Hello everyone. I have an 05 X-type sport and I just upgraded my wheels from the 17in Aguila w/ Conti tires (225/45/17) to the 18in Melbourne rims with 225/40/18 General Exclaim UHP All season tires... I noticed a significant decrease in the handling after the change.. I thought the car would ride stiffer and handle BETTER after the increase in rim size. Actually, there is a lot more play in my steering wheel now and I don't feel as confident on the road.. Does ANYONE know what could cause this? Could it be the tires are not as good as the Conti's or maybe just b/c the tires are new, or does the rim have something to do with it. I have a hard time understanding how a simple rim and tire change could create play in the steering.. My car handled like a beast before.. Can someone help?? thanks
Steve

 

Steevo, if you go with a hard rubber compound (ie, for long tire life), they can be a much slicker tire, resulting in the lack of traction feeling that you are getting. The harder compound resists the asphault from "biting" into the tire, giving you better traction. I would also check your tire pressures and make sure that they are set around 35-40 psi. if you get the tire pressures too low, the tire will roll some and you can actually lift the tread off of the road, resulting in loss of traction. With the low profile tires, this is very possible when running low tire pressures because the sidewall can't flex too much and therefore the pressure is transferred to the face of the tire.

I would recommend checking out http://www.tirerack.com or other tire stores and check out their feedback areas for comments on your tire. That way you can get a feel for whether your problem is tire based or if there is something that is wrong with your car. But, without damage to the suspension, what you are experiencing is most likely the result of the new tires.

 

Thank you for your reply.. I just had the tires installed at Mavis Tire, so the air pressure should be to spec, but I will check again. As for the tire compound... The Conit's have a treadwear rating of 400 and the new General tires I have on now have a treadwear rating of 380. I understand that the lower rating actually means a softer compound and I expected the tire to actually grab more... I will do additional research, but the reviews I've read on the General's were all very good with most people describing them as being "on rails", especially in dry weather.. I don't anticipate any problems with suspension or steering being it was fine before I changed the tires, but ya never know. thanks again/

 

Steevo, I have recently gotten into a handling issue with my X-type (2003) after getting just new tires. In my case, I took a step up from 225/45R17's to 235/45R17's (slightly wider tire). Since I got my new tires, I have noticed that when I turn left and give the car gas, the rear end seems to wiggle some. No loss of traction. I then also noticed that the rear tires were leaning inwards at the top. Review of the alignment specs (had it done as part of the new tires) had my rear camber at -2.0 degrees (Jag spec is like -0.5 +/- 0.5 degrees). Some playing with my car has come to show that I have a bad bushing on the driver's side lower forward control arm. I have tried pushing on the suspension to check the bushings and I couldn't get any motion. The only way I got motion was to jack up the right rear corner of the car and then set it back down. This allowed the car to shift slightly and when the tire was set back down, the tires were actually pushed in towards the center of the car. This resulted in the both rear tires now being almost perfectly straight up and down with a bit of toe (rear wheels pointing towards the center of the car). So, that means my lower control arms on both side are worn and in need of replacement. But, this only poked its head out after the new tires. You might be facing the same sort of problem.