XC70 Performance In Snow

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by spyboy

I found the Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Weather tyres performed really well in the recent snow here in the North East

Ours have been OK, no problem getting around, but not quite as good as I had hoped*, and certainly not as good as the Nokian Winters we had on before (not really a fair comparison). Next change will see us on Weatherproofs, trying to get the best of both worlds.

*the tread pattern seems very longitudinal to me

[Puffster]

My previous XC70 on Pirelli Scorpion STR M&S was brilliant in the snow a few years back - absolutely go anywhere where others had no chance. Dragged my bro-in-law's Passat up a hill when he got stuck half-way no problem.

I've not changed the current tyres on my new XC70 but I'm sure they would have struggled to get up my hill in Wales being economy biased road tyres. Change them and I'd be very confident.

[apersson850]

Living in a country where winter has a slightly different meaning, compared to what it usually is in Britain, I can confirm that tires without the symbol with the mountain and the snow flake aren't worth half a cup of luke warm coffee in real winter conditions.

You need real winter tires to get traction, steering and braking capability. For a good reason, they are also mandatory during the winter season here.

But once you get suitable tires on the car, then the XC70 AWD gives you a real advantage over FWD or RWD cars. I can pull a trailer in conditions where other cars don't even move themselves. You have to learn how to handle the AWD system best, to get around even when the snow is quite a bit deeper than the car's ground clearance, but once you understand how best to use it, it will take you to, and away from, places two wheel drive cars have problems handling even when chains are fitted.

[Semnoz]

I fitted new wheels/tyres 2 weeks ago (WinterContact TS860) which was good timing !

I would have preferred the AWD version of my car, but they're so rare I'd never have found one, so happy with front-wheel drive for now, and yet to get stuck in snow with these tyres.

It's important to remember that ALL cars have 4-wheel braking ! So any car with good winter tyres is safer than most SUV/4x4s out there. That's why I get so annoyed when you see Q7/Cayenne/X5 drivers hurtling about as soon as it snows as big, daft 2 ton+ cars like that with sports tyres are much more dangerous (to other road users).

When it comes to safety, it's braking and cornering that counts, e.g. 4 x winter tyres.

Fiat Panda 4x4 - now there's a proper four-wheel drive !!

[SwissXC90]

Drove my XC90 to the Volvo dealer for service this morning in heavy snow fall.
Roads covered with snow, hard-packed, very slippery, not yet had a chance to melt after the plough and salter went through.

I decided to tacke the local shortcut over a steep hill, which has some nice uphill hairpin bends and some wide corners.
A 1-ton truck had just come down it so if he was going down, I can go up.

No trouble on Conti WinterContacts, although I could spin all 4 wheels if I pushed it hard enough. Lit up the traction control lamp a few times, but had full forward power and traction. My angle-gear is OK !!.

I tested the ABS on a flat empty stretch of hard-packed snow covered road with some steering input (gentle, low speed) and it worked brilliantly. Full steering control as the wheel rotation was being controlled by the ABS.

I checked the grip on a T-junction where I turned into the road and it was off-camber slightly and I gave it a bit too much D5 diesel power. Oops! had it going a bit sideways, the snow bank at the kerb stopped the slide as the back wheel stopped on the snow bank.
That was unexpected and a bit scary and showed how slippery it was.

But safely delivered the car to the dealer for a service and a new battery and some new software functions.

[Ian21401]

My daughter acquired a 2011 XC70, AWD, D5, last February. It came shod with one Pirelli Scorpion Zero on the rear offside and Pirelli Scorpion STRs on the other three wheels all about half worn. The front tyres wore down quite quickly so we replaced them with a pair of Nokian Weatherproof SUV,all season,
winter M + S. We would have fitted Kleber Quadraxers as I have on my 940 but the required size ( 235/50 x 18 ) is not available. I did consider the Michelin Cross Climate but I didn't like the tread pattern compared to the Nokian.
Is it my imagination, or are more manufacturers producing "All Season" tyres than there were a couple of years ago.

[apersson850]

If so, that's a bit funny, since there are no real "all season" tires. Unless you live in Southern California. Otherwise, there are "lousy in all conditions", "winter" and "summer".