Well, I went ahead and purchased the MXV4 Plus tires from Costco to replace my Pilots. I have now driven about 10 days on them and am very, very pleased. Road noise is almost non existent, the car handles fine and tracks true. A lot of the S80 creaks groans and squeaks are gone as well. I think the MXV4 pluses absorb more of the shock than the pilots did. My wife, who doesn't get real excited about auto trivia, was blown away about the quality of improvement in the ride with the MXV4's vs the Pilots.

In short, I think these are the tires the S80 should have put on as OE and avioded a lot of the gripes about noisy ride and suspension noises.

Well, I went to the Michelin web site and they did not recommend the MXV4 for the T-6, only the 2.9.

Not having a T-6 my searches showed the MXV4 as a viable option. My V4's are are also H rated and I think minimum V rated tires are called for in the case of a T-6. I also did my search looking for Grand Touring all season and not just performance when I was surfing Michelin, Discount Tire and the Tire Rack. The difference in the ride may be due to a softer or more flexible sidewall in the V4's than in the Pilots and thus the recommendation for them in a more performance oriented model of the car. In that I have only taken my S80 over 100 once and then on a long straight and narrow section of interstate, I feel comfortable with H rating, which is what my OEM pilots were anyway. Were I driving hard and twisting and turning a lot at speed I'd have probably stuck with the Pilots.

As to the question about tire pressure on the XV4's I am running 29 cold per Michelin, all the way around. I think I ran my Pilots at 32 as I recall.

Our 2000 S80 T6 came with MXM4 Pilots H rated (sustained speeds up to 130 mph). Although some Volvo drivers may want V speed rated (or even Z) tires, I'm not of the opinion they're needed.

Noting you used 32 psi in the original Pilots and now use 28 in the V4s, the 4 psi difference is enough to make the V4's produce a softer ride - assuming both types have similar construction and sidewall bulge for a given pressure and weight on them. Our S80 ran a bit rough with 33 psi all around in the MXM4s and also had insufficient wear at rear tire tread edges and a bit much at the center. Plus the contact patch wasn't all the way out to the mid-radius point where tread meets sidewall; the place our tire dealer says it's supposed to be for best safety and comfort. I now keep 33 psi in the front and 27 psi in the rear tires (rears go to 30-31 psi when back is full of passengers and luggage). Much more comfortable and getting very even tread wear. I know, 6 psi difference between front and rear seems a lot, but when so set, the sidewall bulge is equal for all tires; there is more weight on the front tires than the rear ones.

. . . the air pressure in them. Are you running the same pressure as you did with the original MXM4s? Just curious. If the answer's yes, they I may well check into MXV4s when I need to replace my MXM4 tires.