THanks Albert,
I guess for the price I'm paying- which is nothing I wouldn't hurt to test them out. We won't have any snow to try them on for at least a month or so- so I'll get to test them on wet and dry road surface till then... There's nothing more fun than heading over to the big box store parking area after a snow and putting your tires through their paces.

I know that the recommended 185 with a smaller 60 aspect might just make a difference (focus the force of the weight of the car onto a smaller surface providing for more friction and more traction) in ice and snow or Volvo wouldn't press the recommendation the way they did. I wonder if it's standard operating procedure for an insurance company to check tire sizes in the event of an accident, if they look at manufacturers recommendations and check to see that the end user followed those recommendations. I worry that I may be increasing my liability as a result.

Best,
Nick in Vermont