S60 Wheels/Tyres: Recomendations please!

[calumscott]

Hi All,

Need to replace most of the rubber on the S60 (D5 163) and looking for your opinions on what's good and what's not please!

It's got the standard 16" alloys so 205/55/16's.

What's worked for you? Or not (I just read the thing about Michelin - the p*** poor attitude of customer service put me off even more than the apparent lack of consistency of product...)?

[myfirstv70]

NOT the Pirelli P6000 'Ditchfinder'!.........got Goodyear Excellence on my V70 - it seems to be a good combination of cost/ handling/ wear/ grip. A lot depends on your driving style.............
Cheers,
Nobby

[jamena]

Hi I had perelli p6000 I found they used to tram line horrible road holding, I changed to michelin pilot much better road holding and a lot Quieter.
James

[Georgeandkira]

Hello, After years of reading posts about tyre choices and requests for suggestions I've determined the following. Nothing dies quicker than a thread on tyres. The fact that peoples' driving habits vary so much makes the "data" (responses) among the most useless in the world (statistically speaking). I firmly believe you're better off going to Tirerack[dot]com, or some such website, and read many reviews on the same tyre. I also believe tyres' quality varies during production-blasphemy, I know. From personal experience with the same model tyre on two different cars; I've concluded that our 3,700 pound Volvos will take there toll on rubber. I have the feeling that tyre offerings differ on each side of the Atlantic as well. If you use the same "speed rating" system we use here in the US-which goes S/T-H-V-W-X-Y-Z, slow to fast-try to find an S or T rated tyre. Those are the ones which last the longest. Of course, for all I know, you may want a softer "Super Tyre" for speedy driving. Kira

[owyn]

Also don't forget you have to run the soft and hard compound before you get to the finish.

[TiredGeek]

The other thing to note is that the rubber we get in Europe seems to be different from the US even for the same make of tyre...

Personally, I use Hankook as they are much cheaper than Michelin but often come out better in the tests.

[S60-MBS]

I am currently using Kumho Ku-39's on my 225/45/17 wheels.
Previous tyres were Goodyear Excellence which performed very well in all weathers, was very impressed in last years icy conditions where going up a hill was relativley easy with other premium cars at a standstill.
The KU-39's are a lot quieter on most road surfaces , grip well in rain and in dry conditions. Ultimate test will be when the snow and ice arrive, but so far I am impressed.
KU-39 225/45/17Y £72 fully fitted in Birmingham
Excellence £80 Fully fitted

[mattyfezf]

Currently on uniroyal rainsport 2's.
Excellent apart from a very soft sidewall.

[Jim314]

With an S60 D5 163 hp you might want to try low rolling resistance tyres just to see if this gives higher highway fuel economy.

My V70 petrol 170 came with Michelin 'Energy' 195/65-15 and the vehicle got terrific hwy fuel economy, close to 40 mpgUK. When I replaced them I agreed to Michelin Primacy because the tyre store didn't have the Energy in stock and I decided not to wait, and my highest attainable hwy mpg went down to 35 mpgUK. The urban mpg was about the same with the Primacy (about 25 mpgUK).

The Primacy may be 'better' tyres by most criteria, but this result (admittedly anecdotal) suggests that tyre rolling resistance is a significant contributor to hwy fuel consumption in the aerodynamic V70 and presumably in the S60.

Of course, the highway fuel consumption of the 163 hp diesel S60 is already so comparatively low that it may not make sense to pay a cost premium and accept a compromise in tyre performance to decrease it by 5% or even 10%.

Suppose you are getting 47 mpgUK extra urban (or 6.00 L/100km), and LRR tyres would give you 50 mpgUK (5.64 L/100km), then you would save 0.36 L over each 100 km or 3.6L over every 1000 km (or 620 mi). This may not be enough fuel savings to justify the higher cost of the LRR tyres, especially given that the lifetime of LRR tyres will not be as long as tyres not optimized for LRR.

For me lowering fuel consumption is not a fuel cost issue, but a conservation issue. It means something to me to be able to get well over the USEPA hwy est of 30 mpgUS (36 mpgUK) on the window sticker of my V70, and often I'd get more than 10% over the USEPA hwy mpg est. On a 1000 mi (1600 km) leg of a long trip on interstate hwy under dry winter conditions I got over 40 mpgUK at 75 mph, lightly loaded, with the OE Michelin Energy tyres worn down to below 3 mm of tread remaining.

In contrast, at its first tyre change I put Michelin Energy tyres (235/65-17) on my wife's XC90 3.2L petrol and detected no significant decrease in hwy fuel consumption. But the aerodynamics of the XC90 presumably mean that tyre rolling resistance is small compared to aerodynamic resistance at hwy speed.

[calumscott]

Thanks everyone - in the end I went with replacement Uniroyal Rainexperts, a fraction more expensive than a budget tyre and have seen good reviews on them elsewhere.

TBH the ones on the car were as good as shot when I bought it so the difference is quite astounding. The greasy roads at this time of year might as well be dry - road noise is noticably less and everything just feels better.