[champigny78]

Hello all, I am in the process of ordering a 2020 XC40 Inscription with C Suspension and Polestar. I would like ideas of what is the best tire size for this vehicle. What is being offered is 18", 19" an 21". I have read every review possible, however, I have not found a review or information on the best tire size for this vehicle. Frustrated that this is not an area of review for new vehicles. Thank you in advance for your opinions.

 

[Watson58]

I think it is very subjective. Tyrereviews from England did a test a while back on a volkswagen with three different sizes tires (17, 18, and 19) and found the smallest to be best for handling. While the biggest one faired better in wet road handling (presumably because of the bigger surface area). You can see the video here

 

[hbatt-XC40 Owner]

Hello all, I am in the process of ordering a 2020 XC40 Inscription with C Suspension and Polestar. I would like ideas of what is the best tire size for this vehicle. What is being offered is 18", 19" an 21". I have read every review possible, however, I have not found a review or information on the best tire size for this vehicle. Frustrated that this is not an area of review for new vehicles. Thank you in advance for your opinions.

I have 21 inch tires on my XC40 only because that is how the vehicle came. There is a review that mentioned the larger tires don't handle as well as smaller tires, but I wouldn't know. What I do know is that I had to replace one due to a puncture and the availability was very limited, and very costly. On the positive side, the vehicle rides high and is not subject to bottoming out like my previous Volvo was.

 

[Jezza]

I have 20” wheels on my R Design and, combined with the relatively short wheelbase and high center of gravity of the XC40, I think they make the ride quality too harsh for Midwest roads.

Remember that the wheel size does not change the outer dimension of the tire much.. the diameter of the wheel and tire combined stays more or less the same. The larger the wheel, though, the thinner the tire. So there’s less rubber between you and the road; hence the bumpier ride for larger diameter wheels.

Larger wheels are also heavier, so tests have shown that cars with larger wheels are a little slower. As the earlier poster mentioned, there’s sort of a “sweet spot” of performance.

In addition to the wheel diameter, an important factor is the width of the tread footprint. The wider the tires, the less traction you’re going to have on anything but dry pavement. While not always true, larger diameter wheels are also usually also wider.

Tire brand and quality are arguably often more important factors than wheel dimensions when it comes to performance.

So in my opinion, larger diameter wheels are usually a matter of form over function. People buy them because they like how they look, not because they’ll really perform better.