Does imperfections in the road pull your car all over the place?

[Boston23]

Big Dave got it. Tramlining is more pronounced on wide, low profile tires. Handling is worse on milled or grooved pavement.

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[Grintch]

Well, any minor imperfection and this car seems to go where ever it wants, and it definitely has this sideways hop in long turns, like interstate to interstate curves.

Is this a thing? base GT.

Yes. My car did it stock on long curving on/off ramps.

It stopped when I installed the track pack suspension. But now it is back. I think it's because the rear camber has drifted to(ward) toe out (now it's seems more a bump, road camber issue than the long on/off ramp curve). But it could be because I put the stock wheels & tires back on (pressures OK).

 

[Grimmer]

Mine too...

Its called "Tramlining" and my car does it too. Especially once I put the fat meats under it. It does take a pretty bad road to cause it but I've noticed it from time to time. Most of the roads I dive are well maintained so it runs straight and true. A good bump in a corner will upset the car but not near as bad as the older solid rear cars :lol:

Big Dave got it. Tramlining is more pronounced on wide, low profile tires. Handling is worse on milled or grooved pavement.

+1 to this...

My car does exactly what you described as well. I am no expert, but those that should be "in the know" have told me this same thing. Our biggest interstate around here was recently resurfaced and left with those "grooves" for miles. Feels like the car is a wandering drunk bobble head.

I don't notice the sideways "hop" that much anymore, but when I first got the car I noticed it all the time. Especially when the bump only contacted the tires on one side of the car. Maybe the dampeners' compression has softened up with some miles ... ??

My tires also make that howling "reverberation inside a balloon" sound on certain patches of interstate. Where the cement has worn down and exposed the gravel bumps near the surface.

However, all of the above are directly related to the road's surface and all of them come and go depending on where I'm driving.

Still, I think I'll have the shop check on the alignment next time they have the car.

 

[jasonstang]

It's called tremlining. Also I notice it has a lot to do with steering ratio and suspension setup.
My WRX with narrower tires is more pronounced than the Mustang.

 

[BmacIL]

Hopping is very different (and has different fixes) than pulling/following the road grooves. Which one is it, OP?

 

[diegoaccord]

What did you drive previously? At what speeds does this happen?

My base GT PP with oem springs and bars doesn't do anything like this either with original shocks or with Konis and with either original Pirelli's or with Bridgestone RE-71R's. Our solid axle Mustangs were/are more likely to "sideways hop" in bumpy turns.

Assuming your cold tire pressures are close to oem specs then the absolute biggest improvement to "road disturbances" moving the chassis around would be a set of Koni shocks set close to full soft. The spring rate differences between the base GT and the PP version are minor.

It will also help to know what type of vehicle you are used to and how "relaxed" your grip is on the steering wheel. That said the car really doesn't require more than a light grip until you are cornering hard or the road is bumpy. I've driven Ohio interstates with my 2015 on stiff autocross tires with no problems.

Japanese. My current other car is an Evo. The only car I've driven that even has this feel was a Lincoln MK8 that I test drove a long time ago to buy as a beater. I had a beater Camry you could visibly see the alignment fucked, and that thing got pulled all over the place. But it didn't have that boaty feeling, or side hop. But I wouldnt expect side hop from a FWD unless the frame was super fucked.

How many miles do you have on it? When my GT350 was new, it was a handful if the road had ruts. It would jerk the wheel out of your hands if you didn't hold tight. As the car got some miles, the intensity went way down. Probably the tires and suspension getting broken in.

I'm at 6500 mi now and it rarely happens. The wider the tires, the more pronounced the effect is.

Didnt buy new. at 34k got it with 29k

Hopping is very different (and has different fixes) than pulling/following the road grooves. Which one is it, OP?

Both....

 

[P51DNA]

No issues with my nitto invos, but I am experiencing this with my truck. I purchased toyo proxes ii last tire change and good lord they pull in every which directions the road wants to take them. It's been a long few years with them.

 

[hiccup]

I dont experience any of these issues on my stock pp Pirellis. Now in the morning with tires cool or cold my fronts will shuffle a tad turning out of driveway.

 

[Ground Speed]

Haven't had this happen to me, stock EcoBoost PP. I feel the bumps more than the non-PP car I test drove, but my car is coming up on 2 years old at this point, so it might just be broken in?

 

[Dwc]

My 16 V6 is rock solid but I test drove a 16 base GT with 20k miles and it was all over the road, at the time I was wondering if it was the extra front end weight of the 5.0 but it could have been the tires or alignment.

 

[whalesalad]

As others have stated here, it is a real phenomenon and it is called tramlining. A normal car will absorb the forces that are imposed on the tire from shitty roads due to the fact that they will typically have pretty beefy tires that are not very wide. When you get into the performance realm, your tires are going to absorb less and less of this force. It's like when you try to ride a bicycle up a driveway that doesn't mesh perfectly with the road: if you hit it at a 90º angle you will be fine, but if you are nearly parallel your tire will get caught and you need to bunny hop to get up onto the driveway or you'll eat shit. Same concept.

Tramlining was a much bigger issue for me when I was on 25mm spacers. I removed them because I was sick of the change in driving characteristics. Still happens on certain roads but not nearly as bad. I had a shimmy under light braking conditions as well which is gone after removing the spacers.

Slightly unrelated, but after SP080 springs, alignment, Sumitomo HTR ZIII tires that were road force balanced ... my car drives better than it ever has. I can do 120mph and don't have a single harmonic imbalance or vibration. On the OEM tires it was a different story, especially with spacers.

 

[diegoaccord]

^ I get you but the Stang probably has the beefiest unwide tires I've had in a long time, except the CRZ, and the CRZ didn't do this 'tramline'. There's a reason for it, and it's not only the tires, but that and a combination of things.

 

[Top_Notch]

I have a S197 (2011 GT) and it tramlines bad. I aired my tires down and it did help some. I guess I will have to live with it until I get new tires. I'm on the optional 19" rims so they are low profile. (245/45/19 Pirellis)

 

[GTBOB]

You should feel my skinnies up front, with bias ply 28x11.5 on the back. Changing lanes on a rutted-up highway is a white-knuckle experience. Wags like a snake through grass.

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