Winter tyres, alloys and snow chains

[Boo22]

Hi,

I have a T5 and have been looking at options for driving to Europe for skiing in it (having driven over in now ex-partners car previously)
My first thought was to do the same as friends- have a set of winter tyres alloys and swap between winter/summer.
BUT... my local dealer quoted in the region Of £3.5-4K for a set of alloys and winter tyres and also advised that the snow chains supplied by Volvo are only for 17 or 18” tyres (my current ones are 20” )

Time spent googling has not helped me narrow down what to do- konig/Thule K2 summit snow chains seem to go to a higher size than Volvo, but I’m now a bit overwhelmed by choice and what to do.

Anyone who has put winter tyres/alloys on or has experience of snow chains- I would really welcome advice please?

[gt40]

I'm going skiing beginning of March and have already put Michelin Crossclimates on. I'll get some snowsocks to stick in the boot to stay the right side of legal 'cause we're going to France.

I'm comfortable with that choice.

[Db55]

I’ve bought vredstein extreme snow tyres for my T5 on 20’s last year , unfortunately we didn’t have any snow worth mentioning ( north east England). I’ll be more than happy to let you know when I finally get a chance to try them out!. Sorry can’t be more of a help.
I do however have experience of a front wheel drive polo with snow tyres and that car went through quite a lot of snow a few years ago, so hopefully I expect an AWD will perform great!

[xbimmer]

I always used to put winter tyres on separate alloys on my old X3s but have decided this year on the XC40 to go for Michelin cross climates and keep them on all year. The cost is about 1/3 that of winter tyres plus wheels and no hassle with swapping over in March and November. Mind you I've only done 6000 miles so the Primacy 4s originally fitted are still in good condition which is a shame. Delayed as long as possible but February trip to Scotland looms so thought better go for it now.

[DarrenF]

I always used to put winter tyres on separate alloys on my old X3s but have decided this year on the XC40 to go for Michelin cross climates and keep them on all year. The cost is about 1/3 that of winter tyres plus wheels and no hassle with swapping over in March and November. Mind you I've only done 6000 miles so the Primacy 4s originally fitted are still in good condition which is a shame. Delayed as long as possible but February trip to Scotland looms so thought better go for it now.

I was looking at the Michelin Cross Climates - how much are they costing you as the prices seem to vary a bit?

[ak888]

Not got my XC40 yet, hopefully March 1st. We did have a previous model XC60 AWD that has been to the Alps. These had 235/60 R18 tyres. We had Vredestein Quatrac 3 at the time and used them all year round and lasted quite a while, think around 20000 miles. Was fine in a little snow and felt confident. However, we did have snow chains as well and the manual said you needed one sided chains. We bought some Volvo ones which were rebranded RUD Centrax I think. Very easy to put on and did their job well for the brief part where we needed to put them on.

We had a Kia Soul FWD after the XC60 and unfortunately the RUD did not fit. However, I did find another Volvo RUD Centrax on ebay with the correct size and these again were good in the Alps on the Kia. Check the RUD website and see what sizes fit (maybe more than one as they do come with some fittings to shorten), I do see them pop up on ebay occasionally.

Curious to what Volvo recommends for the XC40, whether 'normal' chains or one sided ones like the RUD Centrax.

[Deleted User 1945]

Don't forget you can fit 17inch alloys to the car so you don't have to get 20inch winter wheels - the 18inch ones are much cheaper around £1400 for a set of 4, and you get the benefit of a larger side wall and improved comfort / off road ability.

[ChrisGR]

I had some winter driving with my XC40 FWD this weekend. My Thule/Konig K55 chains performed really well over snow and ice but today i ordered winter tyres

Goodyear Ultragrip SUV Gen 1

Has anyone tested these tyres yet ?

[gt40]

I was looking at the Michelin Cross Climates - how much are they costing you as the prices seem to vary a bit?

I got a set of four*, fitted, for about £475 from Blackcircles with a 20% Black Friday discount + I sold the Primacys on Gumtree for £100 so a decent deal. They'll probably make you a decent offer if you call them.


*235/55/18

[xbimmer]

Mine are costing just under £500 inc VAT and fitting from Blackcircles. Volvo quoted me over £2000 for winter wheels (fitted and stored) and even Mytyres.com was over £1400 for alloys similar to mine. Shall try to sell my Primacys - never thought of doing that!