I am the original owner of a 98 XC with 82K mi and regrettedly have had an endless list of issues (over $10K of parts with warranty work and about $4K per year since). The latest was a cracked engine mount... The car drives and feels wonderful, that's why I bought it, but I never imagined that VOLVO (preFord) could engineer such a mechanical nightmare. I've had good ones like a '69 145 for 350+K miles and lemons like a '75 164 and '96 855. Overall we like the car but I'm decidedly less attached than the wife.

The issue I am raising here is not surprisingly, tire wear.

We are about to buy the Fourth set! after the Continental Touring originals (30K), Michelin MXV4's (30K stiff ride) and Continental Extreme Contacts (best ride worst wear). I accept that a design defect results in this car gobbling tread...... But want to know what tire brands and models other users are preferring for performance, ride, reliability and wear.

I am always surprised when I read about such rapid tire wear. I tend to drive my 98 XC aggressively, but with 129,000 miles on the car, I still have half the tread left on my second set of summer tires.
My tire history is as follows;
Conti originals replaced at 82,000 miles with Bridgestone RE 950's, which as I said, still have half their tread left. For each of the last 5 winters, the car wears a set of Michelin Arctic Alpins, which put on about 10,000 miles each season. I would guess they still have another winter or maybe even 2 left on them. I love the handling of the Bridgestones, but they are slippery in the snow. I thought the Contis were OK in the snow, but I still feel more secure with true winter tires.
So I seem to be averaging 60,000 to 80,000 per set of tires. I always keep them well inflated (35 psi front, 40 psi rear). With the ipd sway bars and Bilstein shocks, I love to push the handling limits of this car, so I definitely don't baby the tires. I have had two alignments done to be sure things wear well, and when I switch from summer to winter tires (and vice-versa)I always rotate the tires. The outer edge of the front tires wears the fastest.
Gordon
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86 240 DL 120K; 98 V70 XC 125K(Bilsteins, ipd strut tower brace & sway bars, Wetterauer chip)

My '98 XC70 has Michelin (sp?) Pilots. Their price point ($99 ea.)all weather. The tread life is about 30k but I have been really happy with their wear and grip. Rotation at every oil change and regular air pressure is the key. When they were new, they hooked up well in ten inches of snow on Christmas eve. As they were they obviously aren't the best in snow. I would get another set and a set of steel rims w/ Bridgestone Blizzaks for the winter. I have had a buch of problems with ours and we are considering getting rid of it. It's a shame b/c I like it but we have spent a grand in parts/labor in the year and half that we have owned it. Too bad it isn't as reliable as my Subie Outback wagon...