Snow tires

[Brett Dikeman]

On Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 1:49 AM, Adam Gratz <adamgratz at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think you will find a 165 tire cuts a lot better in the snow (not to
> mention a heck of a lot cheaper)

A 165 tire? Are you nuts?

I ran 195 Hakka Q's on the stock rims, and they were pretty narrow
(and exciting, when new, on dry pavement.  When you were young, did
you ever stand on a stiff-bristle garage floor broom?  It was like
that.)  I would NOT recommend going narrower; the stock rims are very
wide for a 15", and the car is not exactly light compared to most cars
these days with 15" wheels.  I would at the very least double-check
load ratings.

If you need anything narrower than 195's, you probably should be
driving something with more ground clearance.  Or staying home....

The VR has snows on it now (thank god, the stock tires with quite a
few miles were on and the car might as well have had bald tires) and
they're the stock width.  They're some sort of Dunlops, with a season
or so on them- the PO included them with the sale.  Despite not having
the spiral sipe of the old Hakka Q's and being quite a bit wider, they
work nicely, though the VR has more stability control than a trapeze
artist.  Thankfully, it can be both partially and fully disabled with
a button push (or FIVE, as the case may be.  Volvo wants you to be
REALLY sure you want everything save the Haldex+ABS off.)

-B