Volvo S60 Tires - 91H vs 93H?

Question

2004 S60 2.5T, front wheel drive. Rims stock 215-55-16. I currently have Goodyear Assurance Comfort Treads on the the car. They have 50k miles and will need to be replaced soon. I was happy with the tires. The car is not driven hard, and is used in the north with regular snow and ice. 
I found out the tires are 91H and the standard on that car is 93H. But that means I have to go to a more sporty tire like the Eagle. Which is not good as I am mainly concerned with a smooth ride, and bad weather performance. 
Assurance does not make a 93H. One store would not install 91H tires on the car, one would. 
Is there any real risk by stepping down one rating?  I feel there is more risk of skidding off the road during snow than rolling the tire while over driving.

Hollister C · Accepted Answer

Car manufacturers like to leave themselves as much safety margin as possible. Volvo selected 93H tires because their engineers calculated what was required when the car was driven at its top speed while carrying the maximum allowable weight.

Going to 91H tires means that in theory you have to lower the maximum gross weight (the weight of the car + fuel + passengers + luggage) by a couple hundred pounds in order to retain the original safety margin. That is why one shop does not want to install them: they do not want to be sued in case you suffer a tire failure after you overload your car.

That's in theory, in practice Volvo has probably left enough of a safety margin that it won't make much difference.

Anonymous · Answer

Only a demented person would pick a cheap Civic over an all wheel drive luxury car

Gear M · Answer

Have a look at tire reading.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/reading-a-tire-sidewall.html
91&93 are load indexes.

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Volvo S60 Tires - 91H vs 93H?

3 Answers