grover432

Tramlining is a car's tendency to follow tire tracks worn into an asphalt road surface. The wider the tire, the worse the prblem can be for some cars. BMW 3 series cars suffer the most from this (in my experience), perhaps becuase of the track width of the car as well as the front end setup. Tires clearly play a part, with the lower profile tires (and their stiff sidewalls) making the problem worse.

Years ago I had a 1989 5 series that suffer from a bit of this. My 1999 540iA only hada hint of the problem. I recently test drove a 2007 X5 with 20" Wheels and 315's on the back (I can't remember the front tire size). The tramlining was brutal. The X5 3.0 with narrower tires and a higher sidewall profile was much more enjoyable to drive.

On the roads I drive on, tramlining is one of the first thing sI check when test driving a new car. A certain amount is acceptable to me, but correcting the steering wheel every millisecond to keep it in one lane is not my idea of an Ultimate Drive, so I try and stay away from thereally fat and low tire profiles, not matter how cool they look!

grover

mick550

FWIW, I think the problem with these discussions sometimes is a lack of specificity.
When someone says one setup is better than another, such a description is not very
specific. Is it milder better or dramatically better.

One config. might be a 9 out of 10 with the other a 7/10. Both may still be above average
for most cars .

Some differences might be obvious to my grandmother while other differences
may only be perceived by the most skillful enthusiasts.



Mick