well impressed.
The camber setting had not been touched by ATS nor the back wheel alignment.
(The lad had insisted that the back wheels could not be adjusted, so photos were taken while it was up on the lift in the other garage)

All done now super quiet and going where you aim them better.
Would use garage again very good at £42.00 all in (all 4 wheels).
Hunter read out given in before and after mode.

Right back to ATS to show them the error of their ways.
I tackled the manager and showed him and the lad who aligned the wheels on saturday the photos taken (Adjustment between back wheels)on the ramp today.He did not seem to know that this was adjustable so I suggested to the manager that he had further training.
Lots of red faces and my money given back to me with no questions when I presented the print out of todays effort by the other garage.

Until JIMG made me aware of the hunter system I did not know it existed!

I have decided that due to how good it is and how few people know about it, it is worth starting a new thread to notify people in their specific areas which garages will do it and to give your feedback of experience with that garage.
I know alignmycar does list garages in specific areas operating the hunter system but not feedback by customers.

Hope this helps.

SEE NEW THREAD

[Squirrell]

Anybody have experince of Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons tyres, was looking for some new 235/65x17 to work mainly on road with odd green lane, UK snow and ice and a trip to the Alps, saw the Goodyear 4 Season tyres, any thoughts?

Also, should a 2010 XC90 Active have 104 or 108 load ratings?

[semo]

Originally Posted by Squirrell

Anybody have experince of Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons tyres, was looking for some new 235/65x17 to work mainly on road with odd green lane, UK snow and ice and a trip to the Alps, saw the Goodyear 4 Season tyres, any thoughts?

Also, should a 2010 XC90 Active have 104 or 108 load ratings?

Why not go for the (what seems like the forum favourite) Nokian WR 3 SUV? They are actually all season tyres (says so on the side if you look closely). It is the Hakkapeliitta that are their winter range. The tread also holds some hints on the WR G2 or WR A3 tyres where the inside half of the tread has a more interlocking design which I believe is to hold the snow in place. The outer half has more continuous channels which I think is better for water evacuation. For some reason, the WR 3 SUV look symmetrical so not as obvious that it is all season. If you have the cash, go for Vredestein Wintrac 4 Xtreme. Anecdotal evidence from this forum suggests that they last longer (even when used in the summer).

Originally Posted by xco

Back from hunter alignment and well impressed.
The camber setting had not been touched by ATS nor the back wheel alignment.
(The lad had insisted that the back wheels could not be adjusted, so photos were taken while it was up on the lift in the other garage)

All done now super quiet and going where you aim them better.
Would use garage again very good at £42.00 all in (all 4 wheels).
Hunter read out given in before and after mode.

Right back to ATS to show them the error of their ways.
I tackled the manager and showed him and the lad who aligned the wheels on saturday the photos taken (Adjustment between back wheels)on the ramp today.He did not seem to know that this was adjustable so I suggested to the manager that he had further training.
Lots of red faces and my money given back to me with no questions when I presented the print out of todays effort by the other garage.

Until JIMG made me aware of the hunter system I did not know it existed!

I have decided that due to how good it is and how few people know about it, it is worth starting a new thread to notify people in their specific areas which garages will do it and to give your feedback of experience with that garage.
I know alignmycar does list garages in specific areas operating the hunter system but not feedback by customers.

Hope this helps.

SEE NEW THREAD

Good to know you got your money back. It seems bad rep no longer hurts big companies so it is imperative we get our money back when they screw up as that's the only thing that affects them.

As I was reading the topic today, I cringed when you said you were going for a 4 wheel alignment where they charge per hour as most places offer this service at a fixed cost. This sort of job can take many hours on some cars. As for recommendations, I've heard good things about www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk but I've not used them myself.

Next time, you should give Balance my car a try as well. The roadforce balancers do a much better job than normal ones and in most places, you pay the same as the "high street" chains. I think this is even more important for big heavy tyre/wheel combinations such as the XC90's. One of our WR G2 18" tyre needed 170g of weights to get it balanced on a normal machine but I think this is also one of the disadvantages of the G2 (not sure if the 3 SUV is any better). Going to try roadforce in the coming weeks.