u/imcheddarbeard

Tldr: front tyres uneven worn, is this causing my tramlining and what tyres do i buy.

BACKGROUND:

Hi! Bought an E86 recently and immediately had to have both sets of rear bushes done. The alignment was a right state. Sorted now with full 4 wheel alignment.

Moving on, i can feel the steering wheel pulling while im driving straight and it gets better with harder tyre pressure in the front wheels. Im assuming its tramlining.

The guy i bought it off clearly knew about the bushes cause theres fresh tyres on the back, and the front tyres had the manufacturer specified pressure for the back tyres, so i think the bugger put the old rear tyres on the front and new on the back, then immediately listed for sale to hide the issue. Which leaves me in this position:

SITUATION (tldr):

Im tramlining everywhere, have had 4 wheel alignment done (as best as possible anyway, needs a new spring on the passenger side too but its pretty close) and have 3 month old uniroyal rainsport 5s on the back, and 5 year old michelin ps4s on the front, which are nearly down to the wear bar on the inside and really not bad on the outside, beyond the startings of dry rot.

THE CHOICE:

So with this in mind, firstly, would the tyres help me with tramlining? I presume so given front pressure affects it.

If so, do i:

1. Put the best tyres i can afford on the front (fresh pilot sports, perellis, something like that)

2. Get uniroyal rainsport 5s on the front to match the back

3. Something else.

Just in case its relevant, im in the uk. Our weather means that wet grip is relatively important and i dont have to prepare for snow at all.

Thanks for your help!

Edit 1: above, i describe the feeling as pulling the steering wheel. Thats not really accurate, its more that the steering wheel gets a bit twitchy i guess. What im feeling through the wheel is what the front wheels are doing though, its not like the steering wheel is moving independently of the front wheels, so im fairly certain the wheels are all well connected etc. it almost feels like the steerings massively over sensitive. The car trying to seek its way into grooves is a fairly accurate description for what it feels like i guess

Hello! Im having to sell my civic type r fk2 because i took a loan to buy it and, whilst i can afford the loan, the cost of living increases over the last few years and my wage not increasing mean its getting pretty tight.

Without getting into the specific finances, the currently hypothetical situation is that me and the wife would get a joint car for family stuff, and id have my own car for fun, as a runabout, and for "just us two" trips. Id have about 8k tops for this.

It doesnt matter how many seats its got, but id prefer that its quick, fun to drive, with the possibility of taking it on track in the future.

Notes:

1. I dont really like boxsters. Sorry, theyre just not for me.

2. I do quite like the bmw z4, but it wouldnt be garage stored so id be better with a hardtop.

3. Current leading choice is the SLK350. Insurance would be a lot cheaper than i pay now, it looks comfortable, has a built in hard top, and isnt much slower than my type r (a touch quicker in a straight line!). Only thing is i hear they dont handle especially well and im not sold on the looks.

4. On insurance: insuring and taxing half of a modern car and all of a fun 2 seater mid 00s car still costs less than i am paying now. This is important to me as i ultimately need to get my monthly costs down.