What is the best tire choice for your daily driver? If you ask the MotoIQ crew, we will likely point you to the Nitto Motivo. Almost everyone in the office has had a daily rocking these super versatile tires. So when it came time to replace the tires on our daily driven wagon our first choice was the Nitto Motivo.
Tires are much like anything else with cars, the best choice is dependent on application. In the case of tires, the type of driving you want to do with your car is by far the most important factor in your decision. For example, our 2010 Volvo P3 V70 R-Design lives its life doing exactly what it was designed to do. Work commuter, groceries/supplies hauler, and mega safe road trip warrior. So comfort, noise, and durability are the most important factors in our decision. Right?
Well yes, but after all we are car guys and simply can’t help but try to break speed PBs on freeway on/off ramps. Even if it is in one of the only stock-ish cars in the fleet. Adding performance to the equation definitely ups the ante, but it’s also why the Nitto Motivo is such a perfect fit for our application. We will be outfitting our V70 with a set of 255/40/18 Motivos, which are a little bigger than the stock recommended size.
While we upgrade the tires we’ll be applying the MotoIQ “while we’re in there” mantra and take this time to give the V70’s shoes some much needed TLC. She’s put in almost 150k miles of work and the wheels are beat!
The ol’ girl on a San Francisco road trip doing what she does best. Overall the car is in great condition, but she’s a bit of a Monet. Go ahead, zoom in and feast your eyes on the street rash!
The Motivo’s have a unique all weather tread compound. Silica, along with an innovative binding agent, is infused throughout the compound to increase the tire’s handling and treadlife.
The Motivo has an asymmetrical design with larger low squirm outer blocks to help with dry cornering and an aggressively siped set of inner blocks to aid in wet grip. To enhance straight line stability the tread pattern also features a continuous center rib.
5 comments
I drive/modify a P80 (MY00) V70 R, so I’m super excited to see a Swedish wagon on MotoIQ!
I’m gonna nit-pick this article a little though because although this is a cool wagon, it’s not a V70 R. The last V70 R made was the P2 (04-07) that the Pegasus wheels you mentioned came from.
The P3s were badged as “R Design”. I’m not trying to be pedantic about it, but the distinction is that the “R Design” is largely a cosmetic package, without any performance upgrades. The P2 R models got some upgrades over the other trim levels at the time such as a 300 HP turbo 5 cylinder, 4 piston F/R Brembos, better suspension, etc.
I’m pretty sure the P3 V70 shares a lot of parts with the P3 S/V60s, which have a ton more aftermarket support. I don’t know those models as well as some of the older ones. Either way, I’d suggest you check out Viva Performance and IPD for some suspension upgrades, and FCP Euro for any maintenance parts you’ll need. Good luck!
Hey Andy, that’s totally fair. It is a shame the P3 only got the cosmetic R-Design package and didn’t come as a “real” V70R.
Thanks for the info on the S/V60s. Was just recently at a junkyard looking at other Volvos for similarities.
Hey Martin, I totally agree it’s a bummer Volvo didn’t make a P3 R model because the turbo versions of the I6 is pretty potent, especially if they get a few aftermarket goodies.
Volvo, as a smaller company, shares a lot of parts between their models. For example, my 2000 V70 R is running a mix of parts from 4 distinct generations of Volvo models. Admittedly, most of that is so the 6 speed manual swap works with the stock AWD system…
It may be very possible that a set of coilovers from a S/V60 would bolt right up to your V70. Might want to spend a little time exploring the Swedespeed forums – there’s a lot of good info available and it still has a fairly active user base, so hopefully you can find the answers your looking for.
Again, super excited to see a V70 on MotoIQ, and I’m looking forward to some future updates!
I’ve bought 3 sets of Motivos. Best sporty DD tire. Period.
No, they’re not MP4S, but they do stick very well and have excellent feedback. Wearing like iron is icing on the cake.
That’s good to know, thanks for the feedback. My set of PSS are nearly worn, and I’m looking for something that will last a little longer, so I’ll have to keep the Motivos in mind.