sloppy handling characteristics after tire change
 

Ok so i had my tires changed today. I get in the car and start going down the highway and it feels like I'm driving a 70's Buick. Steering response is terrible and the back end feels unstable. I went from having 274/35/19 nitto neo gens on the rear and 245/40/19 bridgestones on the front to having the same size nittos on the rear, but 245\35\19 nitto Nero gens on the front. I took the car to nissan and they threw some factory nissan wheels and tires on it and it handled better, but sill not as well as i remembered. Can anyone tell me if my neo gens being 5mm smaller up frontcan room my ride that dramatically. I mean my car almost feels unsafe at highway speed and steering its extremely vague. Any help is appreciatedis

Did you get an alignment? I got all new tires last month and got an alignment too. Changing your profile and no alignment may be your problem. Did you set your tire pressure too?

No alignment since new tire size. Tire pressure is at 35psi

Can no alignment after going from a 240 on a front to a 235 really make enough of a difference to make the car feel unsafe?

are they mismatched tires? new tires definitely have a different feeling since thread blocks are newer.

i went from the stock yoko advan sport's all around, to continental extremecontact dw's in the rear. the car was unstable as **** and felt like it would dart off to the left or right at speeds over 50mph. i swapped out the front yoko's for matching extremecontact's and it instantly felt better, but still not as stable until about 1000 miles in.

I would try getting an alignment and see what happens. Did they make sure to put the tires on correctly since they are directional?

same tires all around. nitto neogen's. me and my roommate were spittballing ideas this morning and thought that they may just need to break in. with the car being lowered, and these tires not being worn consistantly for the negative camber it might have something to do with the odd feeling at first

i thought of this, but nitto states that the tires are not directonal. but at the dealer we switched sides anyways just to make sure. felt a little better, but not a whole lot.

we are thinking they may be slightly slippery or greasy until properly scrubbed in. could that, combined with a perfectly square tire on a car with SLIGHT negative camber, make for some odd handling characteristics for the first couple hundred miles?

Neo gens have softer sidewalls than the Bridgestones, that is probably what you are feeling. That was my #1 complaint about the Hankooks, too damn soft.

Bridgestone RE050A is a great tire, only thing better is the RE11.

hopefully after the tire wears a little it will get a little better. cant get worse thats for sure

nitto's :barf: :icon17:

break them in some more. you need to break through the release oil from the mold. :)

ya i guess i have only put like 30 miles on them

yah, they should start grabbing around 50miles unless you intentionally drive it hard to rid the layer sooner (like me. :p)

I had a similar experience from the stock Bridgestones to Continental DWS. The softer tire walls makes the car feel sluggish. On the bright side, the ride is more comfortable :ugh2:

You won't know you've got until the new tires have been through several heat cycles since the rubber in new tires is still curing. After several heat cycles the rubber matures and then you will really be able to evaluate how it drives.