Thank you! That needed to be said, but I couldn't figure out a diplomatic way to say it.

Woo, the S2000 will willingly take you right to the edge, and make it easy, but once it gets lose it takes luck and skill to gather it back up. As long as you stay within the cars capabilities and allow for adverse conditions you'll be fine, but if you push it too hard at the wrong time and in the wrong place you'll end up doing the same thing so may others have done. Be careful!

 

The S is not hard to drive in dry conditions. It's sticking to the road like glue and is a fantastic experience...

In wet conditions, every RWD with a lot of HP without ESP will be more difficult to drive. Don't kick the VTEC power when turning! Remember that ESP equals the movements of your right foot.

I screwed up with a 350Z in the semi wet and I screwed up with the M3 also, so... Or it's me, or it's the bunch of horses willing to go and not finding traction therefore punching the rear out

 

bump

 

I agree that the S2000 (or any RWD car) is a completely different creature and "quite a handful" compared to a typical FWD car, but with a good alignment the S2000 is easy to control even when pushed past the traction limit. I've added a little gif to my signature that pretty well illustrates how controllable the car is when sliding (see my first post on this page). Since this is the relevant thread, here are the specifics. Car has tires that are worn past the point where they provide safe grip when wet. There is a full clutch dump and turn, but the back end still doesn't swing out wildly until the car hits the little stream of water. The throttle remains nailed the whole time, so the back tires are spinning the whole time, but at no time is the car actually out of control. Admittedly, the supercharger actually helps here, but not much.

With a little suspension tuning (very little) even the early cars like mine can be made predictable and easy to slide in a controlled manner. Now on cold tires, or a uniformly wet surface with worn tires, even moderate acceleration while cornering can cause the back end to snap out, and if it happens unexpectedly it's a hell of a lot harder to control. Speed, acceleration, and bad road or tire conditions can make any RWD car vicious, and the S2000 may be more vicious than most once it is out of control, but I wouldn't say that it's exactly a "handful." It's only too much if you let it catch you off guard.

 

[QUOTE=RED MX5,Dec 29 2005, 03:29 PM]Woo, the S2000 will willingly take you right to the edge, and make it easy, but once it gets lose it takes luck and skill to gather it back up.

 

[QUOTE=apex2k,Feb 2 2006, 12:56 PM]Ummmmmm, okay.

 

Exactly, the ap2's and the brand new 2006's are definitely more civil, but don't be afraid of an ap1 just because of it's misguided reputation among the incompetent drivers who whine when they try and vtec 8krpm 90 degree right hand it through an onramp lane, freak out when the revs scare them, and brake hard because they think their car is going to either blow up or spin out and tailspin and run into a divider or a shoulder guard. As long as you are controlled, and prepared to handle a potential fishtail (if you are pushing the car through the turn pre-apex) you will be fine, regardless if another vehicle is left or right of you. The #1 rule is like most #1 rules in any potentially scary situation. DO NOT PANIC. (And if at all possible, DON'T Touch Your Brakes, rev match down shift two gears if you need to, swerve hard if you need to, if you know how, power slide using your e-brake in the direction that's clear. But under very few circumstances should you touch your brake in an emergency, because you want to avoid shift in the weight of your vehicle to the front, for very obvious reasons.. you lose control.

The car behaves like any economy car as long as you adhere to basic racing, and dare i say basic common sense techniques. Brake BEFORE you turn, you can get away with braking HARD while going 60 in a FWD vehicle.. not in an rwd vehicle, that alone will save you from spinning out.. the other basic neccessity if you DON'T know the S, is stay out of vtec while you're making hard turns. If you adhere to those two basic rules and have appropriate rain weather tires (if the climate this time of year mandates such tires) then in normal conditions, you will never spin out, period. If you own an Ap1, When you become experienced and learn how to handle a fishtail, or snap oversteer, then by all means, push your car as much as you feel comfortable, but until then, if you purchase the car, and it rains alot in your area, drive it like grandma when cornering, or you're going to wreck your vehicle, and a tip if you don't know how to handle those conditions is, unless you are heading straight for an immobile object, or can't turn out of an impending crash, NEVER slam the brakes.. in fact don't even touch your brake pedal, turn IN to the swerve, and GAS it out, then GRADUALLY turn the direction you want to go, and LOOK into the direction you want to go.

The people who turn fishtails into 360 head ons, or 90 degrees into the guard rails are the people who watched that retarded movie fast and the furious, and don't know how to drive.

 

^ what a great post!

I quickly learnt my lesson in a mr2 turbo! and when that fishtales that it a right little devil to catch!

But since then, i've learnt to respect the car, and the conditions of the road, mainly cos i dont wanna loose my beloved S

 

RED MX5,
Nicely put, I am glad you took no offense. Drive safe.

 

thats what i've been doing wrong!