VOL marked Tyres

[Diggler]

The manual for my 2019 V90 Cross Country tells me that the fitted tyres (Pirelli P Zeros) are 'carefully adapted to the car' and have VOL on the side wall.
They do indeed have VOL on the side wall but what does it mean? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the VOL tyres had slightly softer sidewalls than normal tyres but I may have imagined that!!
Does anyone have experience with non VOL marked tyres?

Thanks for your help.

[Familyman 90]

It means nothing more than Pirelli supplied it as original equipment for Volvo.

They do similar for many car brands, and the 3 letters indicate the car manifacturer.

[St James]

Originally Posted by Diggler

The manual for my 2019 V90 Cross Country tells me that the fitted tyres (Pirelli P Zeros) are 'carefully adapted to the car' and have VOL on the side wall.
They do indeed have VOL on the side wall but what does it mean? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the VOL tyres had slightly softer sidewalls than normal tyres but I may have imagined that!!
Does anyone have experience with non VOL marked tyres?

Thanks for your help.

I've never put VOL marked tyres on the XC60s i've owned.

Never had an issue

My current V60 has VOL marked Michelin Primacy tyres on, but as soon as they get to 3mm, I'll be sticking Cross Climates on anyway.....

[DaveNP]

My recollection of any cars I've had with factory fitted tyres was that they seemed to be fitted with whatever the tyre factory was making that week, hence we had a Proton on top spec Dunlop tyres. Our current 'new' car, a KIA Stonic, doesn't have any marking to indicate KIA on the tyres, maybe it depends on the car manufacturer and what they specify.

[ITSv40]

When my Silver Cloud was on crossplies I ran Avon Turbospeed 8.20 - 15 as they were original spec when new and considered the most refined tyre for the car. They had R-R - B moulded on the sidewall.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Diggler

The manual for my 2019 V90 Cross Country tells me that the fitted tyres (Pirelli P Zeros) are 'carefully adapted to the car' and have VOL on the side wall.
They do indeed have VOL on the side wall but what does it mean? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the VOL tyres had slightly softer sidewalls than normal tyres but I may have imagined that!!
Does anyone have experience with non VOL marked tyres?

Thanks for your help.

Tyres for new cars are often a special mix where the car manufacturer and tyre company work together to develop a mix and tread pattern to suit the car manufacturers needs .

A Michelin Pilot tyre on a new volvo will have different characteristics to a Michelin Pilot you buy from a general tyre dealer .

Whether you can buy VOL replacements is another question . Probably if you order them ...
The new XC90 have special versions with a foam lining inside to reduce noise .