barely moving and required a large diameter wheel to obtain enough leverage too boot.
My WAG is it is less the tires than the requirement a large steering wheel be fitted and most drivers would shun the car after a test drive due to its hard to turn steering. In fact I suspect most would give up before getting the car out of the dealer parking lot.
Oh, reminds me I got to experience my VW Golf without any power steering when the V-belt snapped while on the freeway. No problems at all while on the freeway or even taking an off ramp. But when the light at the ramp changed and I went to make a sharp left hand turn it was like the wheel was frozen. Caught me off guard so much so that I had to stop the car and back up and then really forcefully crank the wheel over to make the turn. The VW had 15" stock wheels/tires too.
Which reminds me: My Datsun 510 had no power steering and wasn't that difficult to steer. 'course, it too had a large wheel much larger in diameter than is fashionable now, and was really light weighing in at under 2000 lbs. 2 doors. No sun/moon roof. No power steering. No power brakes. No A/C. No power windows, or power door locks. Not much insulation. Very basic car actually. Not that hard to steer at any time but not a car for today's market. As much as I liked that car then I wouldn't have it now as a gift.