Hi,

This is my 1st post here, & I'm new to dealing w/Volvos, so please pardon if my question is redundant, etc. It's a long-winded couple of questions, but I want to be as accurate as possible in describing what's happending with the car.


My partner's car is an '04 V70 2.5T. It came equipped from the dealership with 17" alloys and 235/45/17 Pirelli P6's. Since we bought the car in August 2004, we have noticed that on full or near-full lock, there is a rubbing noise from the front end. I thought it might be the tires rubbing on something, but kept forgetting about it because I hardly ever drive her car. Also, I sort of assumed (always dangerous . . . .) that Volvo would not fit impproperly sized tires to one of its cars.

Saturday Kim left to run an errand, then came back in about 5 miniutes and said she had a blowout. The RF tire had 2 holes in the outer sidewall. She'd not hit anything.

When I pulled the tire/wheel to put on the spare, I noticed that there is a wear mark on the innner fender (right through to bare metal) that's about 5-6 inches long and 3 or so inches wide, right about where the inner edge of the tire could rub if the wheels were turned to the left. I checked the LH side - same wear mark in exactly the same place. Both LF & RF tires have a lot of wear to the sidewalls on the insides.

Also, the tread on the RF tire was heavily worn compared to the other 3 tires. The wear bars are showing (should have spotted that sooner . . . .).

We have mentioned the rubbing noise to the Volvo dealer where the car is serviced (it's not the dealer from whom we bought the car), but they have ignored it.

The label in the gas flap says the car should have 205/55/16 wheels, which according to the owners' manual appear to be steel wheels. No mention on the label of optional 17" wheels. I forgot to check the manual before dropping the car off at the dealer earlier Sunday night.

Here are my Volvo-newbie questions:

1.) Is this rubbing problem common?

2.) Has Volvo perhaps fitted tires that are too wide for the car?

3.) Should there be a spacer on the front wheels to rectify the problem?

4.) Are the Pirelli P6's disfunctional tires?

5.) Is there another 17" tire size anyone can recommened that is a little narrower?

6.) In the alternative, should I get the car fitted with 16" wheels? (neither Kim nor I care about having the alloys).


This is my first experience w/low-profile tires. I'm not impressed with them so far. We've had a lot of loss of pressure and premature wear issues, and have had one tire replaced about a year ago becuse it gave out.

Thanks in advance for any assistance/enlightenment! Sorry for all the questions. I've heard great things about this board. i'm glad there's such a suportive community out there.

Cheers,

Jim