I have an 01 with espilir springs, tanabe front roll bar and cusco subframe brace. i have stock wheels/tire sizes.

If i am mid-corner and let of the gas the car will dive into the inside of the corner. it is even noticable on uneven surfaces if i am accelerating and let off the pedal, it will dive one way or the other. it did this before the front anti roll bar was installed and after as well.

is this a chassis problem or a problem with my car being so low? i think espilir springs drops the car close to 2". maybe 1.8

 

If you mean diving, as in turn in sharper, then your car is doing what it should. Assuming the same steering input, a slight lifting of the throttle at the track in a turn will result in a tightening of the turn.

 

That seems normal. I think you're experiencing some lift throttle oversteer. When you lift off the throttle mid-corner the car will rotate/oversteer more than before you let off the throttle.

 

Could also be weight transfer. Lifting off the throttle will plant more weight on the front tires and help it to turn. It's a good thing

 

Agree. That's normal. When excessive, it's called "lift throttle oversteer" as mentioned before.

During mid corner, at constant steering and throttle, you have the weight of the car evenly loaded between the outside front and outside rear tires. But when you lift, you transfer this weight forward, therefore increasing you contact patch on the outside front tire and reducing it on your outside rear. The obvious effect is more front end grip. Meaning: better turn in or oversteer.

That a well known technique to help rotate the car during spirited driving. Once the car is pointed where you want it to, go on the gas again to regain rear end grip and slow down the rotation.

Uneasy feeling for beginers, but that's the fastest way around. Practice it in slow turns, not the faster ones.

 

Time to do some light reading - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-off_oversteer

Trailing throttle oversteer is just another way to control the rotation of a car. And if the case of short wheelbase FWD cars, this IS THE WAY to rotate them.

Trailing throttle oversteer + throttle steering =

 

ok, i guess my other cars havnt had it as noticeable. its something to get used to for sure, especially in long sweeping corners while upshifting.
i guess this goes along with the 50/50 distribution?

ive owned several cars that ive tracked (evo, mustang cobra, turbo saab) from front wheel drive to awd, to rwd.

the s2000 is by far the most difficult to drive fast, with evo being the easiest. the saab was just slow because of major understeer and the cobra was easy to get sideways and correct. it also planted firmly, you just had to watch the wieght transfer....

but i also seen that someone that can drive an s2k good can kill an evo on most auto x courses.

ive got alot of work to do....

 

S2kattack 1.8" lower is way outside where you want to be on the S. At that height your going to have bumpsteer and a few other issues as well I suspect.

If you really want to track it, then go with a good Coilover setup or stock springs. The stock system is really pretty darn good, and spring kits will not help the S.

 

Not surprising lots of cars can mask out this characteristic. Just two examples come to mind, a long wheelbase and AWD.

One of the reasons a CRX was such a great track car was because the short wheelbase really helped to develop this characteristic. In my CRX-SiR with the way the suspension is set, instead of getting off the gas and feeling the corner tighten up a bit, I can actually make the backend fly out into an oversteer situation by coming off the gas quick mid-corner. It's awesome because you can control the oversteer and get what you want just be modulating the throttle.

I love teaching this trick to the MINI students at the track because with a bit of work, you can really get those to rotate.

 

And- it's a blast to say to some one who you passed on track when they come up and ask how you have modded the car 'oh, mods, nah, my S is stock."