Had a great day timing wise as I was consistently turning 2:15's. Late in the day I was on another good lap when... I apexed 8 well enough (I thought) at about 7000 RPM in 4th gear, as usual. However, the rear end started to go and by the time I caught it, it was too late to stop it going 2-wheels off of the exit berm. Tried to fight it a bit since I was doing about 90mph and staring at the big ol' hill coming right at me. Spun back across the track and went off hard to the left. Car bounced hard a couple times as it slowly rotated around counter-clockwise, ultimately skipping on the 2 right wheels a couple times (w/o flipping, TG) and squirrel-burning it's way to a halt about half a football field left of the track.

Immediate driving impression was that something was wrong b/c the steering wheel was cocked to the left about 15 degrees when the car was going straight. No noticeable vibrations, though. Into the pits now, on jacks, front wheels off and bracing for the worst. Eye-balling it showed no discernable damage to control arms, etc, though with the tires on and back on the ground it was obvious the right front toe was out and the -1.0 camber I started with was approaching zero now. Right front tire has slice marks running diagonally across the tire and a few chunks of rubber missing. Right rear has seen better days too. Left front has a nice flat spot too. End of track day. Right side body damage noticed now: dents & chips on the right front fender, door, and rear qarter panel, & the rear bumper too. *shrivel*

Drove her home safely and got her to my local race shop, hoping that the damage was limited to needing only a new alignment. Tech's visual inspection confirmed my initial diagnosis. Sweet! I wanted to go to -1.75 front and -2.25 rear camber anyway!

Gets her up in the air and begins tweaking away. From behind I can now see that the inside of the left rear rim is all munched. Left exhaust tip is thrashed too. Tech is having problems with alignment b/c right front tire is leaking air bad. With help from his assistant he gets the tire pressure to stabilize near where he needs it. Cool, I'm thinking... she needed new shoes anyway. Tech is uncomfortably quiet as he wrenches away, and then he lowers the boom...

"Dude, I can't get the camber you want." Why the hell not?, I ask. "Well I don't know, but the best I can do is about -1.4 on the right rear and -1.5 on the right front. I can get whatever I want on the left side, though."

!!!

Tech suggests that the frame is tweaked somehow; that a cross-member may have shifted from the force of the car bottoming out and skipping on 2 wheels. Have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at a local body shop that specializes in frame work. Still hoping for the best.

Moral of the story Part I: Fighting a 2-wheels off situation can cause your car to loop back across the track. This is bad.

Moral of the story Part II: Drive within your limits, and err on the side of caution, or like me, you may pay more of a price than you wanted to!

Moral of the story Part III: DON'T TRACK YOUR S2000 IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO PAY THE (possibly steep) PRICE OF AN INEVITABLE F^CK UP!!!

Hey, but at least I'm still breathing, & so is my passenger, and I will live to run another day. For that I'm truly thankful.

 

Perry - I'm glad you're ok. A general rule if you're going off the track and you're out of control: two feet in and straighten the steering wheel.

 

Glad to hear your alright Perry. That spot has seen more than its fair share of flipped cars, consider yourself lucky.
As you observed, dont fight it next time and stay on the gas.

 

I'm hoping for the best for your car. I'm still looking forward to seeing you at Laguna Seca.

Good Luck

 

Hey Perry... sorry to hear about that! You'll be back to normal in no time I'm sure. Thanks for passing on your experience in a way that the rest of us can learn from it too -- I very greatly appreciate it.

 

yeah watch out for T8, it's a fast and dangerous turn. I highly doubt your frame is bent. It might be an a-arm or something tho.

That sucks man

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by monkeymaker
[B]Moral of the story Part I: Fighting a 2-wheels off situation can cause your car to loop back across the track.

 

It could be something as cheap as a bent knuckle and/or lower control arm for both front and rear on the right side. Camber is adjusted by adjusting the lower control arm bolt to the sub-frame on the s2000. The Knuckle attaches the hub to the lower control arm so if it is bent, it will also reduce negative camber.

The s2000 frame and subframe are very solid and won't bend easily. It may not be visualy visible but I am willing to bet you it is more than likely it is one of those.

Here is the order of damage to parts on this car in case you spin-out and impact some part-solid objects sideways:

1: Mag
2: Knuckle
3: Lower Control Arm
4: Cross member

I would start by the cheapest part first, the knuckles are around $130 each from Majestic Honda ordered online.

I experienced a similar situation to yours 2 years ago at a track as I spun and hit some "bump stops" sideways. Turned out to be my rear driver side knuckle and everything else was as good as new.

Remember, s2000 frame = STRONG

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

Thanks for the tip Sev!
I'll take a closer look at mi left rear knuckle as I also hit hard sideways, this time against a concrete curb at a Solo event, the alignment shop can only get -1.3 deg. camber now.
The rear cam bolt is maxed out and the control arm bolt has plenty left so I suspect the knuckle is bent where it connects to the "A" arm.
The "A" arm and subframe appear to be straight.
Here is a little detail that illustrates how much energy was absorbed by the suspension bushings, factory rubber bushings. After hitting the curb I drove the car to the paddock , jacked it up and removed both left side wheels for inspection, the rear left had a deep gouge in the inside of the rim and the lower "A" arm ball joint had aluminum embedded on the stud, this means that all the rubber bushings had to flex in a big way to allow this angle, probably +5 degrees camber.

Gus

 

Frame meaured up perfectly, though the shop was unable to tell if the cross-members had shifted. Unfortunately I think my next stop will have to be at the dealership to have the suspension components inspected.

I want a Honda specialist to check them out b/c the race shop and frame shop aren't too familiar with the S2000. If the components are fine then I guess we'll have to try doing a carriage shift to see if that frees up the camber range.