Login Register

96 850 Turbo Wagon: what other tires can I mount on my 16" alloy rims?

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

Post Reply
insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: 96 850 Turbo Wagon: what other tires can I mount on my 16" alloy rims?

Post by insession »

Thanks Blackbart for the tirerack reminder. I have a $150 credit at discounttirezone.com, so am likely going to use them

insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by insession »

Thanks 850oldschool ;-) Yeah, I've had Nokians twice before, and have found nothing beats them if there's water, snow, or ice. In fact although I live in sunny San Diego, I'm looking at their WR G4 - originally an SUV tire but Nokian makes them for sedans as well. Interesting to hear you're the first one who reports modest chafing with the 55's...

User avatar
erikv11
Posts: 11800
Joined: 25 July 2009
Year and Model: 850, V70, S60R, XC70
Location: Iowa
Has thanked: 292 times
Been thanked: 765 times

Post by erikv11 »

I've got 205/55/16's on my 95 850 and no chafing.
'95 854 T-5R, Motronic 4.4, 185k
'98 V70, T5 tune-injectors-turbo, LPT engine, 304k, daily driver
'06 S60 R, 197k
'07 XC70, black, 205k
'07 XC70, willow green, 212k
'99 Camry V6 :shock: 153k
gone: '96 NA 850 210k, '98 NA V70 182k, '98 S70 NA 225k, '96 855 NA 169k

850oldschool
Posts: 392
Joined: 19 October 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850 NA
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Been thanked: 45 times

Post by 850oldschool »

I had aftermarket control arms on, so the steering stops might have been a little different from OEM. The extra fuel economy was welcome, and I made a chart for the speedo correction factors. It all worked out pretty well, but the steering felt a bit more direct when I went back to the 50 series.

insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by insession »

Thanks 850oldschool - my mileage strangely actually dropped by a fair bit last I replaced rotor, cap, plugs, and wiring harness. - I had expected the opposite. Surprised .5 up in wheel height affects the economy that much!

scot850
Posts: 14870
Joined: 5 April 2010
Year and Model: 2000 V70 R
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Has thanked: 1836 times
Been thanked: 1709 times

Post by scot850 »

Shouldn't affect mileage much if at all. If mileage changed after changing the ignition parts then something during the fitting of the parts or the type/brand of parts used is out of whack.

Neil.
2006 V70 2.5T AWD Polestar tune
2000 V70 R - still being an endless PITA
2006 XC70 - Our son now has this and still parked in our garage
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 Limited
2015 Kia Sportage EX-L - Sold
1993 850 GLT -Sold
1998 V70 XC - Sold
1997 Volvo 850 SE NA - Went to niece in California - Sold
2000 V70 SE NA - Sold

User avatar
misha
Posts: 5379
Joined: 7 December 2008
Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
Location: Serbia
Has thanked: 152 times
Been thanked: 402 times

Post by misha »

insession wrote: 15 Dec 2021, 19:35 ...Interesting to hear you're the first one who reports modest chafing with the 55's...
There will be some minor chafing on full lock on the inner protective plastic inside the fender IF steering stops(plastic plates) on control arms are worn.

Or....if the wheels have the wrong ET.
43 is factory offset for p80.
Anything over 43....49 for example(like wheels from s80) will lightly rub on the front but ONLY on full lock.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by insession »

Thanks scot850 - yes, I thought so too. Used a high-quality aftermarket kit from fcpeuro, and am thinking that those components can't really be 'wrongly' installed, they either work or don't, and was dismayed that I lost about 2mpg in economy ;-)

insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by insession »

Would any of you very knowledgeable fellows know how to help me ID my type? 2.3T or 2.3T-5R? Seems to make a diff when looking at tire options here: https://www.wheel-size.com/size/volvo/850/1996/

User avatar
misha
Posts: 5379
Joined: 7 December 2008
Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
Location: Serbia
Has thanked: 152 times
Been thanked: 402 times

Post by misha »

insession wrote: 17 Dec 2021, 18:04 Thanks scot850 - yes, I thought so too. Used a high-quality aftermarket kit from fcpeuro, and am thinking that those components can't really be 'wrongly' installed, they either work or don't, and was dismayed that I lost about 2mpg in economy ;-)
Spark plug gap is critical on turbo engines...it must have proper gap.
Unless you used OE Volvo spark plugs for turbo engine,you need to re-set the gap on new spark plugs since all aftermarket have larger gap.
Cap & rotor must be Bosch,spark plug wires...ONLY Bougicord.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post