XC40 (PHEV) tyres - winter or all seasons

[katanel]

Hi guys,

As winter arrived, I need to decide between different options for my new XC40 PHEV. The car arrived at end of September.

Facts:
- I'm living in Belgium and there is only few days of snow each winter and usually is melting fast.
- more rainy weather almost all the months of the winter but it could be also some glacy roads especially on the morning

What are my options:
1. buy a full winter kit (new Volvo rims and Continental TS 850p tyres) which is in promotion here for about 1500 euro - due to dealer not able to order sooner this could be available around January next year only.

Questions here: the change will be easy to be done back and forth but..it's worthing the money? Will this be a good point/investment when selling the car let's say after 4 years? Hosting the full winter kit for an year is around 200 euro here.

2. Buy separate winter tyres and put it on existing rims and changed twice per year
Questions here: cheaper option as tyres alone are around 700-800 euro (Continental) and hosting is around 150 per year. The only problem is that rims could be easily scratched by people charging the tyres.

3. Buy all seasons tyres but not sure which model is better and put them once on actual rims
In theory best option given the weather here even if in the summer we had around 35C ( for few days only). I saw some good recommandations of models from Michelin or Continental but..will these be more noisy in the summer and consume more? From all the options this one is even cheaper I think.

Also we plan to do some travels around borders maybe to even Switzerland, after covid Crysis is over. Giving the climate change the snow is less in less but...

[Sadsong]

Save your money.

I've been driving since I passed my test in 1979.

Never had the need in many cars since then to change tyres.

I live in the far north of the UK not the milder south and have averaged about 20,000 miles per year in each of the 40 or so years I've driven.

That's nearly to the moon and back, twice . Although there isn't much snow going that way.

[Salmonfisher]

katanel
Your weather sounds pretty much like south of UK and I wouldn't bother here. I have never had a problem in our limited snow. The only usual problem is other cars having skidded and blocked road!
It would be a different answer if you live where there is hard packed and frozen snow for 2 or 3 months like Scandinavia or parts of Switzerland.

[eugen61]

From ROI point of view, it depends on how often you’ll drive in countries with mandatory winter tire rules. For a winter trip to Switzerland you can always rent a car there. In Belgium you’re not obliged by law to have M+S / 3PMSF marked tires in winter conditions, so it might be cheaper to call a cab on those rare days when roads are covered by snow or ice. Otherwise, go with option 3, buy all season tires and put them on your actual rims. Michelin CrossClimate could be a good option, but only for winter months.

ADAC tested 235/55 R 17 SUV tires (summer, winter, all-season) in all conditions showing a significant weakness for all-season tires in dry warm breaking (picture below: tires listed by brand are all-season tires). I drive in countries where tires marked 3PMSF are mandatory in winter conditions and use CrossClimate from late November till early March, for the rest of the year I’m back on summer tires (Michelin Primacy 4). For me, the 6.5 m difference in breaking from 100 km/h to full stop between the two in dry warm, meaning when Primacy 4 comes to a halt CrossClimate is still at 32 km/h represents an unacceptable compromise for using CrossClimate at temperatures above 10C all year round.

Here’s another test drawing a similar conclusion (small car tire size tested here):
https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/S ... 0c-15c.htm

[gt40]

What's does the law demand where you live and where you might go? That's half your answer right there.

I put Michelin Crossclimates on mine as, in happier times, I travel to Scotland and the Alps fairly frequently - they have the little mountain peaks symbol on them so are legal in all alpine areas and certainly work well anywhere I've taken them. For those cold wet days that are more normal in most people's lives you'll definitely feel the difference - my car was an understeery mess with the standard Michelin Primacy tyres before I swapped.

I'd also ignore anyone that says "in 80 years of driving in 2m snow drifts for 10 months of the year I've never lost the tiniest bit of grip on my cross-ply tyres" - they're wrong.

If you want ideal, buy a Fiat Panda 4x4 with 155 section winter tyres - otherwise get a set of decent all seasons for your Volvo and forget about them. They'll do the job nicely.

[katanel]

Well..thank you guys.

Here in Belgium the law doesn't require winter tyres. But around, like Germany or France I think yes...

Far as I see most of you recommends all season tyres even for winter only but this usage...kind of contradict the concept.

I do have another car (my girlfriend has it) - a Ford Fiesta second hand car and we put on it Nokian all season tyres - not worth another big investment.

Now, the Volvo is also bought on company so Option 1 will not hurt much the personal wallet but a friend told me also that second pair of rims will not make the car more attractive when sell it later...or will be?



@gt40 - do you keep the same rims while changing tyres no?

[eugen61]

Far as I see most of you recommends all season tyres even for winter only but this usage...kind of contradict the concept.

With the emergence of new tire technologies and warmer winters in Europe, the old concept of winter (snow) + summer tires has changed somewhat. All-season tires are becoming popular as the all year round choice, being so much easier and cheaper to put on Michelin CrossClimate and have no worries for the next 60.000 km. Unfortunately, the weakness of all-season tires in dry warm weather is increasing with car weight and tire size, so what might seam acceptable on a 1200 kg car with 16” tires (Golf), becomes dangerous on a 1700 kg SUV with 18” tires (XC40). Read the objective testing data (see my previous post) and make a decision based on the level of compromise you’re ready to live with.

[blastpipe]

Far as I see most of you recommends all season tyres even for winter only but this usage...kind of contradict the concept.

With the emergence of new tire technologies and warmer winters in Europe, the old concept of winter (snow) + summer tires has changed somewhat. All-season tires are becoming popular as the all year round choice, being so much easier and cheaper to put on Michelin CrossClimate and have no worries for the next 60.000 km. Unfortunately, the weakness of all-season tires in dry warm weather is increasing with car weight and tire size, so what might seam acceptable on a 1200 kg car with 16” tires (Golf), becomes dangerous on a 1700 kg SUV with 18” tires (XC40). Read the objective testing data (see my previous post) and make a decision based on the level of compromise you’re ready to live with.

Well said

Any year round tyre is going to be a compromise in a country with different season. The other extreme would be it's raining so I'll put the tyres on today that are best in the wet at these temperatures...tomorrow is sunny so I'll put different ones on etc etc etc

As suggested look at the independent reviews in the link and work out what fits best with conditions of where you live or drive to. The distances you drive each year...the more you drive the higher the risk and the more tyres you will wear through anyway.

I've run quite happily on the standard OEM tyres for two years but have now chosen to put all season tyres (Bridgestone see my other post) for the colder months. I would have needed a new set anyway next year (covid permitting) so I've swapped them and will put the OEM ones back on for the summer. The only extra cost is having the tyres changed twice a year as I would have bought another set anyway.

This whole thing is a personal choice, there is no right or wrong, do your research and choose what is best for you in your circumstances.

[goi]

Unfortunately here at Germany we are obliged by law to use winter tires. The law is not specific about it: It just says you are obliged to use the right tires for the occasion. If you fail doing so, they are allowed to stop the usage of the car and you loose the coverage of your insurance.

Therefor: Starting from October everyone is driving here with winter tires.

[gt40]

@gt40 - do you keep the same rims while changing tyres no?

Yes, same rims. I sold the original tyres and that's it for me. When the Crossclimates wear down I'll replace them with the same or similar. I worked out a while ago that for a certain type of car, given normal usage, and for my requirements, all season tyres are the best solution all year round. And I never stress about storage, winter wheels, twice yearly changes, different countries' legal requirements etc.

One thing to note; be careful with the origin of any reviews you read - North American all season tyres are not the same as European all season tyres. The latter are more winter biased.