Snow tires = loose steering??

[ICreel]

Hi there.

Just bought a 2005 GT. It drives like a dream and I am really loving it so far. I was really happy to find this site as I am pretty passionate about my GT.

Here is my dilema and I will get right to it.

The tires that came with the vehicle were 195/60R15 (I think they were H rated) and were very worn. I thought I would play it safe and put snow tires on it since it is the first car I have owned with enough power to warant the extra safety. I just had new 195/60R15 T Avalanche Extreme (made by Cooper, I think) winter tires installed.

I know that you have to sacrifice handling and responsiveness with winter tires but it handles completely differently and I am pretty dissapointed. The steering is super loose now. I feel like I can turn the steering wheel 15 to 20 degrees before the car will chage direction.

They are properly aligned and have very little noise but I don't have enough experience to know if they are crappy tires or if this is just the norm.

I hate to think that it will handle like this for the next 4 months. Am I better off switching to a good all season?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[tankd0g]

Snow & Ice tires have a softer tread and are therefor going to be a little "squishy" but it sounds like yours might also be under inflated. Try increasing the pressure by 2 psi increments and see how it feels.

[ICreel]

Thanks for the reply tankd0g. The psi rating is 35 and they are all around 33 or 34. Will it make a diference (or be dangerous) to infate them to 35, 36 or 37?

Cheers,

IC

[tankd0g]

Originally Posted by ICreel

Thanks for the reply tankd0g. The psi rating is 35 and they are all around 33 or 34. Will it make a diference (or be dangerous) to infate them to 35, 36 or 37?

Cheers,

IC

do you mean the car calls for 35psi or the max pressure on the tire is 35 psi? 34 should be plenty. Are you using the same rims as your old tires had?

[ICreel]

The car calls for 35 psi. I used the same rims that came with the car and the winter tires are the exact dimensions as the all season I replaced.

I am pretty confident that they are the stock 15" alloys that came with the Celcia originally. I am thinking of putting bigger rims and better summer tires on in the spring since the tires that came with the car are bald. I figured driving in the winter on the old 15" rims would be fine.