less than 50 miles on the odometer, great price ($28,500), and it's fuuuuun to drive.

i have a couple questions.

1) when going around a gradual curve, if i give it some gas, the car understeers somewhat...is that normal? i've never owned a RWD car (FWD: nissan altima, acura rsx, acura tsx), so i'm not sure if it is or not. i did get the rear end to kick out going around a roundabout in 2nd gear, which was a blast.

2) my temperature gauge was wrong yesterday (showing 65 degrees when it was about 74 according to weather.com). tonight it was around 70-72 and that is the correct temperature outside right now. in general, how accurate is your temperature reading?

3) my oil life indicator still says 100%, but there are like 150 miles on the car. is this normal? i'm thinking it should at least say like 95% or so.... do you think that is broken?

a couple pics:

 

1. Compare to those FWD cars the S shouldnt understeer anything like them. Unless your tires didnt warm up yet.. but then again the tires arent even broken in yet. I hope you not reving past 6000rpms either.. no vtec till 600 miles on the odo.

2. Its not 100% but weather.com isnt on the dot either.

3. I wouldnt change oil via what it tells you on that thing.. just change the oil every 3000 miles or every 3 months if your using regular oil.
and if its kept in storage over the winter change the oil before starting it up during the spring.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the S!

 

1. Even though the S is more prone to oversteer than most cars on the market, it will still understeer in certain situatuions. You just got learn how to drive the car better, that way you can avoid understeer in future
2. Who cares
3. First of all the oil life indicator goes down by 10% intervals until you reach 20%, then it goes down intervals of 5%. So the indicator will never shoe 95%. Don't worry that it has not gone down yet, i am sure in a few hundred more miles in will drop down to 90%.

Good luck with your new car. I just but the same car (07 NFR) a few months ago and its a blast once you get beyond break in.

 

thanks for your thoughts. it isn't major understeer; i'm thinking that maybe the tire pressure might be low in the tires? it grips the road fine, but it tends to vary the angle of my turn if i mash the gas, then come completely off of it and coast. do you know what i mean? if i'm coasting and turning at 20 degrees to the left, and then i hit the gas, the turn ends up being only like 15 degrees as i'm accelerating (i'm exaggerating because it isn't that big but it's still noticeable).

would underinflated tires cause this? i can just pick up a tool tomorrow and check anyway, i suppose. i'm so completely paranoid about the car, like, what if the dealer sat there with it idling for hours and just turned the wheel to the right and left while it was stationary? that wouldn't be good for the car.

gah! expensive toys make me worry almost as much as they bring me joy.

 

First off.... You need to quit coasting and hitting the gas in the middle of turns. Your asking for trouble and it will find you soon.

Under inflated rear tires can cause some understeer. Check to see if you need to add a few more lbs in the rear.

 

[QUOTE=SIIK2NR,Aug 22 2007, 10:04 PM] First off....

 

honestly, i would like a fellow S2000 driver to drive mine around the block, and i would also like to drive theirs to see if their car does the same thing that mine does. any takers in the DC area?

 

It sounds to me like you are just feeling the weight transfer on the car. I came from mostly FWD cars also(RSX Type S). The RWD just has a different feel b/c it transfers the power back to the rear as you excelerate. This gives the illusion that your steering has changed. I notice it on interchange ramps where you are going pretty good and then have to slow down behind someone and then excelerate once they decide to move.

 

I know exactly what you are talking about, I also came from the FWD family(civic hatch). First of all, what you are doing is going to get you hurt if you keep doing it....try this..go into your turn at a decent speed(if you know the turn and its limits) brake in a straight line before your turn in, then turn(notice foot is off the gas here..) and go through the turn without punching the gas again, once you have past the apex and begin to go straight again you can punch it..you will notice the car will stay real smooth if you do this right. Then later on you will begin to push the envelope a little more and get more advanced, but this helped me a ton coming from FWD to a RWD sports car.

What you are doing is upsetting the car, when you go into a turn the weight is going to be on the front wheels(and trust me the S WILL stick!) but then you are pressing the gas mid turn which is inturn taking the weight off the front again and causes the car to push, understeer, and I have notice it can actually snap back kind of violently and if you dont know what your doing it will eventually cause you to crash.

I dont know if I explained it correctly(or atleast how I am thinking in my mind) its a little harder to explain when your not face to face.

 

well, you're right that i'm not used to RWD. but, it happens enough that i have to correct my direction by compensating with the steering wheel, so it isn't an illusion...

also, if i am on a very slight curve and rowing the gears, i can feel the nose of the car wanting to go more straight each time i get back on the gas. picture this: the wheel is turned to the right 5 degrees, and i'm shifting from 2nd to 3rd. when i get off the gas and disengage the clutch, the car itself will immediately turn as if the wheel were at 6 or 7 degrees to the right, without moving the steering wheel. when the car goes into 3rd gear and i'm back on the gas, the car goes back to that 5 degree turn line (what i perceive to be understeer).

this is similar to my old RSX in that if i were understeering, i would let off the gas and the nose of the car would just tuck in and i could hold my line by just coasting.

and no, i am not a noob stick driver....i took my road test on a '95 altima back in 1998, and have been driving stick cars ever since, albeit, all FWD.

i guess my question is this: does this behavior happen to anyone else in their S2000s? can someone do me a favor next time they're driving? on gentle curves, on dry pavement, going the speed limit, press the throttle, then take your foot off, then give it gas again. does the car's line stay absolutely true to where you're steering, or do you have to compensate with the steering wheel?

thanks!