Coming home from the video store tonight in a light rain I redlined first gear and pulled a very quick shift to second on a section of road with a very mild right hand bend. I was surprised when the rear end came out and tried to pass the front end. The first correction caused the car to counter-slide to the right and the second correction caused a lesser slide to the left. Very twitchy in the wet! I was surprised that such a mild corner would cause such a slide at such low speeds. Now I can understand why someone who has driven front wheel drive cars all their life would spin and crash an S. Even with many years of rear wheel drive experience, it took me three corrections to regain the line.

 

But how much experience do you have with RWD, LSD, performance tires, and no traction control? This combination acts the same on any car I have tried on slick surfaces.. almost dangerous.

 

Hey, Bill. You are not kidding about the S being very twitchy in the wet. I have had 2 other sets of tires other than S-02 and they didn't help this matter much. I haven't tried S-03 but supposedly they are much more stable in the wet. I think overall the S and S-02 are a very bad combo for spirited driving in the wet, particularly in sub 50's weather.

What you described happened to me almost on a dime...when I first got the car. Now...I know better.

 

An aggressive acceleration with a fast, hard short shift (around 7K rpm) to 2nd gear on a high crown road will cause the back end to break traction, spin tires and slide toward the gutter. One just countersteers slightly and continue to motor down the road till the back end hooks up. This behavior of the back end under "moist" to wet road conditions should not be a surprise and is not restricted to just this high performance RWD car.

 

Have you installed your lightweight single exhaust yet? I noticed that when i installed mine, the back end became a LOT lighter.

You may want to check the alignment if you have changed the exhaust. Just a thought

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Legal Bill
[B]Now I can understand why someone who has driven front wheel drive cars all their life would spin and crash an S.

 

I think we all have had some experience at one time or another with this type of problem. Though Glenn and I will tell you that cornering ability with S-03's is probably as bad or worse than S-02's. Personally I like S-02's in the wet better than the S-03's!!!! Even when the rears were way gone.

Maybe it was that I drove slower in rain knowing it wasn't gonna stick well. Though I KNOW that the S-03's hydroplaned way way more often and gave a very numb feeling in the wet. I give them a all around. S-02's here I come!

 

TA DAAA! Give this man a Chicklets! Now if only everyone else can figure out this "simple" solution.

 

When it is wet, dont go above 6K.

 

read the title of the thread and wondered if my problem had been recognized before... every so often if i start to brake, in a straight line the car tries to pull one way very extremely. I can easily countersteer back to my straight line, but if it catches me off guard it's really akward. Just braking, and boom car turns... any ideas?