Posted by steel on April 17, 1999 at 20:22:57:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: !995 Volvo 850 Turbowgn. class action tire/wheel lawsuit posted by Bob on April 17, 1999 at 18:20:30:
Bob,
No, I haven't had to drive with them in snow yet...but if I had to guess how they would do...well, they are M+S rated, but take that for what it's worth. I think they'd do okay, because they have more sipes than most Z-rated tires have (sipes help with traction in snow...they are the small patterned cuts in the tread of the tire)...however, they do not have a very blockish tread pattern (another characteristic of better snow tires...NT-450s have more of a V tread pattern) So I would say that they are probably decent in the snow, but not the best, based on those pieces of info. As to the 55-versus-50 idea, I'm sure having a 55 series would soften the ride a little bit. It would also probably lose you a bit of handling performance. If the car came with 50 series, I would probably stick with that profile. I have 50 series on my car, and while I have the benefit of an electronically adjustable shock set-up, they ride pretty well. And with the weight of your wagon, your ride might even be a bit softer than mine. What it really comes down to is your personal preference...if the car came with 50 series and you decide to go up to 55 series, call a tire dealer...they might tell you to change the width (ie 205)of the tire so that your speedometer will not be off quite so much...if you change your series, your speedo would be off a couple miles an hour(in your case, something like 55 on your speedo would equal you actually going 57-58mph), so they'd tell you what size helps compensate the best to the new profile(series) tire.
Hope this helps!