Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires Question on LX tires / wheels

I bought 99 LX, with crappy general tires. When these got worn, I wanted high quality tires, bought michilen x-ones.

I looked on discount tire website, they said my tire choices are 185/70-14's (size of old tire) or 195/65-14's. This makes sense, I tire has same overall diameter. I decided to go with the bigger tires.

I had them installed, the car has a squirrely kind of handling when you steer back and forth - like the sidewalls are flexing.

Problem is maybe I kept the old wheels, the 14's, 5 1/2" wide? Maybe I need wider wheel? Does anyone know if the 99 contour LX with the optional 195/65-14 tires had wider rims?

Tanks in advance,

Andrew

It's the tire. Give it 500-1000 miles and it should wear off the initial soft stuff. The X-One is a very hard tire and should not feel squirely for very long, especially if you went with a lower aspect ratio.

I've put about 250 miles on them, they still do this.

I would describe this as "yaw oscillation" the car seems to turn left then right a few degrees. Kinda scary.

Is it true that the 195/65R14 was offered on the LX with the 14-5.5" wheel? Some place I can find out?

Not that it's always correct as I found out with truck tires, but they seem to have most of the cars I've looked up right. www.tirerack.com lets you pick your car and it gives you the size before showing you the tires they have. It says for a 99 LX:

Original Equipment 185/70-14
Original Equipment Optional 195/65-14

Yes, I went to the same web site. I selected the optional tires, the 195/65R14's

Calculations show same tire diameter. I also measured old vs new, same diameter. So I know this is not an issue.

I wonder if th "optional" tires had wider rims, 6" instead of 5.5"?

Believe me they really do have some scary weird behavior on highway.