This evening was raining, about 65F. When arriving to work , I always get from the parallel accesory road to the open parking lot through a short wide entrance, which I always use as a "chicane" (quick left then right). Never had a problem in my Civic (no matter how fast). No problem in the Stook either. But today was a different story (wet). I was getting in relatively slow (3rd gear, 4k rpm), turn left, and when I turned right under mild acceleration, wow, the back end snaps loose to the left, which I catched with almost full oposite lock to the right. The car answered back sending the back end, this time, to the right side, which I was lucky to catch too. I was relieved I had enough space to maneuver.
I had the car for 6 days and 900 miles and this is my second sudden oversteer experience. The first one bringing the car from Michigan in a cold, salty highway entrance, in third gear at only 3,000 rpm!!! Is this the normal behavior of the car or am doing something wrong?
Anyhow I love this car and my priority number one will be to go the MidOhio Performance Driving School.

 

Check for spring spacers your dealer may have overlooked, and make sure your tires have the right pressures. If everything's OK, definitely do the driving school! (Note -- I'm not being facetious here. I intend to do the same, this year hopefully.)

 

sorry dude but glad you recovered. I think most of us have done it at least once. The car is not happy in the wet, especially standing water, and the rear end reacts first. I'm doing the perfomance driving school thing in April. hey , cant hurt, and gotta be fun. Happy motoring!

 

Well all I can offer from my non expertise point of view: you now have had a great learning experience. Now with every questionable corner you take, be expecting over steer so you can actively work with the car instead of reacting to the unexpected.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tox
[B]Check for spring spacers your dealer may have overlooked, and make sure your tires have the right pressures.

 

What is that Shin-Etsu Silicone grease for anyway?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Naka

Quote:

Originally posted by Tox
...Regarding tire pressures, I checked it 2 days ago: 32 psi, although the temperature has rised at least 15F since then. Will that cause over or understeer?

32 psi would go up a few percent, maybe to 33 or 34 psi, with a 15 degree rise. That won't make any difference to anyone but Michael Schumacher.

What I was thinking of was that one of your rears might be significantly lower than the other. This reduces the rolling radius on that side, and the Torsen differential unsettles the car by steering toward the side with the deflated tire. In the wet, this could start a spin. But if your tires were the same pressure, that's not it.

 

That's the grease that Honda recommends in the manual to mantain the rubber seal between the top and the winshield and windows. You are supposed to apply it every 3 to 6 months to prevent cracking and leaking (Honda part number 08798-9013). You can find a lot of information like this in the S2Ki site (FAQ). It's excellent for new owners (like me).

 

Racing school for me in the near future. Never had an unexpected oversteer experience yet. However, in a car like this, I will not be able to get the most out of it if my driving skills stay at the present level. I sat in another one of the member's car once. He did a U turn with a planned tail slide. The car felt as if it pivot around the front wheels. There was no drama about it either. He had attended racing school.

 

You mentioned you had successfully negotiated this same wet-pavement turn in your Civic. Maybe your inexperience with RWD contibuted to the problem. Perhaps with a little more stick time and a stint in a good driver's school you'll get the hang of it.