Tramlining

[on2wheels52]

Have I been living in a cave or has that word been in use for a while to describe a car's handling? I don't remember Tom McCahill ever using it.
Jim

[RANDY P]

Tramlining is the tendency for the car to follow grooves in the road.

It's annoying as hell at highway speeds. I dunno what always causes it but tires seem to. Cheap ones that is...

rjp

[Oh Haha]

Wide front tires can make it worse on certain roads. My 94 Z28 had this issue. I ran 255/50 in front.

[RANDY P]

Korean tires do that too. So does bad ball joints, tirerod ends, excessive bump steer, being in a foul mood even seems to even cause it.

rjp

[tcar]

Tom McCahill did talk about it... that's where I heard about it. ("Mail for McCahill" - Popular Mechanix Magazine.

Comes from the time when there were streetcar tracks (trams) in the streets. Cars with the narrow tires of the time would get into the RR track groove and could be difficult to get out.

Tom also used the phrase: "Corners like water through a hose." I still use it.

[944Larry]

Tom McCahill? You guys have told your age! He was sure great, none around like him today.

[Dantilla]

My old (well set up) 944S2 would tramline badly after a good Autocross/Competition alignment.

Quick turn-in means less straight line stability.

[willtel]

My 930 was pretty bad with the big front tires on it. To quote another 930 owner, "It follows ruts like a pitbull after children".

[MT930]

Driving parallel to RR tracks in streetsWTF ? the town I grew up in had tracks that ran down the streets, that was weird, come to think about it. Cars would get wacked all the time.

My 930 locks in to ruts like it's on rails. Some streets worse than others.

"Corners like water through a hose." I like that one!