Really watch it in the rain. I've spun off the road at 70 coming out of a hydroplane. It was a combination of inattetion, a bump just as I crossed vtec, inexperiance, and low traction. This car is a wonderull handeling car, but it will bite you quickly if you loose focus, or make an error. My best advice would be not to push yoursef, and to slow down for a while. Go autoX and really learn its limits.

 

Or as I like to say, not all experience is created equal.

OP: You'll get a mix of good and bad advice here on S2kI; Mike is one of the sources of good information; I won't identify sources of misinformation because it can be seen as a personal attack.

There are so many different ways to get into trouble with the S2000 (or any other car for that matter) that it would be impossible to list them all. As others have suggested, make sure you have a fresh set of S02's and that the car is properly aligned. When checking for tire wear, get down on the ground and look at the INSIDE of the tires. The inside of the tire will wear out first, and the tires are dangerous in the rain before all the tread is worn off (even on the inside). Be careful in the rain. The tires also need to be warm to work. The car can get into a slide easily when the tires are cold. When it's cold outside, they may never get warm enough to deliver good grip, so be careful when it's very cold outside. Cold and wet together, more so. Many spins have been percipitated by VTEC engagement mid turn. Lifting the throttle has probably contributed to more spins than any other driver error. Inexperienced driver gets into a corner too fast, freaks out, and gets off the gas - car spins. Read Mike's comments on this. Better to avoid the situation in the first place.

Most spins on the street take place at speeds below 70 MPH, usually WELL below. The best place to learn the cars limits is on the autocross course, where you can slide and spin without having to worry about trashing your car (or anything else, other than pylons). The only way to learn a cars limits is to exceed them, and autocrosses give you a safe place to test the limits and make mistakes.

Tracking is good too, but the possibility of damaging things goes up, and the initial cost is higher. The speeds involved in autocrossing are also closer to the speeds at which people most often get into trouble on the street.

Start autocrossing. You'll probably be pig slow at first. Ask questions and learn. That's the best way to learn the car.

As an alternative, you could just drive like an old woman and never get anywhere near the cars limits (but where's the fun in that?).

 

When coming off a corner, DO NOT squeeze the gas pedal until you start unwinding the steering. As you unwind, you can add throttle, but not before (unless you actually want the tail to slide out). Think of a string wound around the steering column that unwinds as you unwind the steering - the end of the string connected to the gas pedal. You can only apply the throttle as you unwind the steering to get some slack in the imaginary string.

Too much throttle when cornering is bad. Too much too soon is MUCH worse.

 

i've stepped the rear end out maybe 1000 times or so, spun twice, gets easier with practice.

 

Nice

The few "moments" I've had in this car were when I failed to follow this advice.

 

Thanks guys, this is all awesome info. I will be spending a good month just driving normally getting to grips with the car, in the mean time will also take it on a big open car park and just get my bearing with the rear and how quick it can slide out, looking into doing a performance driving course too, this car is the best car I have ever owned, and want everything to work out well, so I am taking the extra precautions. I have fallen in love with the S2000

 

Also check out the Sticky in the Wheels & Tires section concerning non-OEM replacement tire sizes-- long story short you want 245 rears for anything other than OEM S02s in the rear on stock wheels. 225s will be more narrow than intended and will give the rear less grip, i.e. more oversteer. In fact you should check what you car has on there now, most owners who aren't member here probably don't know that so it's possible your car already has "the wrong" size in the rear.

 

quick question though, slight bends in the road ( no where near turns), 20-30 degrees, do I still follow the above rule of slowing down, and accelerating as I am coming out of the bend ? Or can I just drive through it as normal like any road

 

Please, please, take a performance driving class! It will teach you all these things. And slaloms are fun! You will have a great time.

 

Thanks Mike, I will definatly book now for the end of February.