Snow tires for the S60?

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pb - 08 Oct 2004 00:58 GMT

I've got an '01 S60 2.4. I'm in NY and this will be my first
Winter with the car. I've got Michelin MXV4s on it now, and am
considering going with Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 or Dunlap WS M2
snows.

Both manufacturers strongly recommend fitting 4 snows, not 2.
That's contrary to how I used to do this, but it's been a long
time.

Any input on this? Or on the choice of tires? The Dunlap is a
low-pro, but it's available in the necessary 195/65-15, so I'm
not sure if it's suitable for the car. Car sees a mix of
highway/local use.

Thanks.
paul

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CD - 08 Oct 2004 01:48 GMT

I'm in Eastern PA, and I leave the MXV4s on all winter. They seem to work
out pretty well. I haven't gotten stuck in during the two winters that I've
owned my S60.

Charlie

> I've got an '01 S60 2.4. I'm in NY and this will be my first
> Winter with the car. I've got Michelin MXV4s on it now, and am
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Thanks.
> paul

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pb - 08 Oct 2004 03:00 GMT

> I'm in Eastern PA, and I leave the MXV4s on all winter. They seem to work
> out pretty well. I haven't gotten stuck in during the two winters that I've
> owned my S60.

That's what I've done for years now with other cars, but the
manual and my neighbor said I would need snows. I would love to
avoid getting the snows. Maybe I'll hold off and see how it
behaves in snow (I was trying to avoid the 1st snow rush).

Thanks,
Paul

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Rob Guenther - 08 Oct 2004 22:21 GMT

We have snow tires for the Volvo... but I wanted to save money with my VW
Golf, as it's front drive and not very powerfull and lighter... doesn't
really need snow tires - so I bought a pair of 4-season tires (Nokian WR...
Nokian is the big snow tire maker from Finland known for their Hakkapellata
snow tire line, these tires feature "Hakka" siping for snow, unidirectional
tread for good dry, and water dispersion channels for wet weather... they
seem to do it all quite well, a true jack of all trades tire so far)...
can't believe how well they work in every weather condition, and I saved
myself 5-700 bucks on snow tires... This tire would be more of an investment
when the OEM tires are at the end of their lifespan, which mine were. Cost
was $616 for 4 tires, taxed, balanced, mounted.

>> I'm in Eastern PA, and I leave the MXV4s on all winter. They seem to
>> work
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Thanks,
> Paul

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pb - 09 Oct 2004 15:36 GMT

> This tire would be more of an investment
> when the OEM tires are at the end of their lifespan, which mine were.

Going All-Season would be my first inclination under those
circumstances. But the quandary is that my MXVs are still quite
good. Thanks for the input.

Paul

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Rob Guenther - 09 Oct 2004 17:54 GMT

We've got MXV4+ on our Volvo for the 3 seasons... with ancient (8 year old)
Gislaved Nordic Frost II snow tires for the winter... the Gislaveds are aged
and we don't trust them for safe highway travel anymore, depite plentiful
treaddepth. We will be using the MXV4+'s for this winter... we're in
Southern Ontario, so we get some decent snowfall, they're not too bad in
snow, just go a bit slower, and watch out... keep the traction control on.

>> This tire would be more of an investment
>> when the OEM tires are at the end of their lifespan, which mine were.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Paul

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Steve Bernth - 08 Oct 2004 16:41 GMT

I put Blizzak's on my 2000 S40 and I am very glad I did. I live in NW
Indiana so our winters aren't too bad, but we tend to get some pretty heavy
lake effect snow. The car handles much better in snow compared to all
season tires. The big plus for me is that you can now get the full life out
of your tires. The first winter I had the car, I had to replace the MXV's
even though they had about 25% tread left because I couldn't get up the hill
in my subdivision with 6" of snow on the ground. I basically wasted 1/4 of
the tire. What I did was put the snows on the 15" Volvo rims and got a nice
set of aftermarket 16" rims and tires for summer.

> I've got an '01 S60 2.4. I'm in NY and this will be my first
> Winter with the car. I've got Michelin MXV4s on it now, and am
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Thanks.
> paul

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pb - 09 Oct 2004 15:32 GMT

> I put Blizzak's on my 2000 S40 and I am very glad I did. I live in NW
> Indiana so our winters aren't too bad, but we tend to get some pretty heavy
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> the tire. What I did was put the snows on the 15" Volvo rims and got a nice
> set of aftermarket 16" rims and tires for summer.

Good way to go. Unfortunately my MXVs are in good shape, and I'm
not sure how long I'm going to keep the car. But if the first
snow convinces me I need snows, I'll keep this strategy in mind.

Paul

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