Volvo XC70 D5 Tires

Driving in northern Norway, coastal climate, it has good handeling in mild slippery weather, excellent in proper winter driving

Been using this tire on two volvo XC70's over the last 10 years and have done probably 80k miles with them (3 sets). They are very sure footed in nearly all situations - the only thing they are not as good as cross climate2's (my XC60) is bump rebound mid bend (on pot holes)- the rear can skip slightly. Really good on gravel wet or dry - mud also good - snow: better than cross climate2 for braking and traction (UK has wet snow and slush) - tho not as good as a proper winter in these conditions.
Ive towed cars out of muddy fields with these tires - bit more difficult when worn down.
Good stability at motorway speeds - but they dont have the ultimate grip of the new all season tires - the design came out in 2009!! and hasn't been changed so pretty impressive .
As I use them on small roads with very rough edges and have to avoid tractors and lorries they are confidence inspiring that they won't damage easily.
Highway they are a bit noisy compared to the cross climate 2 and certainly not as fuel efficient. but for poor road surfaces and some light off roading they are really good with strong sidewalls. cannot get my size now so will have to either change wheels or goto another tire type.

I got the tires with the car, I drove on them for two winters. Due to the law, they saw 2cm of snow for two days. So I can't say how they are in the snow.
They are cracked on the side from age, since the DOT number says they are from 2017. The depth of the saree was about 6mm.

Vehicle - 2015 Volvo XC70 AWD D5 with a D5T5.com remap.
Average annual miles - 32 / 35k 70% of that is motorway, dual carriage way and fast A roads. When I do get onto B roads I do press on......yes you can hustle along 2 tonnes of wallowing volvo quite nicely.
These are my 3rd full set of Blacklions although now they have changed their name to Dynamo which to me sounds a bit naff!....but still the same great tire. Mine have a load rating index of 101 which is correct for the cars weight and how I load it, added advantage is it makes a stiffer tire also.

It came fitted with Pirelli tires when I bought the car, my long standing tire dealer offered me 30% discount to try the Blacklions as he'd just started to sell them and knew I'd give him straight talking feed-back.

Honest opinion, unless they cease manufacture, I'll not be changing the brand at all. They are excellent tires, their performance does not match their low price, it totally blows it out of the water. On my car they totally out-classed the previous Pirelli tires on all fronts.

I appreciate that the XC70 is AWD, however, I've really tried to get them to 'let go' and only succeeded in the wet and then the stability control took over.
They give great ride quality, not skittish over white lines, low road noise, long lasting - average of 35k for a set but I do change before the wear indicator so probably 38k ish.

I have driven on them over three European road trips including on the Autobahn and they didn't falter even during extended periods of high speed (110 +)

So in summary - don't be put-off by their name or the low price or a reference of a budget tire - They are far from it and are a very capable, safe and long lasting tire.


Another strange point is that they appear to need less weights when balancing???

Continental say they did put effort on making this a comfortable tire but i have to disagree.
Great grip, feedback etc but comfort is rubish, and i personally look out for comfort.
They are actually harder than pirelli scorpion verde which are know for being hard!
Cannot recomend.

Have used Scorpion tires for many years now and have found the all season tires excellent. Have never managed to break traction, even when giving full throttle on wet road surface. Driven in fresh snow and icy roads without any issues, passing many cars who miserably failed to get anywhere. Overall they might be a little noisy, but my current set of front tires lasted 60,000 miles and the rears are still going after 100,000 miles!

Ran these on my xc70 for 18k. They replaced some road biased Michelins. First positive was how quiet they were on the road, and secondly the grip both in the wet and dry always inspired confidence. They also had some mild off road use and they performed reasonably well. Both on and off road they provided a very comfortable ride. I found that they were quite sensitive in very wet conditions and i would take care to avoid aquaplaning. Despite their mud and snow rating I would only rate them average in snow, and they're not confidence inspiring on ice. They have worn very well, with roughly half of the useable tread left. Overall very quiet and great handling road tire with reasonable off road capability offering long life, but not so great in wintery conditions.

Ran these on my xc70 for 18k. They replaced some road biased Michelins. First positive was how quiet they were on the road, and secondly the grip both in the wet and dry always inspired confidence. They also had some mild off road use and they performed reasonably well. Both on and off road they provided a very comfortable ride. I found that they were quite sensitive in very wet conditions and i would take care to avoid aquaplaning. Despite their mud and snow rating I would only rate them average in snow, and they're not confidence inspiring on ice. They have worn very well, with roughly half of the useable tread left. Overall very quiet and great handling road tire with reasonable off road capability offering long life, but not so great in wintery conditions.

These tires feel great to drive, very responsive for what they are and have plenty of comfort, even though they have a hard sidewall. Offroading is also grear, overall really worth the money.

I have used 215/65 R16 on XC70 for 10 years, winter only on separate alloys. Balanced feedback from the road, no understeer (as had with Pirellis). Very good on snow, wet and dry, okay on ice. Good contol at speed and stable on mixed surfaces. Comfortable ride, slight noise on some surfaces. Will be replacing them with the same again.

As a professional driver and ex Motor Technician these tires are the worst I can remember ever having fitted. The car has spent more time off the ground checking and double checking the wheel bearings because of the excessive road noise. This latest version of this tire seems to have an unforgiving hard compound, sounding more like an out and out off road tire. Will not revisit this tire in the future, and for once I'm hoping they wear out quickly.

I do not know about dry grip as much but i would say as good as any all season or studless tire could be, i am basing this of course on sub zero temperatures on a cold dry road, and the wet grip is excellent aswell as the grip on ice and snow as i have tested it in 9,8 inces of untracked snow it does the job well, as for the wear they are still good after a year of solid use with what i would guess 10.000 km, the comfort isn't so bad at all but they are really noisy tires when it comes to dry and wet roads as they are studded tires, the only winter tires i have bought so far were cheap chineese tires wich was the worst of those that i've bought, second ones were a set of yokohama tires and their grip was amazing aswell