Eight weeks had passed since the fraught weekend on which I purchased my S2000. I had finished final exams, survived a disastrous week at the Formula SAE competition in Michigan, and moved to Maryland for a summer internship. It turns out you can carry everything you need for three months in an S2000 if you’re creative with the packing.
During those eight weeks, I had also replaced the secondary air pump, all four brake rotors, and the clutch. Disgust at the sole local Honda dealer’s joyriding tendencies (150 miles overnight) had driven me to perform the majority of the work, including the 12-hour clutch job, myself. I labored and even bled for my little yellow Honda, forming a bond between man and machine deeper than I’d presumed possible.
Now I was heading north through Pennsylvania, going home for the long Independence Day weekend. I was racing the clock; the forecast was for storms later that night, and I had 350 miles to cover. Gradually the sky darkened; my speed dwindled to an agonizing 50mph right-lane crawl as the first drops splashed the windscreen. I was still driving on S-02s, and their reputation for wet-weather lethality had preceded them.
Ten or so miles dragged by, and the weather showed no signs of worsening. I began to cautiously increase my speed until I was sitting at a vaguely anxious 64mph. Ahead the freeway dropped gradually into the Susquehanna River valley, a lofty bridge spanning its center.
The sky opened just as I entered the bridge. The right lane, already patchy with standing water, flooded almost instantly; I moved left, straining to see through the blinding downpour.
The car started to spin faster than I could react; a violent snap counterclockwise without any warning.
I threw an armful of opposite lock at it; the rotation stopped, but our trajectory was irrevocably altered. The barrier seemed to creep toward the left fender in slow motion; then a surprisingly gentle impact, and the car was spinning again, a complete 180 and on. The right rear hit at 45 degrees, the slope of the barrier launched it upward, and I was watching pavement pass beneath my window. I wrenched the crippled steering back left and the car dropped flat again, the right rail now rushing straight at me. I hit it almost dead on, the airbag blossoming in slow motion, then I was scrambling out, away from the smell of fuel and gunpowder and hot metal.
That was the end of my S2000.
I don’t remember much of what followed; the highway patrolman who told me this would have been avoided if I’d bought a Mustang, the kindly older couple with the decrepit tow truck, checking in to the hotel; because the hotel had a bar and I spent the remainder of the evening getting thoroughly hammered.
I do remember the last I saw of the S. Sitting on the back of the tow truck, glowing with the same incandescent violence as the first time we’d met, the dim light and rain made it look almost whole again. Then the cab turned a corner and it was gone.
Author’s note: Five months later, a minor miracle brought me a singularly flawless ’03 NFR. So maybe this story has a happy ending after all.
Images: ScandinavianFlick
Related posts:
- Speed Bumps: A New Owner’s Rough Start Two cylinders. The third had died as I passed through...
on Jun 8th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
When I read “That was the end of my S2000″, I nearly teared up. It’s almost so surreal when it happens, you stare in disbelief wishing it weren’t true. You look at your baby and think “this can’t possibly be happening.” I was the same way when I totaled my 1st S. After wrecking, you’re never the same again. Take care of your ’03 and cherish it well.
on Jun 8th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Dancing with a knife is both thrilling and terrifying. I hope your NFR MY03 is kinder to you.
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 9:35 am
should have bought a mustang!? sigh… talk about improper comments. i’ve also spun a corvette z06 that i bought brand new in the rain, coming back from vegas. was driving ~60-65mph too. first the cop that came harassed me about speeding 1 hour ago, swearing he saw me down the freeway. told him it’s impossible since i was coming from vegas, on a different freeway. sigh… i hate cops. anyway, now i drive REALLY slow in rain. like 50mph slow. don’t care how far i have to go. if there is rain, no more than 50mph, in any of my cars.
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 10:46 am
HUMM I ALMOST HATED TO READ THIS STORY, WELL ONLY BECAUSE I WRECK MY S2 IN THE RAIN AS WELL, I WAS REFLECTING ON MY ACCIDENT AND REALIZED HOW LUCKY I AM I GOT THE FULL COVERAGE INSURENCE, NEEDLESS TO SAY MY CAR IS BACK AN IN RUNNING FORM AND NO PROBLEM AS OF YET.
