It's been a while since this has been up here and with the 2001's coming in soon, I think a reminder would be good as well as an FYI for the new owners.

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The stock Potenza s-02 tires are VERY slippery when cold and break loose easily. Please allow your tires to warm up before attempting to 'push' the car anywhere near it's Limits.
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I was reminded of this a couple of nights ago, taking a corner at a normally ok speed, but the tires were not warm and I almost lost it.

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About how long does it take to warm up? I also have a Civic Si...can I push it as far as the Si and not risk slippage?

 

Mr. Stevens can certainly empathsize with your problem; it cost him Scarlet I.

 

Thanks for the tip, SkitZo! Going from a Miata to an S2K will be challenging enough without having to learn about cold tire gymnastics by accident.

Does that tire breaking happen under 6K rpms? If so, the S2K has a fair amount of low end grunt for all the bad press it's received.

 

The tires need at least a mile before they have any grip at all. The one spin I had on the street was with tires that had not been driven on for several hours in 40F temps, but an idle warmed engine.

 

Good point. Especially as winter is approaching for most of the northern hemisphere, it's important to remind people that this is the case. IMO, the S-02's biggest enemy is NOT rain, but COLD! Even in the 40's and the low 50's, it takes a lot to get the tires up to a temperature that will not let the car slide. I don't drive it in either rain or cold, but those who do, better remember not to push the car too hard with S-02's in even brisk temperatures. Don't learn the hard way...trust me!

 

SomethingWicked, Yes, they will definately slide under 6000 after the car has broken in.

Every morning, I pull out of the garage, and at the end of the street as I pull onto the main road, it feels like the back end of the car just slides out into the lane instead of following the front wheels. I really enjoy it as it is better than coffee for starting your morning.

Just have to be carefull for the first mile or so or you will be OK. Once those babies get warmed up though... big grins.


The weather has been awsome, Damn I love this car.

 

Tell me about it, last Sunday i went solo 2ing ..... Runs were about 45 mins apart amd the temp was in the 40s.

On my take-offs the back ones were getting fairly warm but the front ones really HAD NO GRIP. I was having HEAVY understeer with the car plowing straight .....

Being the only one with s02s i seamed to be plagued by this most. To bad cause the track was a perfect set up for the stook.

Thanks,

 

How am I going to survive Chicago's Winter.
I think its impossible to drive this car in 1foot of snows.

 

I agree totally with the observations that the rear will slide on cold tires at less than 6K RPM. I've done this accidently quite a few times, especially in low-speed right-angle corners during more-or-less normal driving.

It really gets your attention but it's quite catchable as long as you're not in VTEC. If you hit VTEC in the middle of the corner, though, you could easily spin.