Whew, close call!

I didn't know it was possible to lose control in a straight line either, but a couple of weeks ago, I floored it in 1st (dry weather, although it was at night so it was a little cold), and right before the shift to 2nd (at redline), VSA kicked in, so I guess without VSA, the same thing might have happened to me.

Glad that you and the S are okay though

Moral of the story: get VSA

 

No learn to control the wheel spin computer controls FTMFL!!!

 

Please be careful with the S2K, http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/2187342

EDIT:

BOBKAT,

At your earliest opportunity take your car to a autocross event. It is the safest way to obtain a perspective on your car control skills, the characteristics of the car, and to tune your sense to what understeer, and oversteer feels like.

 

You also could have hit a patch of oil(or some other nasty substance) in the road. I've done that. Especially at an intersection stop. Many folks don't have tight well built engine cars like the S2k and they sit at the light and leak all sorts of fluids like sieves. The road gets a good film, especially if it hasn't rained hard for a few days.
Thus be cautioned with the S2k. It develops high HP at higher RPM's and things can get out of control quickly. I never try fancy stuff when in traffic, I always try have an open side lane or two all the times if possible and only plan to get tricky when the road (both directions) is completely clear.
Another killer effect of this amazing little car is the limited slip diff. If you can manage to break one wheel loose, the differential will immediately transfer all the torque to the wheel still grabbing and likely break that one loose also. This is an especially ball busting effect when you are trying to drive on ice.
Obviously when both rears are spinning, you have a fully floating rear end on the car. The spinning wheels coupled with the low moment of inertia (due to the front/mid engine configuration) you can get into a wicked spin.
The best thing to do in that circumstance is to very quickly back off somewhat on the throttle, try to steer in a correcting direction for the orientation of the car and hope the rears grab and you haven't over corrected.
I suggest you try to find a very empty(read no cars or light posts) frozen parking lot. Winter now is a good time. And practice breaking the rear loose and correcting out of it. It is great training but the anal local police in our area don't seem to really appreciate you practicing these maneuvers, even though it is something I feel that all drivers should be required to do before we get a license.
Good luck and happy driving the S2k. It is one heck of a car.

 

Glad you found out before you hurt yourself.

Read through the FAQs to get a feel for the idiosyncrasies of the S2000.

And since you're new to S2000s, they do sell aftermarket traction control for ~$1000.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I feel very lucky! One of my previous RWD cars was an e35 M3 which made similar power to this car but never once did anything like this happen and I used to track that car on the weekends. I'm not very young and have a lot of track driving experience which is why I say the car humbled me. I was not expecting anything like it and was caught completely by surprise.

It could have been something like oil or a wet spot, but I really think it was the power shift and I'm not doing it again from 1st to 2nd WOT until I hit the strip and try and figure this car out.

Thanks again for the well wishes and as the shock wore off and I'm really starting to be concerned i broke something ... i hit the sidewalk at at least 35...40.

 

As others said, on a hard 1-2 shift, its very easy to have the back end get out on you. I actually have it happen a lot during autocrosses, even with my competition tires. I've found its almost best to not get back on the gas, in 2nd, right away to give the car a little time to settle (when I say this, I mean MAYBE half a second pause before going right back to full throttle) and of course be smooth.

Glad to hear you're all right and if the car is still driving fine, you may have gotten very lucky and not damaged any of the suspension.

 

The tires were cold, do you have stock s02's?

 

AP2's w/ VSA ftw. There...someone had to say.

 

I also came from an e36m3 to the s2k. They are completely different handling animals.

Definitely have your alignment checked. Your best bet is to set to the UK specs (search to find them).