What do you think is wrong with my honda jazz sport?

Question

right I was driving down the motorway tonight when my car started to sway towards the left not under my control . I was in lane1 and doing 60 so breaked and still I kept swerving uncontrollably towards the right. I figured it was more than just the wind so stopped at the hard shoulder. I had one tyre replaced (replaced with a pirelli tyre) the other week..and although the same spec it is not the same make as the three tyres (alll bridgeford tyres). I attributed the loss of control of steering to this. However the sub contractor who came out drove my car to a works unit road and said my car was fine and I should get back on the motorway. Would you do that or insist on recovery truck to tow u home?
the sub contractor took it to a works slip road...drove it up and down the road....and said it was fine. but I did not think it was fine ....so AA after a huge fight towed me home...had to wait for another recovery vehicle

Answer 1

Don't put "odd" tyres on the front of your car. (Fellow Jazz owner!!)

Answer 2

Sorry - answered your general query about alignment first.

There are lots of mechanical parts between the steering and the tyre (ie between the bit you control, and the bit that grips on the road).

What you describe is an INTERMITTENT FAULT; things that come and go are notoriously difficult to identify, even with hands on the vehicle.

All sorts of things can cause the car to start pulling to one side; it could be the suspension, or any of the linkages in the steering machinery. Braking suddenly, or the larger steering movements used in driving slowly, may well have reset some components, so that the problem disappeared for a while. Or slowing down may have allowed an overheated component to cool, so that the problem wasn't so obvious (loose parts vibrate, not necessarily audibly, and this generates heat).

It really is NOT ADVISABLE to get the problem diagnosed on the information superhighway. You might find somebody who's had the exact same experience with the same car, but there's NO WAY OF TELLING if the cause is the same.

If you haven't got a regular mechanic who you trust to service the vehicle, it would be a very good idea to shop around and find somebody reliable. Every car should be fully examined much more often than the MOT requirement; that's a MINIMUM STANDARD of maintenance, not a recommended schedule.

The only really safe thing to do is get it looked at by a careful and reputable garage. A Honda dealership might well have some experience of this story, even if they don't want to publicise it too loudly. It might be something that isn't serious, except when it surprises you in the middle of a journey. Mechanics are used to people who imagine there's a problem because they don't understand their car (men as well as women), so they can sometimes be a bit dismissive if something unusual & hard to identify crops up.

You know that there was a problem, so an inspection that doesn't find it, can't fix it. Shop around, and consider changing cars if you can't get any reassurance.

Answer 3

The law actually requires you to have identical tyres ie same manufacturer and type on the same axle. There is a good reason for this and it is that different tyres perform differently. Tyres have what is called "rolling resistance" which is at variance from tyre type to tyre type even from the same manufacturer. So it is possible that your problem is a manifestation of this difference.
Hope all that makes sense to you.
The upshot of all this is that you should get identical tyres on which ever axle is at fault before you try to drive any distance.

Answer 4

having different makes of tyres on the same axle might make you have a slight wander, but not what you've eperienced,get it checked out straight away,ask at your local honda dealer this could be a fault that they are aware of already with your model,there's no legal mot requirement to have the same make just the same size on the same axle