Now, as for weight:

Curb weight of 1995 850 GLT wagon: 1516 kg
Curb weight of 2004 V70 2.5T AWD: 1653 kg

Not that big a difference--presumably this is further encouragement that the 850 wheels will work well on the V70?

Hmm, i just looked up tire sizes at http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/assignTireVehicle.do?yr=2004&mk=VOLVO&vid=008335

for the V70 non turbo non AWD, and it lists 195/65R15 that's pretty close to the 195/60r15 winters I have. I'm feeling better about this. Not surprisingly, the Volvo dealer's official stance on this is that the 195's are "too small". I think I'll chance it.

From the 2004 owner's manual:
Volvo recommends the use of winter tires with the following dimensions:
Non-turbo models: 195/65 R15
Turbo models (not XC70 or V70R): 205/55 R16
XC70: 215/65 R16
V70R: 225/45/R17


Klaus
--
Please answer, we need to know if the advice is good or bad. The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are 2 turbos :)

The bolt pattern on the 850's is the same as the V70's it's 5-108. I have a 2002 V70 2.4T and I ran a set of winter tires from a 940 they bolted right on and were fine. Most of the newer Volvo’s have the same bolt pattern. If you want to check it you can go to Discount tires web site and compare a wheel package for a 850 and one for the V70. You notice that the bolt patterns are the same.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do?vid=006631&yr=2002&mk=VOLVO

They only thing that you'll notice is that your speedometer will be running faster than you’re moving and your ground clearance will be lower. Which could be a problem if the snow is deep.

Ketchb

Just tried the tire calculator at
http://miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

and is says the difference in resulting circumference would only be 4.4%

When speedo read 60mph i would really be travelling 57.4mph

Now I need to figure out whether the wheel bolts are the same on the 850 and v70

Hi,
AS far as I can tell, probably not. My wife recently bought an 04 XC70 & in reading the manual it specifies the tire specs for the AWD & it is not the 195-15`s.
This is unfortunate since she had bought brand new Hakka`s last winter for her 95 850 wagon.
Looks like we are in the same boat!
Rich