Hey fellow Volvo owners,

I have been looking at all the different snow tires I can get for my '81 244 (I'm going to get 4 new winter tires and put them on dedicated rims) and I've decided on the tires I want to get based on their characteristics, my driving habits, the typical winter climate and driving conditions where I live, etc., etc. Now that I got that far, I'm in a bit of a quandry over what tire size to choose given that the tire I've selected only comes in 3 sizes which would fit a 240 with 15" rims.

205/60/15, 195/65/15 and 175/65/15.

I don't want the 205s because I don't want to go to a fatter tire for winter tires. If anything I'd like to go taller and skinnier than the stock 195/60/15s but my choices are taller & same width or skinnier and almost the same diameter (just 0.2" less than stock). I wish they made 185/65/15s but they don't so my choice is between 175/65/15 or 195/65/15.

I will probably use Virgo rims (6" wide) since I have a few spares kicking around and would like to use them. The 175/65/15 is approved for 5" - 6" rims so could safely be used on the Virgos. 175/65s would have 7.4" section width on the Virgos whereas the O.E. 195/60 has a section width of 7.7" on the Virgos so curb protection is slightly reduced with the 175/65s vs the OE tire size, but not much. Tread width is, of course, 20 mm (0.8 inch) narrower on the 175s.

Winter driving conditions can be quite variable where I live (Calgary, AB, Canada) so can be dealing with deep snow or slush sometimes, icy and compact snow other times but probably have more bare and dry or bare & wet or slippery wet w/light snow than anything else. The 175 would probably kick ass in deeper snow and slush, the 195 would be better on dry and probably on bare & wet but I'm not sure which would actually do better on compact snow and icey conditions or wet slippery w/ light snow type conditions. I tend to be a "spirited" driver and my car has stiff sporty suspension so I like to take corners fairly hard when conditions permit but adjust my driving style according to the conditions. I'm 43 so don't drive like a crazy teenager anymore and have over 20 years of experience at driving 240s in winter conditions.

** I should also mention that I'm putting in a Detroit TrueTrac posi within the next few weeks. **

Biggest difference between the 175/65s and the 195/65s are load and speed ratings. The 175s are rated 84T (1102 lbs/tire) and the 195s are rated 91H (1356 lbs/tire). In contrast, the stock 195/60/15 would be rated at about 87 which is about 1190 lbs/tire. I'm not sure how significant the load or speed rating differences would be given that I seldom, if ever have more than 2 small-med sized adults in the car and maybe a 60 lb dog and I seldom have the car loaded down heavy. Speed rating diffs are not that important to me as these are winter tires so T is plenty fast enough and H is definately overkill. Price difference between the two tire sizes is not an issue. Just want to get the best tire for the car and conditions. I realize there are bound to be tradeoffs either way.

I know the 195/65/15 is commonly used on the 240 for winter tires and would probably be the safe choice but I can't help but wonder if the 175/65/15 might turn out to be an even better winter/snow tire. I'm very curious to know if anyone out there has run 175/65s winter tires on a 240 and what they thought of them. What were the pros & cons ?

Do any of you think the 175/65s would be a bad choice or a much worse choise than the 195/65s ? If so, why ?

Thanks,

Roj