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tires selection ::: advice for off-road driving?

1.3K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  budrichard  
#1 ·
I live in Oregon and spend quite a bit of time driving on unpaved, gravel, and rocky roads even though I have a standard V70 and not the XC. I want to be able to feel more confident driving in these conditions, because I'm often far from civilization. Would love to find a tire that has a slightly more aggressive tread and beefier sidewall.

From what I can tell, it's all about load rating?
"Passenger" tires all have the same load rating, unless you can find one with an "XL" suffix, indicating "extra load." So far, I've had no luck doing so. Does this mean I should actually be looking for a Light Truck tire?

Note: I want to keep stock Volvo wheels. Right now I've got 15s, though I guess I could buy a used set of 16" from a 2001 model?

The closest I've come so far is the Pirelli Scorpion ATR tire in size 205/65R15 94H.

Would really appreciate your thoughts...
 
#2 ·
If you want a 'beefier' sidewall, don't go with a 16" wheel. Stay with the 15s. If you want a more aggressive pattern, call me crazy, but look for a winter/snow tire. Blizzak or something similar. Lots of tread, lots of grip on loose surfaces. Downside is they are a little louder on the road then a quality street tire.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Any pure Winter tire such as the Blizzack or even the Nokian WR+ will wear substantially no matter what surface you drive on. I've had Blizzack's Gislaved's and Nokian's and the wear is substantial.
The Scorpian ATR would be an excellent tire and I've even been seriously thinking about putting them on my 2003 XC70 for summer/fall use off road but the sizes don't match up.
Be cautious in that your V70 is even lower than my 1999 XC70 which was not low enough for any off roading even with front real OEM skid plate. The plate kept making drag marks on rutted single lane tracks we encounter. The ground clearance of the 2nd and third gen are much better for off road but again I have OEM skid plates on all XC70's-Dick