Yesterday I went autocrossing for the second time with my S2000. Just like the first time, I was having problems with the back end sliding out in the afternoon. Finally I had the FTD guy ride with me. He beat everyone in a "stock" Miata by a long shot. He told me my problem was that when I would come up on to a slalom section, I'd be WOT, then I'd lift my foot off the gas, try to make the turn, but the weight transfer would cause my rear end to step out of line. This was my last run of the day, so I didn't really have any time to experiment. Do you have any tips on how I could overome lift throttle oversteer? Do I slowly let the accelerator out before the cone?

 

Lift off the gas or brake in a straight line to adjust the entry speed. As you turn in, apply some gas to transfer weight to the back. You don't need much gas and you want to be smooth with it. Generally, you can hold the gas and maintain a steady pace through the slalom. If you feel the tail stepping out towards the end of the slalom, you are probably getting behind in your steering inputs.

 

So you're suggesting actually hitting the brakes instead of just letting off the throttle?

 

If you aren't using the brakes, you arn't driving hard enough.

 

hows your alignment?

 

Stock specs. Done probably about 2 years ago, which would be about 5000 miles ago. I'll give the exact date and mileage when I get home.

 

fix that asap. you should at a minmum align your car every year. You can never do it too often. You also might want to check out the auto-x faq for what the other auto-xers are running for alignment.

-Ry

 

How much does a typical alignment cost?

 

i want to say I pay like 60 bucks at the honda place (I don't trust non-honda dealers to align the S properly, had a very bad experience once). I get mine aligned twice a year. Once before WTD and then again before DBR

 

Depends. At a tire shop or a dealer, where you are lucky if they get the alignment within half a degree of what you want, probably $60 or less. At a place that specializes in alignments of performance cars you will probably pay by the hour. With shop rates around Seattle, that ends up being about $120. The results are worth the extra money, IMHO.