OPEN QUESTION IS IT JUST ME OR S2K REALLY TWITCHY
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 10:47 am
IN THE THE RAIN
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 11:24 am
i haven’t driven mine in a heavy rain but -
High power with god response,wide rubber and good balance makes them twitchy.
ie what makes them fun is what makes them twitchy.
There are potential “saves” that could have helped but no one can afford the practice it takes to learn them.
A track session in the rain does help if you can arrange it
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
I feel your pain. I totaled my 1st 07′ S2000 nearly one month to the day that I got it. I live in Northern California and went all the way down to San Diego to get it! I felt so bad. However, I can say the only cure to a totaled S2000 is another S2000! Way to get back on the horse!
It seems like there are a number of owners who totaled their first S2k.Maybe we should start a therapy group LOL.
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Rain is what my 16 year old Civic is for. I will not drive my S2000s in the rain of my own volition, mostly because of how other drivers often treat rain as liquid sunshine and do not modify there driving habits accordingly. Well written story!
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Again, I read these stories imagining everything as watching it in a movie. I also keep it pretty slow (50-55 mph max) in the rain….but I’ll be driving even more careful now!
vaya
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
i bought my s2k may 2008. it was slammed. older guy, 1 owner. could not fit a lighter under the rockers.
bought new tires. drove with a buddy to houston. just so happened it was almost flood conditions in houston. as soon as the rain started the rear was flying left to right.
i had no idea wtf was going on but i survived 45min of unintentional drifting at 40mph while the rest of houston traffic blurred by at 60+
when i finally stopped i found the problem… inside 75% of the tires were bald. 1st owner never got it aligned.
cliffs: story owner… are you 16?
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
I totally feel your sorrow as your S starts to spin. My spin ended up not as bad as yours. I was on a windy road of So Cal and the sprinkler system had sprayed the road half wet (Dry season). As it acted like wet after a dry spell season, I started spinning I tried to correct with and braking (Bad idea) it whip lashed and spun the other direction 180 degrees. I end up in bunch of bushes. All I smell after the crash was dead leaves and I started seeing steam coming out of my vents. At first I thought I was dead meat. Then I fire up the start button and got out the bushes. The very weekend, I took apart the bumper, right fender and right headlights and readjust all them back. Ended up with small cracks at the bottom of my bumper now it looks like a cat fish.
on Jun 10th, 2011 at 7:17 am
michelins saved my s2000
on Jun 10th, 2011 at 7:32 am
brings back memories of hydroplaning for 20 hours coming back from WTD 2 years ago (luckily i did not have an accident). Glad your back in an S
on Jun 10th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Sad story indeed. Sorry about your loss. I almost had the same incident a few months back with my MY07 NFR. It was pouring rain and I was driving on the freeway going about 60mph turning on the off ramp and with a very slight right turn the back end suddenly snapped to the left. I immediately counter steered but it was too late as I was spinning already. I felt a sudden rush of excitement and terror at the same time while it was happening.
Everything seems to be in slow motion too as I see the concrete barrier about 3-5 feet away from my window and at 180 spin looking at oncoming vehicles head lights. I thought it was the end of it all as I was seeing bright lights. At that point I gave it some gas and still counter steered all the way and all I feel was the traction control going on and off.
The car kept spinning and at 360 the car miraculously corrected itself and I released the steering and proceeded at 40mph after the spin. It took a few seconds for me to regain composure and then a few cars pulled up next to me honking giving me a thumbs up. Still in disbelief, I just looked at them with a frantic grin in my face. LOL!
Two days later, went to discount tire and replaced my rear Dunlop Direzza Star Spec with only 10% tread left on it. Lesson learned the hard way I guess. Will never drive my S on bald tires again especially in the rain.
Then, a month later I picked up a used coupe ’00 Civic EX. Been driving that ever since as a DD and my baby is now just garaged and pampered and only take it out on a nice California weather for some spirited driving.
Drive safe everyone!
on Jun 10th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Many of the track drivers I know drive slower(on the road) than they did before they had track experience even though any track experience improves skills at “speed”.
