XC90 T8 Plus or Ultra - wheel size conundrum

[Discoman]

You will always get both sides of the story with tyre size discussions. Personally I think cars are going to lower profile tyres unnecessarily. Volvo used to give you more options with the ability to have air suspension on all three trim levels but no more so if you want air you have to go for larger wheels. Shame.

As for the OP, you could buy 19” or 20” wheels and run the car with them and put the 21” or 22” wheels back on when you sell it. The alternative is to run the OEM set up in the summer and run 19” wheels with winter tyres at other times when the pot hole risk is greater.

[sandys]

Personally I love the 22s, next tyre swap I am going to put mine back on, small rims whilst they look fine, it's not 22s which are my preference.

I will try something other than PZ4 NCS as whilst I think it is a good tyre from a performance/economy perspective I think the bulges and splits we had in its sidewalls would suggest it can't cope at that profile.

I may also try the xc90 size on mine, little bit wider, tiny bit more sidewall, only ~1% out, rim is wide enough to take it.

[Hogster]

Well I did an extended test drive over some pretty rough roads of the Plus with the 20" wheels and no air suspension at the weekend, and I must say I was actually rather impressed. Not too crashy and comfortable enough for me.

Whilst I love the idea of the extra kit on the Ultra, and the undoubtable flexibility of the air suspension, I'm not sure I can quite stretch my budget to justify it compared with the Plus.