We had two RWD Volvos up until this March when I acquired the third, a 94-940T. We have gone through a couple of sets of Blizzaks in the winter, they really do work well, although they don't last long at all, and are kind of squishy and weird on turns, the steering on turns definitely suffers.

Two years ago we outfitted the 97-960 with a set of Nokian Hakkas - NRW, which are touted as an all season snow tire for the North American market. They are expensive. They have a silica compound in the tread which coupled with tread design presumably acts on the snow/ice. They have been very serviceable and do not show inordinate wear like the Blizzaks. They are reasonably quiet too. They perform very well in snow (Chicago has everything from a coating to 10 inches) and they will remain on the car for this winter. They do not handle in deep snow as well as a "brand new" set of Blizzaks, but I was anticipating replacing the Blizzaks for the other two cars this year with Nokian NRW's because I though overall the Nokians were good.

However, I stumbled on a tire that impressed me. I put one set on the 94 a couple of months ago, and I have another set waiting to put on the 92-940. Both are 195-65-15's. They are "Green Diamond Icelanders." I got them from a Green Diamond Tire dealer in Oshkosh Wisconsin, "greendiamonddirect.com" Mike Bednorski. They are about half the price, including shipping, that Nokians would have cost me.

Green diamond tires get their name from the green carbide granules which are imbedded throughout the tread of the tire. These particular tires are manufactured in Sweden and must pass the rigorous European standards. Sweden has Greeen Diamond dealers all over the country. The original concept came from an Icelandic engineer and they are apparently manufactured in Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and the U.S. The concept of the carbide granules seems to be a similar concept to the Nokian silica NRW's, but the carbide ("green diamonds") would seem to be more pronounced on these tires compared to the silica in the Nokians. They are used as all season tires much like the Nokians and allegedly last 40-50 thousand miles. I like the handling of these tires better than the Nokians, and I just know they will perform better that the Nokians when the time comes.

Get this - Green Diamond advertises 40% better performance than Blizzaks!

The tread pattern seems to resemble the Continental brand snow tire pattern, and I believe that they share some technology. Incidentally Continental now owns Gislaved.

Try out the greendiamonddirect.com web site or just search for "green diamond tires" and you will get more information. I have high hopes for this tire,
stayed tuned.....