almost killed: my car and maybe me (long)
 

Well I was driving to Linden, NJ on the turnpike this morning/afternoon so that I could ship my car to california for the winter season (it's about 150 more than storing it for the whole winter and I figured I could enjoy it for about 3 weeks while it was at home). Some I'm driving my car with my parents following behind me and we're definitely trying to beat any type of winter storm that would be coming. I checked the weather and they said that it wouldn't start snowing until about 4 PM so I thought I'd be good. Well so I'm driving down the Palisades Interstate Parkway and what do you know...snowflakes. Uh oh. I was close to the end of the PIP so I decided what the hell...these little flakes can't do ish. So I'm at about exit 5 and it starts to start snowing now. Damn it. I'm pretty new at driving the s2000 and it was my FIRST time driving in snow so I didn't know how bad these tires really were.

So I proceed to keep driving. So I'm driving a little more carefully now and I start to notice that my rear is slipping a little every now and then (btw it was starting to really snow). I started getting a little scared so I slow down to about 35 in a 60 zone. The rear stops slipping and I proceed at 35 mph. Then all of a sudden I feel my back end just start coming up on the right...so I counter steer and start to modulate the gas...but too late. The rear came up too far and I couldn't do anything but hope that I didn't hit anyone or hit anything. Luckily all the car were either way behind me or in front of me. I spun about 4-5 times and ended up in the snow banks.

Now nothing happened to me or my car (thank god)...but those few seconds were THE scariest moments in my life. Weird thing is though, I was more scared for my car than I was for myself during those few moments :) Anyways so I luckily got my car out and tried to keep going but my tires wouldn't grip so i ended up having my car towed and am gonna ship it on monday (the forcast it SUNNY with 0% chance of rain or snow...hopefully).

I learned a very BIG BIG lesson today. DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT ever the s2000 in any type of snow. If there's a chance that it's gonna snow do not drive the S. That's just my opinion. And second...I hate New York :) ... can't wait to go home to cali.

Anyways, so that's my story. But I was just wondering are the tires really that bad or was it just a freak accident? And also, what could I have done to possibly prevent from spinning out? Not that I'll ever be driving in snow without chains or snow tires but you never know. Thanks for listening guys.

Rich

Sounds like the rear end broke loose. If you've got stock tires I'm not surprised. If the S2K stock tires are anything like the ones on my 944 you can loose the rear end on a whim - even letting off the gas too fast would lock up the rear tires. So if I applied gas to accelerate or even maintain speed, the rears would spin, and if the car had a locking rear diff, both rears would spin & the back end would come around. If I was trying to slow down & I let off the gas too fast, the engine compression would lock up the rears & the rear end would come around.

In either case pushing in the clutch would help, as you'd not be applying any torque to the rears. You'd have to reconize the drift very quickly. If you knew that you had applied too much gas you could let off gently, but if you let off suddenly w/o pushing in the clutch you'd just lock up the rears anyway. On my 944 I'd push in the clutch before letting off the gas when approaching an intersection.

It is a tough spot to be in. Maybe some practice in a parking lot? Or else real winter tires.

At least you & the car ar OK. My 944 hit the ditch once too.

--Mike

good thing you listened to your heart and slowed down to 35! that spin at 60 would have been different.
glad all is o.k.-
our car is not a foul weather machine!

I had quite an experience in Toronto this past weekend, too.

On Monday night, it snowed about an inch. At night at the hotel I thought I'd move the car down a level into covered parking, and that it'd be a good experience to learn how good (or not good) the RE050s on my S were. I learned pretty quickly... 1000rpm, 3mph/hour and the rears were spinning. It was amusing (at the time) but also educational; I learned that the tires are awful.

Fast forward to Tuesday night - I'm driving back to Detroit. It starts flurrying. I thought exactly the same thoughts as you--torn between calling it off (finding a hotel) and keeping up the drive. I kept going.

The flurries turned to snow... no big deal, the highway was staying wet even as I saw it building up on the sides. I kept going.

Uh oh, I started to see white stuff collecting on the road. No big deal, I was following a convoy of semis whose treads were leaving a nice wide path for me. I slowed down to stay behind them, and I kept going.

Uh oh, the snowfall is now a snowstorm and despite those bright HIDs I can't see much except the red taillights of the semis in front of me. I'm slowing down... and the semis and their life-giving tires are pulling away. It's late at night and I'm in a foreign country. To the right, the few exit ramps I'm seeing are covered in snow.

If I take a ramp, all of which are sharply curved, I die.

If I maintain speed to keep up with the semis, I die.

If I slow down, the semis pull away, I lose the tread paths that are keeping me going straight, and I die.

I've never been more scared in my life. I was gripping the steering wheel so hard, my fingers felt sore a couple of days later.

Eventually I pulled over to the side of the highway and waited an hour and a half... cell phone was dead so I didn't know whom to call or what to do. Nobody stopped to help. But the snow stopped, and cars started passing, cutting paths through the snow once again. Soon, I decided to risk getting on the road again (success) and was driving fast afterwards.

It was scary, though. And I felt the rear end slip a couple of times while driving. Horrible stock winter tires on this car... no matter what year you have...

I have driven the S in the winter here with BALD Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's. I have been used to driving RWD in winter as my last car was a Mercedes Benz C280, my dad had an E320, and my mom had a BMW 325. For me it was no big deal, more fun than anything. Only one time was it a challenge, and thats when it was an ice storm. Other than that, snow was not problem for me, but again, i was used to it. Now i have my tahoe, so the S stays away for the winter months.

Smart move!

Even with 4wd, if you can't see, you can't drive. I've been in that situation except not with an S2K. So I had traction but not visibility - but it is still a long, long white knuckle night. One time out in the middle of nowhere with a foot of snow & 30mph wind I was following a semi, like you, & decided that as long as that semi's lights were horizontal, like this:

-- --

I'd follow, but if they ever went vertical, like this:

|

|

I'd probably not follow them any more.

:)

--Mike

Glad to hear you're okay.

The only time I've driven on snow with the stock tires was after a huge snow fall in late April (freak snow storm)... was stranded at home for 3 days while the snow melted enough... but my parking lot at work still had 2-3 inches of it... it was very scary driving around in the lot, barely any traction at all.

Even though it is difficult during those white-knuckle experiences (pun intended), I find that a death-grip on the steering wheel serves against you rather than helping you. I know it's hard when the going gets touch to ease up and relax (have been guilty myself), but if you manipulate the wheel with ease and dexterity, you will find that you have better control of the car when push comes to shove, and that your turning of the wheel will be much smoother and not harsh/skid inducing.

Asif

Glad you're OK - getting home today was a real task for me too.

http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=167522

I am glad you and your car are alright. (But gladder still that I live in Florida:D )

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger and wiser.