New tyres for XC90 - 20" + Air

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by Quacker

£50 for a bit of stick-on foam is daylight robbery, not "excellent value". In the real world, £50 will get you a quite substantial whole budget tyre for a super-mini type car, not a bit of acoustic foam.

It never ceases to amaze me as to the relative difference people put on ‘value’ these days. Your ‘value’ is my ‘daylight robbery’. £10 per tyre extra would be what I would call ‘value for the money’ for that foam and what it does. That would almost certainly still give the manufacturer a fair production margin over costs.

Why not go with the very cheapest nastiest tyres or buy used contis on eBay for a fraction of the money. It’s all relative. Expensive for you - value for me. I said if it makes as much difference as contisilents does to contis - that is very noticeable.
In the first couple of years of xc90 life we are paying 750-1000 a month in depreciation. An extra 200 to make it significantly quieter is a good value to me.

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Thanks all for your input on this, much appreciated as always!

So I bit the bullet and order 4 new Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology tyres. The none acoustic version are rated 3db lower for noise than my current Conti Silents, so I initially ordered these. But then my wife pointed out that she's rather swallow a few more £'s than have me moan for the next 12+ months that I should have gone for the acoustic version! So I changed the order!

The tyres are rated B for efficiency, A for wet weather and 70db for noise. My local mobile tyre fitter has also priced them including fitting a few £ cheaper than the best none-fitted price I could find online!

He's coming to fit them at 1pm.

:wq

If they manage to please you - they will please anyone

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by Deman77

Why not go with the very cheapest nastiest tyres or buy used contis on eBay for a fraction of the money. It’s all relative. Expensive for you - value for me. I said if it makes as much difference as contisilents does to contis - that is very noticeable.
In the first couple of years of xc90 life we are paying 750-1000 a month in depreciation. An extra 200 to make it significantly quieter is a good value to me.

The tyres themselves are expensive, but fair value I suppose. The foam is extortionate, although entirely optional of course. You are willing to pay that much extra for them, so that price premium is likely to stay. For now.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by Quacker

The tyres themselves are expensive, but fair value I suppose. The foam is extortionate, although entirely optional of course. You are willing to pay that much extra for them, so that price premium is likely to stay. For now.

You are right, it’s a lot of money for a bit of foam and glue, but it’s always the case that you pay disproportionate amounts extra for the more niche products. You would hope the prices will drop as adoption increases. Talking to the tyre fitter today, he’s seeing the numbers increase, mainly on Audi’s.

I inspected all the tyres that came off, and there was no sign of any of the foam coming away.

:wq

[KNVXC90]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

You are right, it’s a lot of money for a bit of foam and glue, but it’s always the case that you pay disproportionate amounts extra for the more niche products. You would hope the prices will drop as adoption increases. Talking to the tyre fitter today, he’s seeing the numbers increase, mainly on Audi’s.

I inspected all the tyres that came off, and there was no sign of any of the foam coming away.

:wq

Did you manage to swap to Michelins? How do you find them, noise-wise especially?

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by KNVXC90

Did you manage to swap to Michelins? How do you find them, noise-wise especially?

Yes, its now sat on the drive on Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology VOL tyres. But they haven't rolled an inch yet, so can't comment on the performance/noise! Will of course report back once we've done a few miles!

:wq

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Yes, its now sat on the drive on Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology VOL tyres. But they haven't rolled an inch yet, so can't comment on the performance/noise! Will of course report back once we've done a few miles!

:wq

Make sure to check pressures. Can you tell I am really hoping this works? I would like to hear on comfort difference over broken road surface and joins (currently my council choice)

[KNVXC90]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Yes, its now sat on the drive on Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology VOL tyres. But they haven't rolled an inch yet, so can't comment on the performance/noise! Will of course report back once we've done a few miles!

:wq

We are all waiting for your feedback

[SpaceBoy42]

Originally Posted by familymangreg

Yes, its now sat on the drive on Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology VOL tyres. But they haven't rolled an inch yet, so can't comment on the performance/noise! Will of course report back once we've done a few miles!

:wq

Yes, very much looking forward to your views on your purchase!

[familymangreg]

OK, so have now done a couple of trips on my new Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustic Technology tyres... And..... what a difference! If the car had of been on these from the start, the huge 20" wheel road noise thread I started would probably not exist! To me, they are immediately noticeably quieter.

For those of you who don't know, I had my original Continentals swapped by Volvo/my dealer at 7000 miles to Conti Silents after I complained about the high levels of road noise from the original tyres. I also had the sound deadening b-pillar modification done. I can say with confidence, that changing to the Michelin's has had more of an effect the these other two fixes combined.

To me, what is really apparent is the difference at lower speeds, 30-50mph, where road noise on the Continentals would start to build, you just don't notice that by anywhere near the same degree on the Michelins. And that's not to say they aren't quieter too at other speeds, the difference to me is just most apparent at those speeds. We haven't done any motorway or even particularly fast A roads this weekend either.

I've never had a problem with ride quality, but if I had to note any difference, i'd say the Michelin's again felt a little more compliant. There is no discernible difference in performance.

So, as you might tell, I'm very happy with the Michelins, and without doubt would recommend them over the Conti's any day. Having also been in a new XC90, which I and others have noted has somehow improved levels of noise insulation, I would imagine that a new one, with the Michelins and possibly also the laminated glass would be a pretty refined car on 20" wheels.

:wq