I've been having this problem for a while. Even setting rigidbody.centerOfMass = Vector3(0,0,0) makes the car go crazy. Any ideas?
Put anything related to physics (rigidbodies, forces etc.) in the function FixedUpdate().
(just a guess)
IIRC I had similar problems as well when setting the center or changing inertia. I think after you set the values, disable and then enable the object to see if it works better. I am not sure, it's been a few years since I did this but I am pretty confident it was what did the trick for us.
call the car house and demand a refund.