If I want to upgrade tires on a 96 turbo, it's got the 16s

1. how wide are the rims?

2. what size tires to use?

now has 205/50s

how about 205/55s

215/50s

225/50s (already have some of these with about 75% thread)

Want something that won't rub. Will be doing 4 at a time so not worried about diff dia front to rear and abs probs.

Thanks

Joe

Joe,

The rim width should be clearly marked on the outside of the rim around the hub. If you have the same factory aluminum wheels I have on my '96 850 Turbo Wagon, you should see the following indication: 6.5Jx16 The 6.5 refers to a 6.5 inch rim width.

I recently went through the same issues on tire upgrade. A few things to consider:

* if you are going for any tire wider than 205 or short than 50 series, I think you will find that the tire manufacturers minimum wheel width will be wider than 6.5 inches. For example, I looked into a set of 215/46/16s but found they required at least 7 inches if memory serves me.

* load range. Although you won't find this in the Volvo literature (it isn't in your owner's manual or tire pressure info on your gas flap), you will want at least an 87 load range rated tire to safely cover the weight of your vehicle when fully loaded. By the way, the 87 rating was posted by a Volvo engineer awhile back on the Brickboard. Most (if not all) 205/50/16 and 205/55/16 tires will be 87 or higher. However, wider lower profile tires often have lower load ranges

* tire diameter.If you go up to 205/55/16 you'll have a few % higher diameter (a good web site to calculate and compare tire diameters for you is at http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi/). The taller tire will ride more comfortably if that's what your after, but you'll lose some acceleration capability and you may find the handling less sharp due to the taller tire sidewall

* tire width. I've seen a variety of postings on the brickboard that suggest (at least for 17" tires) not to go over 215 mm width or you'll have clearance problems. From a performance standpoint, going from 205 to 215 width tires isn't a huge advantage anyway, and the tire quality is often more important than minor increases in width.

In the end, I stuck with my stock rims and 205/50/16s. One problem is that the 205/50/16 is not the most popular size on the planet, so tire selection is a bit more limited than for other tire sizes. For a relatively low cost, but not super sticky tire, you might want to look into the Yokohama A 520s. They are a little noisy however. If cost is no object, from the reviews I've seen on TireRack the Michelin Pilot Sport is the best high performance tire you can buy in that size. That is the tire I recently bought (but haven't driven on yet as we are still covered in snow here in Canada).

Garth

You mentioned looking for a tire with load range of at least 87. We have a 99 V70R AWD which will need tires in the spring and I was wondering if you knew the load of the OEM tires (I was under the impression that they were 94 or something like that - the AWD is heavier and the recommended tire pressure is 36/41). Does max. inflation press have anything to do with load index? It doesn't appear to but it seems to be related.

We bought it used and the tires it came with were Pirelli P7000 205/55R16 89 but I'm not sure if those were the original tires or not. I was going to try to find something with at least 91 but is that overkill? Is it too low?

As far as putting wider tires, I really have no experience with this but I've read that it will introduce rubbing. That being said, depending on the tire brand and make (e.g. Pirelli P7000) you can put 225/50R16 on 6.5" wide rims - you can even find some (e.g. Dunlop SP Sport 9000) which will allow 245/50R16 on 6.5". If this is something you are interested in, you might want to look at getting spacers for the rims which will allow you to run wider tires without rubbing.

Mike

Michel,

I don't know the load range (sometimes refered to as load index) for your vehicle. The posting I saw was for regular 850s.

If you want to do some percentage comparisons however, for my car the load range is 87, which works out to 1201 lbs per tire or 2402 lbs per axle. To give you a sense for how this compares to Volvo's capacity ratings for my car (which should be on a sticker on the drivers door), mine has the following weight ratings:

GVWR 1970 kg (4340 lbs)

GAWR Front axle 1040 kg (2292 lbs)

GAWR Rear axle 1010 kg (2226 lbs)

The highest load rating is thus for the front axle, and you'll see that with the 87 load range Volvo has specified for the tires there is about a 5% reserve capacity (2402/2292).

For your info, to get the weight ratings for various load indexes, you should check out http://www.michelin.com/us/eng/tire/guide/load.html

Based on your car's weight ratings, you could dial in the same 5% reserve capacity and from the load index table see what a good starting point should be for you.

Garth

> heavier and the recommended tire pressure is 36/41). Does max.

> inflation press have anything to do with load index? It doesn't

> appear to but it seems to be related.

The load rating on the tire is the weight it is allowed to carry and it's pretty much irrespective of the tire pressure as long as it's not under-inflated. It's basically a measure of strength of the tire construction.

This can be seen very clearly on (truck)tires which can be had in (for instance) a 3-ply or 5-ply type. The tires look and feel identical (and have the same speed-rating), but the 5-ply will have a (much) higer load rating.

An interesting fact is that the actual/momentary tire load-rating does get lower if you drive really fast.

An example 'V' rated tire with a '90' load rating must not be loaded to it's maximum capacity when driving over 120mph, as at those speeds it's actual load-carrying capacity will drop to 87-85 or so.

I know this is not a problem in the US where these speeds are not common, but it is something to consider when driving in europe.

Bye, Arno.