What are the best tyres to put on an XC90?

[A lex]

Originally Posted by languageservicesco

Thanks very much for the information. Sounds like it will be the SUV3 then. They have the best ratings for grip and mpg, although I don't think I have really seen anything on how they last, and they are also the cheapest of the ones I was considering.

Kevin

Mine have dropped 0.5mm (new tyre depth, down to 8mm on the nose) over 6k km.

Extrapolating that out I should get about 72k km (44k miles) from them (binning them at around 2mm).

If I manage to do that, ill be very happy indeed.

[Beavis]

I run Nokian WRG3's in the Winter. I swopped back to what I call my summer tyres (as they're a bit harder wearing rubber) back in April - Pirelli Scorpion and I found to grip to be awful. No confidence at all in them on a wet road. The Nokians gave me huge confidence but the Pirelli's feel like they are sliding all over the place.

I think the Pirelli's are meant to be an all season tyre so I was surprised how bad the wet weather performance was.

[rav]

Originally Posted by A lex

I got my WR SUV3 from oponeo and paid €150 per corner incl. delivery.

I found quite a few places that had WRG2, but they were all new old stock and pricey (€200ish per tyre)!

So far I am very, very happy with the SUV3 - I have don3 about 3-4k miles and they are grippy, extremely quiet and seem to wearing OK, although ill obviously need to do more miles to be sure.

I think there is some old stock (late 2011) of WR G2s and it could be okay for me as 6 years seem to be the recommended shelf life of the tyre and these do not last so long on my XC90. But does anyone know if it would be okay to mix WRG2 on the back with the newer SUV3 on the fronts or would I have to change all 4 tyres? So the options I have are:

a) Buy 2x (2011) WR G2s to go with existing WR G2s
b) Buy 2x SUV3s to mix with existing WR G2s
c) Buy 4 SUV3s (least preferred due to cost as I still have 7mm treads on rears)

Preferred option would be (b) if there are no problems mixing tyres. Any advice would be welcome.

[A lex]

a)

or

c)

depending on budget.

I wouldnt mix personally, it just makes my teeth itch!

[rav]

Originally Posted by A lex

a)

or

c)

depending on budget.

I wouldnt mix personally, it just makes my teeth itch!

Thanks - I went with option (a). Now I need to make sure all 4 tyres wear out at the same time

[languageservicesco]

Just ordered the SUV3's so we will see how they go.

[languageservicesco]

Originally Posted by languageservicesco

Just ordered the SUV3's so we will see how they go.

They are on now and the initial impression is very positive. The old ones were very worn, but the difference was striking as soon as I turned the steering wheel. The ride is much better and they seem very quiet. Haven't had it at motorway speeds yet or had a chance to see how fuel consumption is, so I will let you know once I have.

[A lex]

A further update on the wear rate of the Nokian WR SUV3.

Now covered 7600+km (4750miles) through the hottest months of the year.

Both front tyres showing a tread depth of just over 7mm

Both rear tyres showing a tread depth of just over 7.5mm

So I have lost 1mm on the rears and 1.5mm on the front - for the sake of making it easy, we will call it 5k miles covered.

That means I should get around another 25-30k miles out them, meaning a total life of approx. 30-35k miles, which I think is very reasonable for a big SUV.

I am going to rotate the wheels once, probably just before the crap weather arrives this winter.

Coincidentally with my mileage that means I should be running them with around 6mm tread this winter period (perfect) and they will need replacing just before the winter season 2015 (also perfect!)

[Mxgeldar]

hope that I get similar wear from my General M&S that I had fitted about three weeks ago. Could do with a couple of years out of them before I need to replace them as well !

[gillberry]

Just had to change my tyres and now have a set of grabber at's fitted .
Quick question what tyre pressure do most of you have as found that the eco pressure setting of 39psi seems best the 32psi seems to make the car soggy in corners ?