I bought this in Florida and drove it back to Oregon..

Tires I have:

http://www.primewell.com/Tire-Detail..._AS?category=2

And the car is currently stock besides an aftermarket exhaust + staged clutch.

On the way back, google maps routed me through the mountains, and I was too far in to turn back.

I spun out and slid into the median ditch which consists of random weeds, dirt and some gravel. But coated with snow.

Driving in the snow and wet weather, I noticed that my car will sway from one side to another or shake randomly which causes me to go off balance.

I can't remember if this happened also before the incident, but the car looks fine, I drove the remaining 800 miles, without a problem besides the swaying.

Anyone have this issue before?

Also what kind of tires do you recommend for a state that's raining 24/7?

Should I file a claim with my insurance and have the estimate potential repairs?







Thanks,

Sieu

EDIT:

Now that I think about it, it's almost if the front end jerked to the left unexpectedly even though my steering wheel was dead straight. Either that or the rear kicked out to the right.

 

How old are the tires? Had the same feeling when one of the belts went in the tire. Wouldn't surprise me with primewell tires.

 

Tires were likely the main issue, but alignment settings are really important too. Worn tie rod ends on the front can cause some instability in snow conditions, causing front end to sway back and forth. On the rear end I'd say lack of traction would be the main issue. Excessive speed is often the problem in accidents involving snow conditions, particularly if you don't have proper tires for snow/ice. But you know best if you were driving too fast for the conditions.

Get any repairs completed, get a good alignment and have them check all of the suspension parts. I don't drive my car in the rain so I can't really recommend a good wet weather tire, but Tirerack has some good comparisons on their website. One thing I've heard is to avoid Bridgestone S0-2's as once they start to wear down they can get pretty slick. I'm running S0-2's on my car but it almost never sees rain. Get yourself some good tires and keep the shiny side up.

 

No idea, front are new, rears are around 40% or ~8k miles left according to previous owner.

Any recommendations for tires?

It's strange because it feels like I'm having a loose rear end and I'm not confident putting any power down to the ground. I'll be hesitant to go over 45 on wet/snowy roads.

I feel like this is what caused my rear end to slip and caused me to end up in the ditch.

I'll check with my Honda body shop and see what they can do. Coming from a Miata, the S is a lot more powerful, and me being relatively new to RWD, all these things are good to learn!

 

Might be as simple as tire pressures also. This car is very sensitive to different tire pressure so if ones off I could see it causing issues like this.

 

I'll look into this also, because I figured if the tire pressures were correct in a place that was 71 degrees F, and now they're in a place where it's like 40 degrees F the pressure might vary a little since my tires look a little bit flatter than when I bought the car now that you pointed that out.

 

I'd get an alignment ASAP and see what it says. If all the numbers are in spec then I wouldn't worry much about insurance. Then tires + tire pressure play into this a lot.

 

If you've got a summer performance tires ( like the OEM Bridgestones)the compounds are at their worst in wet 35 deg weather, basically being hard and slippery.

I spent a 40 deg/wet day at LRP in my 911 on summer performance tires and many of us were sideways at 40mph.

In addition to all of the good advice above, I'd make sure your tires match your regular intended use ( don't worry about one time events on your ride home)

 

Looks like you're OK but learned about S2000 oversteer in slippery conditions. The pre-2004 (AP1) cars are infamous for snap oversteer. This was adjusted incrementally in 2002, the 2000 and 2001 models being the worst. Seems like every two years afterwards as well. These cars are not for the unwary.

New tires in front and worn on the back certainly didn't help. The reverse is better but you can't swap wheels due to the staggered arrangement. Staggered helps control oversteer but only if all tires grip the same.

The tires on your car are "ultra high performance all season" which is probably about the best type for the conditions you went thru other than pure winter tires. You'll need to check climate conditions where you live to determine what's the best tire for you. Here on the North Coast it's snowing and 20°F (that rumbling noise was the darn snow plow going down my street!) but I've got extreme performance summer tires on the car year round. The car is in storage until April, of course! If you're going to be daily driving your tires need to fit that role and you climate. Tires like mine will outperform yours in the summer. You'll spin out and I won't.

Putting 17" wheels on the car with AP2 OEM tire sizes will help control oversteer. Honda did this in 2004. Used sets of AP2Vx wheels show up here all the time in varying conditions. There are wheel shops that can restore them to pristine condition. Your car needs an immediate 4-wheel alignment (and general check) due to her off road incident. If summer conditions merit it, a new set of 17" wheels and top grade summer tires will add lots to the car's handling. If you're stuck daily driving it save what you have for winter and get a new set for the rear.

-- Chuck

 

Forgot to add:

Mismatched rear tire pressure will make the car wander as you describe. I had a very low leak in my right rear tire and it felt like this. Back to proper pressure and the car was fine. No experience with mismatched front pressure. I now keep a pressure gauge in both cars.

-- Chuck