AndyK

I noticed the car following grooves in the road on the way back from picking it up on Long Island. When I got home, I found the tire pressures were all over the place, so I filled them up, and headed out last night. Car still tends to fight me, like it wants to go it's own way when it hits bumps or channels in the road.

The rear tires are new, the fronts are a little worn. 18"ers

Is this just sensitive steering that I am not used to, or do I have a problem?

Benjamin Choi

of course it's going to wanna fit into the grooves

redridge

thats called tramlining its normal on the most part but might want to consider corner balance and alignment...good excuse for a suspension upgrade

nick49

They pretty much all do this. Wide tires with low aspect ratios and stiff sidewalls make it worse as does low tire pressure. A lot has to do with the roads too. Get used to it :-)

AndyK

Yeah, that's the term I was trying to remember! Would a good alignment geared towards street driving (as opposed to the track) allow the car to settle in easier on the road?

cdodkin

Varies by tire size (width) and manufacturer (tread pattern) - so you may want to review what's on the front wheels and change out for something different.

AndyK

I have the old (original?) Conti Sport 2's on the front, and new Conti Sport Contacts in the rear, replaced before the dealer sold me the car. To get all the tires to be new and matching, I would have to buy 2 Conti Sport contacts for the front. But those tires don't get good ratings at Tirerack, so putting good money to bad might not make sense?

rcg412

I find the 996 has very sensitive steering, always course correcting. Plus given the roads in the tristate area, get used to it!

RAC

It’s the tires. I had Conti's on my A4 which tramlined horrible. After switching out the tires I didn't have the problem anymore. I also have very little tramlining on my C4. My $.02 is that it is more due to the tire and tread pattern. Switch out the Conti's and I bet your problem goes away.

evansaero

You need an alignment

You don't need new tires

UCrazyKid

Alignment. See if you can get the dealer that sold the car to foot the bill.

Blackness

I had Conti's on my car when I first got it. The fronts were the original SC's and the rears were SC2's. I now have Michelin PS Ribs. The car has never tramlined on even pavement. It still doesn't tramline too bad on a grooved road. Certainly not near as bad as my best friends C5 Vette.

My vote is to have the alignment checked.

AndyK

I'll get an alignment. I wont bother calling the selling dealer, who will say the alignment was fine, and that I must have hit a pot hole, etc, etc. Cost of doing business with a small dealer 2 hours away!

What does a 4 wheel alignment usually run, so I can see if my mechanic is honest?

evansaero

Cost at my dealer down here was $105
Only a dealer or race shop will be able to do it. A reg alignment shop will not be able to do it. You should be in and out within 2 hours

Blackness

A local indy who does good work (a lot of the PCA'ers use him) charges $150. The dealer $250.