New tyres for XC90 - 20" + Air

[Hartlepool Mariner]

The Michelin Latitude Sport 3 Acoustics were the factory fitted tyres on my XC90 D5 Momentum Pro. These have been quiet, especially on smooth roads and only slightly noisier on poorer surfaces in rural East Anglia.

After 33,630 heavily loaded and fast miles there is still 2.5mm tread remaining so a life of 38,000 miles looks a distinct possibility, though I might replace them earlier as a slight rumble is developing at certain speeds.

When I had a puncture, the foam slowed down the leakage rate and my local tyre dealer National Tyres of Hartlepool had no problem repairing the puncture.

I am going for a like for like replacement. Being a high mileage driver I will need two more complete sets of the Michelins before giving the car back to the leasing company. Reading the comments re tyre life on this forum, it is more than likely I will need three sets of the Continental/Pirelli equivalents. This will ultimately cost more than two sets of the Michelin acoustics.

What is surprising is that my local Volvo dealer only supplies Continental tyres, which from comments on this forum seems to be noisier and have a much shorter life.

[nu11eaf]

My Conti-notsosilent tyres only lasted half your mileage but I am convinced that higher motorway mileage gets better tyre wear, I mainly do lots of town driving so tyre wear is excessive at around 15k. I would never buy Continental tyres after having them on my car from delivery, (20" with air suspension) not a good experience. You are getting very good life out of your tyres.

[Hartlepool Mariner]

If the Continental tyres are noisier and have a much shorter life than the Michelin's, it begs the question why do Volvo fit them at all.

I must admit I was surprised at how quickly the Continentals wear compared to the Michelin's on my vehicle which has the standard suspension

My driving is
Motorway: 15%
Dual Carriageway: 25% (A1 between Peterborough and Doncaster)
A Road: 35%
B and country road: 20%
Town: 5%

I use the car in ECO drive mode with the tyre pressures at the economy settings.

[gaby]

[QUOTE=Hartlepool After 33,630 heavily loaded and fast miles there is still 2.5mm tread remaining so a life of 38,000 miles looks a distinct possibility, though I might replace them earlier as a slight rumble is developing at certain speeds.[/QUOTE]
Do you feel safe driving on tyres with only 2.5mm (or less) tread?

[Hartlepool Mariner]

I feel perfectly safe with 2.5mm tread depth with the Michelin tyres, and have not noticed any deterioration in wet weather grip. The wide tyres and 4WD help immensely.

I frequently see beat up old cars on a mixture of worn budget tyres without the safety features of the XC90 in motorway services up and down the east side of England and are horrified when they go past me doing 80+ mph.

[gaby]

AWD may help for traction, but probably not much while braking.
Wouldn't wider tyres be worse concerning aquaplaning when the tread becomes less deep?
Following tyre manufacturers advice may be listening to the devil, but I never drive on
(summer) tyres that have less than 3mm tread, no matter what brand, type or width.

[Twilight2017XC90]

2017 Volvo factory fitted ContiSportContact 5™ got punctured at 10k miles with tread 5.5. I searched like for like and ordered the exact same with Just tyres shop which is 500 yards from my house. The factory fitted Continental tyre had foam inside to dampen the noise/resonance/vibrations inside the cabin but new tyre supplied by @ContiUK (Continental official twitter handle) hasn't got the foam inside. Few things I would like to share:
1. Yes, the foam does help to dampen some resonance inside the cabin. As shared in previous threads had resonance issues with Nov 2015 XC90 but far less in my18.
2. Personal experience - the glue which sticks the foam inside really does help to lessen the loss of tyre pressure in a nail or screw puncture.
3. Order through Volvo dealer if the price is around £215 as I got mine for £199 including fitting but without foam or ask the retailer about ContiSilent. @ContiUK saying they sell ContiSportContact 5 without inside foam🤔 whereas I had these with foam, see picture.
4. My mistake as I didn't know the factory fitted tyres comes with foam inside. Continental trying to wash their hands off saying I ordered the version which doesn't come with foam inside. My point is I had looked other 3 tyres on my car and it's written ContiSportContact 5 not ContiSilent and all major retailer write this as an original fitment not ContiSilent.
5. My another mistake - I got tyres insurance so really would have gone to Volvo dealer. Can't say if they have fitted the exact same what I got now without I being knowing.

Go for a good make and if possible foam inside and it make more sense if all are of the same version. Downside is if the puncture is repairable, you may well still hear the classic 'can't repair - need new tyre cuz it got foam inside'.

Driving or about to drive a brand new car within 30 days of purchase, buy a tyre insurance which covers you for the next 3 years for punctures or a new tyre (like for like) if its a non repairable puncture.

Happy and safe driving 🚘.

https://ibb.co/dGBxb6w (punctured ContiSportContact 5 with foam)

[Hartlepool Mariner]

The Michelin Latitude Sport Acoustics have been replaced after 35,900 miles with 2mm left on the fronts and 2.4mm on the rears.

The old tyres still had plenty of grip even in the heavy rain that hit East Anglia during the middle of June, so I spent the extra and fitted the same tyre.

Here's to another 36,000 fairly quiet miles.