Ride quality changing wheels

[Shoney]

Hi everyone
I currently own a xc60 r design 2017 it came with 20" wheels the car looks and drives superb. However my other half has recently decided that ride quality is too hard she is nagging me to get rid and buy another new Volvo with a softer ride but before I spend a load more money would changing my wheels to 235 60 18 cure or at least soften the ride
Don't want to buy new wheels and tyres if it will not make any difference I have spoken to Volvo they will not give a deffernate answer.
Can anyone help
Thankyou

[Kev0607]

17's will probably offer you the most comfortable ride with 235/65 R17 tyres.

Changing to 18's should make a difference though, but 17's will be the most comfortable.

If you don't know anyone with a similar car with these size alloys, go to a showroom or used car sales that has one or maybe several for sale & pretend you're buying. Then, you can have a good test drive & see what you think :-P

You should be able to notice from the pictures in the adverts that the alloys on the particular car that's being sold are smaller than yours. Having a test drive will give you a good idea as to which alloy size is best for you, as new tyres & alloys aren't cheap... You wouldn't want to buy them to be disappointed.

Personally, 17's would be my preference. Yes, they will make the car look different (Maybe not as sporty looking). After all, its a comfier ride you want & 235/65 R17 tyres will give you the most cushioning over bumps/uneven surfaces.

[mrc1501]

What tyre profile do you have on the 20 inch wheels. I’m considering changing up to 20 inch when I collect my car that is!

Cheapest option is to buy another wheel set then you can make a comparison.

[Sotosound]

Does the R-Design have lowered sports suspension? If so, then this is likely to be a major contributor to the issue.

Back in the noughties, I had one of the first Ford Mondeo Mk 3 Titanium X's. It was a 54-reg and back then the Titanium X was a limited edition Mondeo with added goodies, a chrome exhaust and "ST" lowered suspension. Unlike the ST, however, which had 18" wheels, my car had 17" wheels. Despite having slightly fatter tyres, however, the ride was still very firm, the handling was still a lot of fun, and there was still a fair amount of road noise.

In the end, however, the ride quality and handling were mainly the result of the ST suspension.

I can say this because my daughter subsequently owned an 06-reg Mk 3 Mondeo Titanium with 18" wheels. By 2006, however, Titanium and Titanium X were just trim levels. The suspension wasn't lowered and the ride quality and handling were far more orientated towards comfort than sportiness, despite those 18" wheels. It was a far softer riding and handling car with less road noise.

In the end, I was able to soften the ride quality slightly in my Mondeo Titanium X by making sure that the tyre pressures were correct, i.e. not too high, and also by choosing tyres that had good ratings regarding compliant ride and road noise. (In other words, expensive Michelins which are normally both compliant and quiet. Kumos, on the other hand, were noisy and "slapped" the road when going over uneven surfaces.)

For you, 17" wheels with fatter tyres might moderate the ride a bit and would probably result in reduced road noise, but it won't change the underlying suspension set-up and it might also affect handling in an adverse way since I doubt that the R Design suspension was ever intended to go with non-R Design wheels will relatively soft and fat tyres. You might also encounter issues with speedo readings unless the rolling radius of the new wheel and tyre combination is identical to what you have currently.

So please tread carefully (unintended pun )and perhaps think about a change of tyres instead of buying some new wheels and tyres that just won't look right and also might not work right either.

[Whippy]

Originally Posted by Shoney

Hi everyone
I currently own a xc60 r design 2017 it came with 20" wheels the car looks and drives superb. However my other half has recently decided that ride quality is too hard she is nagging me to get rid and buy another new Volvo with a softer ride but before I spend a load more money would changing my wheels to 235 60 18 cure or at least soften the ride
Don't want to buy new wheels and tyres if it will not make any difference I have spoken to Volvo they will not give a deffernate answer.
Can anyone help
Thankyou

Short answer, yes. As long as you maintain the rolling radii the taller sidewalls will give more absorption of shocks or potholes.

[Dastardly Diesel]

It will help, but how much is anyones guess.

Like for like with the same tyre, at sensible road speeds it'll handle better too as the sidewall compliance reduces the tendency for the fronts to lose grip and "skip" until they bite again, particularly on the less than perfect road surfaces in the UK. At looney tune speeds it's a different matter, but how much percentage of your driving is spent at Nurburgring velocities?

[Miles of Smiles]

I'd go with the 18s personally. But that's just from a looks perspective.
I had 17's on my old car and test drove an XC40 with 18's and I would say they were as near as damn it the same ride comfort (allowing for different suspension).

The XC60 we bought came with 22's - immediately swapped out for 20's before collection.
Yes they looked great but the ride was just not what we wanted.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Shoney

Hi everyone
I currently own a xc60 r design 2017 it came with 20" wheels the car looks and drives superb. However my other half has recently decided that ride quality is too hard she is nagging me to get rid and buy another new Volvo with a softer ride but before I spend a load more money would changing my wheels to 235 60 18 cure or at least soften the ride
Don't want to buy new wheels and tyres if it will not make any difference I have spoken to Volvo they will not give a deffernate answer.
Can anyone help
Thankyou

This new range of volvos does not suffer from big wheels causing hard ride due to their sophisticated all aluminium suspension components . I don't think you will find much difference . Hard ride is not something picked up in the press road tests . Maybe try some different versions at your dealer . What are the tyre pressures ? They should be 38 psi Minimum . Maybe someone has over inflated them? Or you have a lot of pot holes in the area !

[Welton]

Originally Posted by Shoney

Hi everyone
I currently own a xc60 r design 2017 it came with 20" wheels th

Depending on your mileage it's feasible that the dampers are getting tired, it wouldn't cost much to replace all 4 corners with quality Bilstein Dampers - transformed the way my car handled bumps in the road over the stock dampers.

Also your rubber bushings will be rock-hard this time of year further leading to that 'firm' feel to the ride.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Welton

Depending on your mileage it's feasible that the dampers are getting tired, it wouldn't cost much to replace all 4 corners with quality Bilstein Dampers - transformed the way my car handled bumps in the road over the stock dampers.

Also your rubber bushings will be rock-hard this time of year further leading to that 'firm' feel to the ride.

sorry , hardly on a 3 year old volvo ! The suspension will be just as it left the factory . what cars are you used to that wear out after 3 years?.