Sounds to me like you just gave it too much gas while turning in the cold, You'll need more than a bit extra traction. 10k on your tires in the cold, just take it easy.

 

As everybody says (and you're not "hearing"). Our cars are high performance. The limits are higher, and it "breaks free" quicker, more viscously. You have choices:
--Detune the handling (as many have pointed out), and live with this ALL the time.
--Use your head and drive appropriately for the conditions.
--Sell the car and buy a sled. If you want safe, and predictable, why did you put all your time and money into making a fast car, faster??

BTW, buy new rear tires NOW. At 10k miles they're probably toast, esp. the way you seem to drive. This might be your problem..

Finally, stop whining: Pick an option and live with it.

 

i have 17" LE28's ~13-14lbs vs. ~17-18lbs stock. but your issue is width right? it is wider, so you can go 255 in the rear if you like, probably even wider.

17x7.5 front +50
17x9 rear +63

here if you want to buy some.
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=231901

 

Or you could just get all season tires instead of max-performance summer tires (which I am assuming you have on).

I drive my "s" in the cold a lot with SO3's but I am very, very careful and never throttle hard.

 

Thanks for the help everyone.

JDR159 - Didn't know I was whining. Still don't think I was. Like I said, I love the S. But for the same level of performance, there are other cars out there that offer the control I want for the street; I just didn't know going in how much of an issue rear traction would be with this car. Admitting this doesn't mean I'm not listening to everyone's advice; I already said it was a mistake to push the S in the cold.

A mistake can happen to anyone. Trying to find a setup that limits how far things can go wrong when mistakes are made is not whining.

 

visser - you sound rattled by your encounter with the street sign - can't say I blame you. I had posted up here a couple days ago about losing traction in my stock 04 and doing a double rotation spin out in morning traffic - simply by downshifting from 5th to 2nd at 40 mph in the wet. Your strategy should be the same as mine - take 'er ez in the cold/wet. It takes a concerted effort to break summertime driving habits. but it's no reason to start looking at AWD cars. and yeah, I'd invest in some new shoes for the S.

be safe.

 

It's all about control and knowleadge. You need to improve your knowleadge of your car and improve your driving skills. It's probably too late this season, but find your local SCCA group and start autocrossing your car. You'll learn alot, fast about what your car does at the limits.

Until then, find a big, empty parking lot and practice turns, spins, etc. You should gain an awareness of how the car "feels" just before it breaks lose. This is what you want to watch for on the street. Then you know when to back off!

My other car is a Z28 w/a 6 speed. This car is actually worse in the rain/snow, since it has alot more torque and can break the back end free immediately. I've driven this in Upstate NY yearound for 10 years without going off the road. And yes, I took my own advice: I autocrossed the beast and practice in parking lots every winter to recover the edge for snow driving.

It would be a true shame to sell your car for something that isn't it's fault. Any other 2 wheel drive car with the same performance as yours will have the same characteristics. The only alternative is 4wd, which isn't nearly as responsive on the road..

Good luck.

 

jds248, I suspect you didn't rev matched which made your car learch and spin when you downshifted, it's all about technique

 

Yes, it can. However, it sounds like you are regularly losing the rear end, which is not merely a "mistake," but, rather, overly aggressive driving, apparently without the skill/training to control the car or the sense to learn from experience. As Car & Driver said of the S2000, it has a tendency to throw its rear end at the point of diminishing driver talent.

This is not meant to be a slam, particularly. However, I pay an immense amount for insurance for this wonderful car, despite a clean record, in significant part because so many drivers of this car seem to think that (a) the streets are a disguised race course, and (b) they are professional drivers, despite having neither specific training/education or immense talent. As a result, of course, they keep bending their cars doing stupid things, and I keep paying higher insurance. I'm entitled to an occasional rant....

Don't worry about de-tuning your suspension. Rather, if you want to keep the car (and I would encourage you to sell it), first, go directly to a high performance driving school (where they call collisions "avoidables," since they almost always are avoidable); do not pass "Go," just go directly there. Secondly (and hopefully a proper driver training school will help with this), drive the car sensibly. That will take care of your handling "issues."

 

you suspect correctly, sir. I've realized the error of my ways and will do my best to keep my car pointed in the right direction (while on public roads at least!)