ShoooRn

Don't worry and definitely don't fear the car. Drive to the conditions and drive to your abilities always. If you think you're going too fast; chances are you are. As lots of people have pointed out the car is reknown for being twitchy if you lift off mid corner; before I went RWD I had small short wheelbase french hatchbacks (think peugeot 205, 106, Citroen saxo etc.) that were reknown for throwing you in a spin mid corner - needless to say in my youth this happened a bit. As I got old and tracked my saxo and stiffened things up just right the rear end just became a delight to play with; that said in the S2K I'm still finding the limit and each time I'm behind the wheel I treat it with the respect it deserves.

So go out and enjoy the S2K; I find driving it in the rain actually helps me to learn how the car moves with less traction and in the UK we have our fair share of GLORIOUS sunshine followed by Rain and then GLORIOUS sunshine again = greasy roads. Last Monday was evident of this as it kicked it's rear at the exit of a roundabout. So enjoy the learning process I say.

JamesD89

did it have a limited slip diff?
[/quote]

Yeah, it was a 95 M3

coop3422

The first time I saw your video I couldn't stop watching in awe. Glad you lived to tel about it, that was one intense crash.

dohcvtak

ugh vid gave me chills

thomsbrain

The type of suspension does make a difference in the effectiveness of a strut bar because of where on the chassis the suspension places forces that could affect geometry. A strut suspension places geometry-relevant forces on the strut towers so bracing them has a direct effect on maintaining geometry. Double-A-arm suspension only place vehicle weight force on the strut tower. All the geometry-related forces go into the arm mounts and tie rods.

Obviously "boxing out" the top of the area between the front wheels is going to improve overall front-end stiffness, even with the stock big lower brace. You can feel the difference in response on very bumpy street roads. However, on smooth tracks, the benefit doesn't seem to be worth the 5+ pounds mounted high in the body.

Legal Bill

Instead of modifying your car by public opinion, I recommend a driving school or auto cross event that offers instruction to novice competitors.

The car over steers easier than other cars because it was designed to oversteer. So every car that is designed to under steer would, by definition, be much more difficult to put in an oversteer situation. But apparently no one is worried about under steer.

As to how easy it is to oversteer, first, the straight line spins are completely unknown to me. I auto crossed my car for three seasons and never saw one spin in a straight line. Perhaps a bald tire/hydroplane situation or broken suspension situation was at play. Second, what is meant by "easy" to spin? I invite you to form a parade with other RWD cars, run down a race course at ever increasing speeds, and see which one spins first. I think the S2000 will be towards the end of the spectrum. Third, are we talking about breaking the back lose, or actually spinning? They don't let go easy, but when they do then yes, you have to be both good and quick to prevent the spin. So in that regard they are easier to spin than other cars. Are you ever going to reach that limit?

Rather than investing in mods, spend about $200 on track or auto cross experience and then consider what you have learned. I ran faster than almost every lowered car I ever competed against at an autocross. Modifying the suspension is mostly for show and only benefits the experienced who do it right. It is not a safety net for someone who has not taken it to the limit.

Chuck S

I still intend to take a performance driving course with my s2000 -- heck, I'm not sure the seat is in the optimal position! "Works for me" but is it the most efficient? Not sure Autocross is the place to learn. Takes more than a few minutes of instruction for any skill.

Until you take professional instruction on any skill you're likely to develop bad or inefficient habits. We see this all the time in the firearms training industry where folks arrive smug that they know it all -- heck, they're American males! -- and find out very soon they don't. This includes soldiers and policemen. I recall yelling "Why did no one ever teach me this!?" at my first course (after years of combat arms service).

-- Chuck

AP1Driver

Autocross is most definitely a good exercise to learn this car, or any car, for that matter; if someone doesn't learn car control measures from hustling through a proper AutoX environment, they simply refused to try or cannot drive, period...

Fokker

http://evoschool.com/

Legal Bill

I agree and might even suggest it is a better environment to learn in than on a race track. The autocross courses can get you into a spin at a lower, safer speed than most race tracks.