I haven't seen that the S-02 makes the car faster than some other tires, therefore there is no excuse for the compromises in the tire. Harder to drive isn't better and isn't necessarily faster. Everyone should read the Mark Donohue book BTW.

Of course, no one really knows, least of all the driver who hasn't tried anything else and doesn't really explore the limits of the car.

I'm sure that doesn't include you Beig. What kind of race tires are you using?

I'd love to conduct a tire test at a track. Who wants to split the cost?

 

In my opinion, Honda created such a great car that it causes problems.

Take the tires; they are so good that everyone thinks they should perform like race tires, yet have all the benefits of all season radials. They are neither...they are just very excellent performance tires. You want all the race handling features, you need a true race tire. You want better wet/cold handling features, you need a good all season tire.

No one tire, or car, is perfect in all conditions. Unfortionately, the S2000 is so good in so many conditions that most people seem to forget this fact. It can also lead to drivers thinking they can do more than they are capable of.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bieg
[B]

So according to your logic every racing tire sucks because they don't grip until they get up to their proper temps also?

 

I think we need to cool off a bit here folks, nothing in Bieg's posts in this thread warrant the attacks being delivered.

 

I agree with Bieg, our S-02s are as close as you'll come to race tires. You do need to warm them up to fully be able to enjoy them. All that siad, for the street, I wouldn't trade them in for anything else. However, on the track, or at an autocross, I wouldn't mind a little more performance, with like say a Kumho.
We all need to understand this is a sports car, it has been said many times, in order to pull everything out of it, it needs to be driven like it's been stolen, however, you need 3 things to prepare the car for that:[list=1]
[*]make sure you have 3 bars on your water temp
[*]make sure your oil temp is up to spec (about 5-6 more minutes after you get 3 bars on the water temp)
[*]make sure your tires are warm[/list=1]
If you're not keeping on eye on these things, you will get into trouble sooner or later, by either losing control, or causing damage to your engine.

 

Thank you.

Some people here see my name and hold me to their double standard of posting. I have attacked no one in any of my posts and yet people feel free to make personal attacks on me.

You watch I will get blamed for it again.

This is supposed to be a forum where you can exchange ideas. Sometimes those ideas have opposing points of view. Unfortunately when you express a view that is not held by the majority you get attacked by the wolf pack.

Pity

To all those who want to make the S2000 "Idiot proof" please remember,...."Make a Fork idiot proof and it becomes a Spoon"

 

Beig is harmless.

The original topic, though, is not. I'm for continuing an enlightened discussion about why there are so many wrecks. Perhaps the answer IS that everyone who's wrecked is a crappy driver.

The crappy driver argument is too easy (and arrogant) to make, though. Just take the long history of the Porsche 911 and you'll see a fine parallel. Before I'm ready to dismiss some of my hard-driving friends as incompetent, I choose to at least look elswhere.

I've been around long enough to know that car companies DO make mistakes, sometimes big ones...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chris S
[B]Wow Bieg, you're back!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TXRacer
[B]

I'd consider S02's to be a compromise in ultimate adhesion.

 

Here's some words from a more "average" driver like myself:

I think the OEM's are awesome!!! I had to "learn" the tire a little more than other tires I've used for my other cars. When I first got the car, I took the traction more to the edge than I could have handled (easy to say now that I'm looking back---vision is 20/20 in hindsight).

However, that's my responsibility if I had lost it and destroyed my car. I think Honda made an awesome choice in the rolling stock, however, I think they dropped the ball a bit on making notice to the consumer on the limits of the tire.

Granted, there haven't been a major rash of accidents and fatalities attributed solely to the tire selected, but informing a consumer about those traction limits may be better business practice than letting the consumer find out through experience.

What I think Honda should change is not the tire, but how to inform the consumer. I like the idea of they did for early NSX buyers; they were given a two day drivng school in their own new NSX's and taught how to interpret and drive the car. I don't know how successful those classes were (with attendance), but I for one would have taken the opportunity to go, even if there was up to a $500 premium thrown onto the price of the car for that class. BTW, is Acura still sponsoring driving classes for new NSX owners?

I think that I am a much more of an experienced driver now than I was in May 2000 (when I took delivery), but it was time that taught me and I won't put any blame on my past mistakes in the the past 18 months (which were quite a few) on the tires. I know what will changeis that in my future purchase of some 17's I will use some more "normal" street tires, like Nitto 550 Extremes or Toyo Proxes ##'s, but the rolling stock stays for S2K Days type of events, track days, and general spirited driving at auto-x's.