20" wheels - snow tyres?

[JC888]

Originally Posted by Crockers

I dropped from 20" to 18" winter wheels and tyres. Volvo offered me a deal with wheel storage too.

Not sure if 18" will fit but I will definitely be contacting my local dealership. Wheel storage sounds ideal.

[kenny]

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-255-35-20/?s=W Here you go

[Haldex]

18” will fit on a D5.

[JC888]

Originally Posted by kenny

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-255-35-20/?s=W Here you go

Good spot thanks!

Just need to do some research on effectiveness of 20” snow tyres.
I don’t think cost wise it will be cheaper to go 18/19” wheels+tyres route.

[JC888]

Apologies if this is a silly question, I've Googled reviews for Conti Sottozero and Michelin Alpin 3 and both of them indicate poor braking in wet compared to my summer tyres (Pirelli P zero on the front and Goodyear Assym 3 on the rear).

These are all based on the tyrereviews website. The wet grip % are higher but comments in the group test seem to indicate poor wet braking performance.

Looking at the prices for x4 20" winter tyres I'd be investing about £900-£1000 so would prefer absolute piece of mind for tyres that I can rely on through the winter and would be looking to switch back to summers at around June. During my research it seems that winter tyres wear more and also increases fuel consumption?

I would appreciate any feedback please, especially from members with winter tyres on 20" wheels.

I am also keen to hear from members with normal tyres during the winter. My commute is about 40 miles each way. During the winter I tend to stick to mostly motorways and A-roads however they are sections of A-roads that are not gritted and which are S bends up and down hills.

[kenny]

Yes you will lose a bit of mpg as the tyre has a rougher rolling surface but it won’t be much, you really will hardly notice it. Your mpg also drops a bit with the cold weather so I wouldn’t worry to much. I used to run Vredestein Wintrac-extremes all year round on my land rover Discovery and found them very good. They were 265 wide. It is normal to go for a narrower tyre for snow or when off roading as a wider tyre can cause a bit of a bow wave in soft ground or snow. A narrower tyre will cut through this to get to firm ground where it will get better grip. Given you have a S90 I guess you won’t be off roading and I doubt you will get a lot of soft snow to give you muck trouble so I think staying with your standard size will be absolutely fine. As for wet grip. My summer Michelin tyres are A rated and my Dunlop winters are C rated. I find the Dunlop’s feel better in the wet so far so I again I wouldn’t worry to much. A lot of tests make things sound a lot worst that real life. One thing is for sure if you do get some good winter weather you will find driving on winter tyres a real revelation. Most winter tyre users in the uk change over in November and back late April or early May. Here is a newer version of the wintrac that will fit your car. https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyr...r20-97w-625090

[ergonomist]

Originally Posted by JC888

Looking at the prices for x4 20" winter tyres I'd be investing about £900-£1000 so would prefer absolute piece of mind for tyres that I can rely on through the winter and would be looking to switch back to summers at around June. During my research it seems that winter tyres wear more and also increases fuel consumption?

At the risk of repeating an earlier comment - it is worth looking at the price of 19" tyres and then thinking about how much a set of 19" rims would cost. I went down from 20" to 19" for the winter tyres on my XC90 and the tyre savings pretty much paid for the rims. I save fitting and balancing twice per year. Also, the higher profile and narrower winter tyres result in improved fuel consumption.

And I agree with kenny - I've not noticed any reduction in wet-weather grip on my Pirelli Scorpions (or on the Pirelli Sottozeros I had for a number of years on a previous car). I suspect it might be an artefact of the way the testing was done (but I'm prepared to be shot down on that).

I'm on record as being an advocate of winter tyres (but without hard data to back that up... )

[JC888]

Thanks both Kenny and Ergonomist for kind reply.

Ideally I would like separate set of wheels and tyres as I can get a friendly local garage to store it for me. However from quick Google I am looking at over £1k for set of new wheels and tyres.

The other option would be to go for only tyres however reviews of winter tyres in 20” are not too favourable in the wet braking department according to reviews however feedback from both seems to suggest otherwise.

Just conseridng options here since I’ve only recently changed all four tyres on my car. Fronts have 7mm and rears 5+mm.

Vredestein Kenny linked is just under £700 for a set so not too bad for price compared to the Pirellis. I’d have a think.

[jonnyu]

Originally Posted by Ringthane

Takes a big breath...

Would you consider Michelin Crossclimate?

They now make them in 20” siszes.

DO NOT consider Michelin Crossclimate unless you are willing to change tires every year.
I had a pair of these that lasted only for 1 single summer and snow season due to their lack of durability. When the summer arrives, it really destroys this tire and you start to get a very noisy tire and lack of grip.

They handle well the snow when they are new but rolling a bit on summer conditions and the tire will start to fall apart. My mechanic said that the tire profile actually changed due to the expansion of heat and I started to have a very loud noise inside my car due to the tires at 80-100 km/h.

[Crockers]

That’s strange because on my old xc60 I too ran crossclimates and had none of the issues you mentioned.