Hello,
Recently I bought a set of new tires for my 1999 Honda Civic DX hatchback. I picked a tire (a Yokohama) and the employee went to check if they had 4 in stock. He said, "We don't have 4 of those, but I can give you a wider tire for the same price. It should be a better tire." I said okay.
After driving around for a few weeks, I came to the conclusion that the car was not handling and steering very well. The car seemed to bounce around, be less stable in direction while on the freeway. It was hard to steer precisely. I would steer left, then I'd be going too far left, so I'd steer right, I'd be going too far right, back and forth,etc. I found it hard to point the car exactly where I wanted it to go. In general the steering felt loose, like I couldn't feel the road.
I had the dealer replace the tires today with the correct size. (see sizes listed below). He was skeptical that the larger tire would cause any problems, but in the end he was willing to switch the tires.
Immediately the car felt much better. The steering was precise again. I felt like I could "feel the road."
I would like to know if anyone has an explanation for this. It seems to contradict what I would have expected. I don't have a problem any more...I'm happy with the behavior of these new tires. But it would be interesting if someone knows what's going on.
Regards, Mike