Tire choice for '97 850

For safety's sake, I think you can't afford NOT to have the best tires that the car needs (i.e. the correct speed rating).

I think that BF Goodrich make excellent tires. I have Michelin MX1s on my Volvo right now, and I think they are well... crap (especially in snow, I use winter tires, but, I had these out once.. and I couldn't move!). You can't go wrong with any of the choices you've listed, but one of my favorite brands is the BFG

Cheers

"M.R.S." wrote

------snip and here is my reply-------------- : I have put on Canadian Tire 130,000km warranty tires (made by Michelin) on my wife's 850 here in Canada. These tires are rated for the car - they meet the "specs" for tires in the Volvo 850 owner's manual. They will be 2 years old this May. We have experienced no problems whatsoever with these tires. They have about 50,000 km on them right now.

The tires mentioned by the OP should be OK for the 850 Volvo - but only IF they are rated for the car. I don't know if they are (or not). I wonder why anyone would use tires NOT rated for the car (by Volvo). After all, if the car manufacturer engineers don't know squat about the tires for their vehicle, how can a tire company know ANYTHING about that car's needs for tires?

Ken Canada

The manufacturer's rating is HR or VR for the 15-inch wheel, which I have. Both these tires are HR - the reviews on the BF Goodrich seem better on Tirerack.com - from Audi, BMW and Volvo owners.

AC

Perhaps. Although we seem to spend a good bit of time here quibbling about the manufacturer engineers' wisdom in regard to other things, such as changing transmission fluid, etc.

cheers,

Henry