Why? because they know what’s on the other side of control.
on Jun 16th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Very sad story indeed. Sorry to hear about your loss, but glad to hear you didn’t end up in the hospital, or have a semi like the one in the background plow into you right after the wreck.
I had this exact thing happen to me a few months ago. My rear tires were worn on the inside just enough to make driving my s in the rain a bit sketchy. However, I was not aware of how bad they were, and it hadn’t rained in months so I figured all was good. Until one night when I was traveling down the interstate coming home; it started to rain hard. I reduced my speed to about 40mph, but the car felt a little off and loose so I let it coast in neutral. I put it back in 6th and started to give it a little gas. As soon as I did that I hit a little puddle and my s spun out exactly how you said in the story; “The car started to spin faster than I could react; a violent snap counterclockwise without any warning.” I tried to react the best I could, but it was too late. I could see that concrete wall coming in closer and closer from my rear window until the rear quarter smashed into it. It ended up needing new control arms in the rear, a new cross member, new passenger side tail, new rear bumper, and all the body damage to the rear quarter and trunk repaired. I was lucky like you to walk away from the wreck with no injuries or have any other drivers who weren’t paying attention slam into me. Hearing stories like this is a good reminder just how touchy these cars are in the rain or on wet roads, and how important it is to have good tires on them.
on Jun 22nd, 2011 at 10:58 am
ScandinavianFlick, you are a great writer. Your first story about the tech who basically charged you nothing to fix your baby was very moving… something only a true gear head would understand…
In your latest installment, the part about the last you saw of the S brought up my own memories of my first S being trailered away in shambles… I’m just glad you got back on the horse and hopefully this second S lasts a bit longer… I’m trying to make sure that mine does as well.
Unfortunately this sort of thing seems to be the fate of many sports cars… and the numbers of S’s is dwindling…
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 8:12 am
So sad to hear about your s. I had a scare with mine as well. I was coming home from a bar with my buddy, both of us sober had just met up with to incredibly hot females LOL. So we both left feeling great we got their numbers, well at least I did can’t say the same about my friend he didn’t say. So we get in the car and I was just about 10-15 min from home. The route I was taking has stretches of road but also windy turns, so it makes it fun speed limit there being 55. I’m driving back and there’s traffic lights but the it opens up the rest of the way no lights. As I’m approaching the last light it turns red do I stop. Waiting for the green light an older model BMW 3 series pulls up and starts revving his engine. Just b4 the light goes green he starts revving his engine, mind you I didn’t want to tango. Light turns green and he takes off. So I thought what the heck, I gave it gas caught up to him. At this point we were inside a tunnel after the last traffic light. At the end of the tunnel there is an s turn, slight uphill left quit right and quick slight downhill left. As I caught up to him I eased off the gas knowing that turn is coming up. I was on the right lane he was in the middle lane. As I eased off the gas he goes flying pass me in the middle lane, I remember thinking this guys crazy. Now I’m approaching the first left and I don’t see him no more, as I come up the slight uphill there he is spinning clockwise, his left back hitting the right divider. At this point everything was in slow motion. I looked at the speedometer I’m doing 80, as soon as his left back hit he started spinning conterclockwise with insane speed. At that point I had downshifted to 4th and then to 3rd, as he’s spinning in front of me across lanes I shifted to the middle lane. I saw his headlights twice as he spun, then he hits the right divider still spinning, at this point the car spun one last time but back into the middle lane where I was. As it spun counterclockwise, his head lights faced me head on, and I was maybe 10-15 feet from him. I quickly jolted to the left thinking “oh no oh no oh no” as he was still in a spin. I don’t know how but I went by as his car as his was facing the wrong way, passed on the left. At this point my heart was beating a mile a minute. What had happened it about 10-15 seconds if not less felt like an eternity, the amount of emotions I went through was incredible. I can say I didn’t crash into him, but I came very close and I cherish it now more than ever. I love my s gpw red interior. DD, it’s like getting a bj everyday.
on Aug 3rd, 2011 at 7:39 am
I can’t believe how many of you are on your 2nd S because you wrecked the 1st one. People, get it together. Don’t drive like an idiot in the rain or on bald tires in the rain.