I read that post on another message board on a "What do you drive?" topic. My question is if anyone has had any similar situations or if they've heard stories akin to this one.

Worries me.

 

Yep, and it happens fast. I regret not taking driving lessons/track days with an instructor. You will end up saving cash in the long run because if this is your first RWD or sports car, you will crash or spin out at least once.

 

I currently drive a Ford Probe and I'll probably be getting a MY06 S2000 next year. I've never driven a RWD car (Save for my dad's Lincoln Mark VIII).

Any tips on how to drive properly and be safe? I don't want to hurt my car when I get it. Where can I get proper driving instruction? I won't be taking it to the track, just some fun daily driving.

 

Find a track...some have "instructors" that will simply ride along with you as you drive. They give pointers. I got this for nothing more than the regular drive-all-day price.

 

 

Another good way is to go to some autocross events. Many clubs offer experienced members to coach you, or teaching events. You will likely spin out, but good autocross courses minimize your chances of impact. Just be careful, autocross can be addictive.

 

just be careful when you arent pointed perfectly straight. i was used to my gti when i took a test drive and got on the gas a little early around corner and kicked the rear out. i wasnt expecting it, but i realized what was happening and caught it before it turned into something bad. autocross will teach you how the car handles at lower speeds.

 

Another things, everyone so far has mentioned power oversteer, ie giving it to much gas and having the tail step out. While it is less so in the MY04+ cars than my 02, I think the S2000 is much more likely to get you into trouble with lift-off oversteer, ie lifting the throttle mid-corner, transfering weight to the front wheels--it happens faster, and its harder to correct than a powerslide.

 

I have read a lot of posts regarding how treacherous rear-wheel drive cars can be. I learned to drive when rear-wheel drive cars were the only type on the road. In fact my brother learned to drive rear-wheel drive cars, my sisters learned to drive them, and even my little 5'2" mother learned to drive them. (My dad bought the first front-wheel drive car I ever saw...an Oldsmobile Toronado around 1970.) My point is that there is nothing terribly treacherous about rear-wheel drive. The difference is that the front wheels on front-wheel drive cars tend to continue to pull in the direction they are pointed even when traction is broken. In rear-wheel drive cars, the spinning rear wheels tend to move toward the outside of a turn, requiring a quick correction in the direction of the skid to neutralize the skidding motion of the rear of the car. It is not that one can't find himself/herself in trouble in a front-wheel drive car. The resulting motions during loss of traction in a turn are just different and, I believe, the rear-wheel drive car requires a quicker correction before things get out of hand. The trick to driving rear-wheel drive cars, like the S2000, is to use good judgement when applying power, particularly in a turn, or on slick pavement where a turning motion can begin due to small factors like highway crown or even gusty winds. In hard corners, suddenly reducing power in a stable turn can sometimes cause the rear wheels to lose traction. With judicious power application, an S2000 is no more treacherous than any other car on the highway.

I'm sure some of you with formal high-speed driving training can expound more eloquently on this topic than I can. I just don't think this "rear-wheel drive" thing should be made more complicated than it is.

 

OK guys you are building this way out of proportion!

Any time you change from FWD to RWD or vice versa, you will find the cars react differently AT THE LIMIT AND NO PLACE ELSE and you have to change your reaction patterns or you will instinctively do the wrong thing.

When driving a FWD AT THE LIMIT, it doesn't happen any place else, I have to chant outloud to make myself slow it down sooner.

If you are used to FWD and apply the power pedal coming out of a corner as soon as you would on a the front driver then that would be too early and IF YOU ARE AT THE LIMIT AND ONLY AT THE LIMIT OF ADHESION then you will get the back end loose.

From that point on it is testimony to your driving skills if you recover, dry your pants out and learn something.

If it happens in the wet or in the middle of turn across the intersection then you changed gears in the middle of the turn or you were going too fast for the conditions. This could have been due to your tires being bald or rock hard as well. Which means those of you trying to save a few bucks by buying cheaper tires deserve to have to spend hundreds fixing the car when you spin thru inept driving. It is false economy.