Anyone with set of winters on 18in in south east?

[Deman77]

IGNORE THE REQUEST. BEEN CONVINCED OTHERWISE.
I am thinking of going from 20 to 18in for ride comfort in my xc90. I won’t get the budget from the boss unless she feels the difference for herself. Would anyone nearby who has a set of winters on 18in be kind enough to let me borrow them for a weekend. I’ll compensate you for the trouble and if my wheels are not enough security we will arrange something.
I’m in CM16 and would be happy to travel about 45min. So London and around and east and north commuter belt are fine.
If you are not xc90 the two 18in wheels at the bottom of this page are xc90 weight rated.
https://accessories.volvocars.com/en...ns/wheels/2019

Please PM me.

[weemark]

I'm not down your way but have 21" summers and swap to a set of 18" in winter (Michelin Alpins) - road noise reduced and ride is a bit more forgiving without ever becoming bouncy or feeling like there's a load of sidewall flex. Personally I prefer the 18's but boy do the rims look tiny on the XC90 - then again that's not really important is it!

[Deman77]

Very important but I have had enough. I sat in a 19 corolla minicab yesterday and it was like an s class in comparison. It has 16in. I just think life is too short to have to put up with such poor ride quality.
If I do go ahead I will find smth that will be matte black and not too much air that will blend with tyre wall well so it will not look too dramatically bad in comparison.
The only thing that bothers me a bit is the wheel actual diameter with tyre is 16mm less so the wheel arch won’t get filled as well. Ride height drops by 8mm though and that is a good thing. But if it gives me the kind of ride improvement I am hoping I think it’s worth the sacrifice and the cost.

[James77]

I had assumed AIR would be like riding on treacle and the ride would be a as smooth as could be. Is this not the case?

I don't have AIR, springs suit me fine, and I have no desire to but I thought it was supposed to be the superior system?

[weemark]

It's not the best tbh and took a while to find the best combination of ride height and tyre pressure. The air suspension on my last A8 (10 years ago) was in a different league entirely

[MaDProFF]

@Deman I will be honest, I run an XC60 T8 Air suspension, on 21" in the summer, I do not find the suspension a problem, and run 18" on Nokians in the Winter, the difference is small, in fact the 21's in my opinion are pretty good, the 18s very similar slight more body roll.

My point is, if your car in you opinion is so bad, putting 18's on it will not help too much.

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by MaDProFF

@Deman I will be honest, I run an XC60 T8 Air suspension, on 21" in the summer, I do not find the suspension a problem, and run 18" on Nokians in the Winter, the difference is small, in fact the 21's in my opinion are pretty good, the 18s very similar slight more body roll.

My point is, if your car in you opinion is so bad, putting 18's on it will not help too much.

Thanks. This very helpful. I have got similar feeling from the first reply but this seals it. Saves the trouble and wasting time. I tried my18 on air on 21s and that was noticeably better than me - but still I would not call it very good.
Perhaps when I change the tyres and go to Michelin’s with softer sidewalls I will get slight improvement.
I think I just make a note to be more careful with the next car choice. Probably buy used so you can drive the exact car you are buying before committing.

[Deman77]

Originally Posted by James77

I had assumed AIR would be like riding on treacle and the ride would be a as smooth as could be. Is this not the case?

I don't have AIR, springs suit me fine, and I have no desire to but I thought it was supposed to be the superior system?

Levelling and ability to adjust height. Also for better systems (not this one) better handling. You typically sacrifice secondary ride vs the steel but better implementations can solve it with tyres and other suspension tricks. In volvo case you get worse ride than standard over broken roads no doubt. This should not put you off it in general as some makes do a good job with it plus it does have advantages even with volvo.

[AB-UK]

Originally Posted by MaDProFF

@Deman I will be honest, I run an XC60 T8 Air suspension, on 21" in the summer, I do not find the suspension a problem, and run 18" on Nokians in the Winter, the difference is small, in fact the 21's in my opinion are pretty good, the 18s very similar slight more body roll.

My point is, if your car in you opinion is so bad, putting 18's on it will not help too much.

I know the OP has a D5, however, the 18" combination states "NOT SUITABLE FOR TWIN-ENGINE" presumably this means the T8.
This is also the case for some of the other wheels also in 19" and 20".

[Philip Fisher]

I have had Michelin Latitude 19s from new and over 3.5 years and 90k miles later I have no complaints. Never really thought about or noticed the road noise and the ride is perfectly compliant. If you.want to change then maybe just go to 19s? The tyres are 235.55.19. They dont look silly and still fill most of the arch. I bought a set of secondhand 19s with barely used contis on them for 800 quid. When I come to using up the contis it will be interesting if they are noisier or harsher.... In fact why not go cross climates on 19s for a perfect ride?