I used to own a Miata when they first came out and remembered how they designed the rear wheel steering affect under hard g's, which you could actually feel happening when taking a hard turn by the fact that the rear end would come out a little (similar to throttle over-steer) except that the tires were not sliding, they were "turning". Anyone know if the S2000 was similarly designed? I have only taken a couple of hard g turns so far and have felt the same affect as in the Miata, but could not tell if the tires were "turning" or sliding (at their limit of adhesion). I have not read anywhere where this rear wheel "steering" has been designed into the car.

 

Anyone have any knowledge on this?

 

I owned a 90 Miata and this doesn't ring a bell with me. The car was fairly easy to drive with the tail out...

I don't believe the S2000 has what you're talking about.

 

Nissan for instance has a true 4-wheel steering system (and Mitsubishi too i think):

'Another secret is the brilliant design of the so-called "Super HICAS" 4-wheel steering system. When attacking a corner, the rear wheels will steer in reverse first in order to sharpen the initial steering response. Then, when sensors sense that the car responds to steering, the rear wheels will steer in the same direction as the front wheels, thus immediately introduces rear-tyre slip (oversteering) which can help adjust the attacking angle.'

I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to. Neither the Miata nor the S2000 has such a system. It's perhaps possible that the rear suspension geometry of the S2000 may produce some similar characteristic, but i have not read anything that would indicate that. If it had been a designed-in feature i'm sure Honda would have stressed this in their marketing material.

 

I had a 94 Prelude with 4WS it was quite interesting. It sure made it easier backing into a parking spot.

 

The early 2nd gen RX-7 had passive rear wheel steering. The Miata never had it.

 

Several cars out there have active rear wheel steering systems, like the Prelude 4ws.

As far as passive systems go, VW's come to mind. I had this in my GTI some years ago; it made the car very nimble. The s2k does not have this, or if it does, it does not create similar handling characteristics as the GTI.

 

All 4ws systems were inferior to Honda's 4ws system introduced in 4th gen Preludes from '91 to current.

The original 4ws systems were "step" systems that had predetermined amount of yaw on the rear wheels, this included systems from Porsche, Nissan, Mitsu, Honda (from '88 model years to '91).

In '91 Honda released their newer version of 4ws that totally controlled the rear wheels independently of the front wheels using a true variable steering rate and rake. This appeared in '91 and above Preludes in Japan and parts of Europe. Prior to this, 4ws systems were controlled either hydraulically or through the use of gears in conjuction of the front wheel steering rates.

The newer system is/was so radically different from what was on the market, that Honda still has a patent on the mere idea of the system (intellectual property). They also own the other 9 patents that make this version of 4ws work. Don't quote me on this but once their patents on the 4ws system run out, I'll bet other manufactures will start offering similar systems on their cars.
Kinda reminds me of VVTi, zetec, Vortec, and other variable valve timing systems that Honda had pioneered/ revolutionized on their VTEC engines.

The reason 4ws was discontinued here in the states was because Americans weren't paying for a $3000 premium for 4ws. They could have gotten the VTEC 2.2L for the same $3000 premium. Also another reason 4ws didn't catch on was because Preludes as a whole were never big sellers in the states (fyi: Preludes will be knocked off the Honda line-up come 2002).

This is one reason I envy the Japanese, they can get their Ludes with 4ws AND the 2.2L VTEC.

Luder94
Urmil

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Luder94:
[B]

The newer system is/was so radically different from what was on the market, that Honda still has a patent on the mere idea of the system (intellectual property).