In this article we are going to look at a issue that may prove to be dangerous. If you notice any handling or grip problems on your Volvo XC60 , it is essential that you drive carefully and take care of it quickly. Our team has created this guideline to help you resolve them. First, we’ll quickly look at the main parts that ensure good road handling, then we’ll look at why your Volvo XC60 doesn’t hold the road any more, and at last we’ll look at how to resolve your grip problems.

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What are the main elements that ensure great road holding and handling on a Volvo XC60?

We begin this article by quickly explaining the most important parts that will ensure good road holding for your Volvo XC60. It’s essential to know that a vehicle’s grip is a science in itself. It will as a result depend on many points, we will describe down below the most important ones that can be influenced:

  • Shock absorbers: The most important parts of your road handling, they permanently ensure the contact between the wheels and the road. They absorb all shocks and holes on the road.
  • Tyres: They are the ones that will ensure the grip of your Volvo XC60 on the road, the softer they are, the more grip you have, but the faster they get broken, the harder they are, the less grip you have, but the more resistant they are. Temperature affects their wear. Their size will also play on grip, the wider they are the more contact with the ground will be significant.
  • The center of gravity: The higher your car is going to be, the more it will lean in the corners and consequently lose handling, that’s why low profile sports cars grip better than very high 4×4’s
  • Wheel Alignment: This adjustment allows you to control the vertical angle of your car’s wheels, it is consequently important for the grip of your car and the wear of your tires. This adjustment is very precise and must be conducted by professionals.

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There are many other parts to take into account such as wheelbase, ground clearance, chassis rigidity, weight and aerodynamics…

Why is my Volvo XC60 having problems with my car’s handling or grip?

We will now proceed to the part that concerns you the most, why my Volvo XC60 has handling problems? As we explained above, there are quite a lot of elements to take into account for your car to have a good grip, nevertheless there are few that can evolve over time, most of them are intrinsic to the construction of the vehicle, we will discover right away those that can bother your handling and road, and, why:

  • As we described above, the rubber of the tyres has a crucial function in the good road holding of your car, if your tyres are dead, you may possibly have problems of road holding on wet road at first and when you reach the “cord” even on dry road.
  • Dead shock absorbers: If your shock absorbers are dead, your car will no longer be able to absorb the irregularities of the road effectively and it will often “float”, which will result in a bad distribution of the masses on the car and shift the centre of gravity of the car. You risk slipping in the bends.
  • The risk with a misalignment is that your ground contact area is reduced due to a too open or too closed wheel angle, you will have grip problems.
  • A steering issue: Last but not least, the last important part for good road handling is that all the elements of your steering must be in good condition. The most classic circumstance is that your stabilizer bar or the silent blocks of your steering triangles are dead. The consequence will be a delay in your changes of way.

How do you resolve the handling problems?

We now proceed to the different solutions to correct your road holding problems on your Volvo XC60 .

  • Tyres: Nothing could be less complicated, just change your tyres, make sure to check them carefully and change them when you get to the visual indicator in the grooves of your tyres. It is generally necessary to count between 100 and 200 euros for a pair of tires.
  • Shock absorbers: Ditto, dead shock absorbers have to be changed, if you want to know when to change the shock absorbers of a Volvo XC60, please have a look at our article on this topic. The price can vary quite a lot, but you will have to count at least 400€
  • Wheel alignment: You will have to go to your garage area to have it solved, it will cost you less than 100€?
  • Steering: If you have problems with the handling on Volvo XC60 due to your steering, there might be some elements involved, in such a case you will have to make a complete check-up of these elements, the best is to call a professional.

If perhaps you have any additional questions about the Volvo XC60, do not hesitate to consult our Volvo XC60 category.