Tramlining

Don't want to hi-jack some other threads about braces etc.
I had no idea what the car was doing was called tramlining because I've never owned a car that exhibited this characteristic. Any car I have owned has always wanted to come back to center when the wheels turn as a result of changing road conditions.
I was describing this characteristic to a friend today (not knowing what it was called) as if the car hits a crease or something in the road and the car will go that way. You have to stay on top of the steering to stop from shooting off into another lane of traffic.

It did not take me long to experience the tramlining characteristics of the GT350. I've read give the car 1,000 miles and the wear on the tires may settle it down a bit. Some others posted that their alignment was off from the factory and after getting an alignment, the tramlining was reduce but not gone.

Any thoughts?

Different types of tires make a huge difference. Michelin PSS likes to tramline a lot.

Characteristics of sticky tires. Alignment can help. I've not done it yet.

After i changed to 6G R spec wheels and Conti Contact DW tires it completely eliminated it.

YOu're going to get some tramlining unless you go with some shoddy all season tire and you're still going to get a bit here and there. Perks of having a tire that's 11.6" wide up front.

Always drive with two hands firmly placed on the steering wheel after each shift. Problem solved.

Yep agree it is a function of wider tires....my GT does this on uneven roads, my C5 with staggered tires was even worse.

Try sport steering for daily driving since it seems to filter out some of the stupidity with its artificial weight.

If you think it trams know, wait till you set the FP alignment recomendations or go even more aggressive!!!!

^^ Mine seems worse on sport than comfort. Going to check to see if it's the steering or dampers that's making the difference.

Screamer said:

After i changed to 6G R spec wheels and Conti Contact DW tires it completely eliminated it.

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Stock setup - MPSS + stock wheels.

Revised setup - Contis + 6G wheels.

I would say it's all in the contis and hence a reason people don't like to keep the contis on while tracking. From what I've heard, those who used the 6g wheels and the stock MPSS have in some cases had an increase that in tramlining, suggesting the Contis are not as aggressive of a tire.

Another point... the G-brace is $80?... and May can have added benefit on the track. Contis are $800+ and have little-to-no track benefit... which seems to be the better benefit:cost mod?

stanglife said:

^^ Mine seems worse on sport than comfort. Going to check to see if it's the steering or dampers that's making the difference.

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Same here. As I go from normal to sport to track it gets more pronounced. Going to comfort reduces the effect. With that said, it's not an issue on most roads. It's the rutted interstate segments that give me trouble. Stiffening the dampers on rutted roads didn't help tramlining. Since those roads are rough anyhow, stiffer damper settings just beat up me and the car. The pronounced tramlining results in some very "unrelaxing" drives. And as another person said: both hands needed.

stanglife said:

^^ Mine seems worse on sport than comfort. Going to check to see if it's the steering or dampers that's making the difference.

Click to expand...

Mine is a base so no shock changes. Thought all of them had the steering wheel button for just steering weight changes.

DrumReaper said:

Stock setup - MPSS + stock wheels.

Revised setup - Contis + 6G wheels.

I would say it's all in the contis and hence a reason people don't like to keep the contis on while tracking. From what I've heard, those who used the 6g wheels and the stock MPSS have in some cases had an increase that in tramlining, suggesting the Contis are not as aggressive of a tire.

Another point... the G-brace is $80?... and May can have added benefit on the track. Contis are $800+ and have little-to-no track benefit... which seems to be the better benefit:cost mod?

Click to expand...

The Conti DW's are no where near the tire MPSS's are. But they are a great great street only tire.

Where roads suck...this is an issue. I don't run into it much.

Where I live, the roads are pretty bad. There's actually one way out of my neighborhood with a decent road. That said, the first time I drove the car (it was delivered by transport), I thought my front tires were were almost flat, it was tramming so bad. I found the Sport steering setting helped, so that's how I drive all the time.