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I failed to mention an important component of how I compromise the harsh ride of my S70. When I traded my '98 for the '00, I had the wheels and tires transferred from the '98 to the '00 in an even exchange. The '00 wheels were 16 inch and the wheels for the '98 were 15 inch. I had just bought new tires for the '98 and instead of using the original specs of an H or V speed-rated tire, I chose a T which is rated at 118 mph. The H and V have an extra belt underlying the steel belts in the tread and give the tire less distortion at higher speeds. The S and T series have no such belt but allow the tread area to absorb road irregularities better than H or V.
Also on these new tires, I chose a load rating of 89 rather than the much higher OE rating. I don't remember exactly, but the 89 indicates that the tire is capable of a load of about 1400 lbs. Four of them on a car weighing about 3400 lbs is more than adequate. 89 are also lighter in their sidewall and general carcass stiffness than higher rated tires and this means they allow a greater amount of flex.
Finally, in staying with the 15 inch wheels and tires, I had a size of 195x65x15 ratner than a 205x55x16. Insofar as the diameter of the mounted tire, it is essentially the same (24.9" to 25.0"). But the important number there is the middle one which is the ratio of tire height to tire width. A greater height means a longer sidewall which translates to more flex on bumps and more flex means that the tire is absorbing more of the bump rather than transmitting it to the chassis, as would a tire of a lesser ratio.
Now, of course, all the foregoing means a tire which leans a little more on turns and hard maneuvering but that's no problem to me. I'm not a performance driver, just an everyday guy who likes driving a Volvo. In fact, I know several Volvo drivers here and none of them are 'performance' drivers but they continue to buy tires according to the OE specs as though they were.
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