I drive a 2001 Renault Clio 1.4 16v. It was bought second hand in 2006 and it came with aftermarket 14" rims. About a month ago I had to replace my tires, and the guy from the shop just happened to have a set of used stock 15" rims from a Clio 1.5dci, and so I decided to replace both tires and rims. Ever since then, I've been noticing the strange behavior in the steering at high speed. Going on the highway at about 140/150Kmh during the more pronounced turns, sometimes the car turns more than it should. I start turning the steering wheel and everything is fine, then while holding the steering wheel in place, just for a split second, it's like the front of the car is being pulled to the side I'm turning, and then, still without moving the steering wheel, it goes back to normal.
Some additional info:
- The front tires are Michelin but the rear ones are from a crappy Chinese brand called PACE
- The car feels a bit bouncy on the highway
- Driving in the city the car handles perfectly at any speed
- I'll probably replace the rear crappy tires before winter as they are awful when it rains
Any thoughts on what could be causing this "oversteering"?
Solution: Changing the crappy tires to brand new Michelins fixed the steering problems.