Jguerdat - I agree with what you say but the thing about the MR2 was not that you could not get the back out, but that you could go though the corner so much faster. You could get the back out on it, it just required a lot more cornering speed (ie. g-forces). The S2000 in the forementioned instance (in the wet) could not get any cornering speed and could not put the power down without breaking the back lose ... there was just no way to get speed out of it as the car was going sideways at what I'd call pretty slow speeds. Though, as I said, this could have been an issue with very spippery roards that day - it does happen and I've noticed conditions like that with the MR2 sometimes. I just do not have a reference point in the S2000. I'm hoping that the S2000 can do better than that (a lot better).

 

The fact that the MR2 turbo is in the same autocross class as the S2k (A Stock) as well as the fact that the S2k is doing very well against the one-time class leader MR2 indicates that the S2k has no problem with accelerating through a turn. Yes, a large front sway bar is needed to help control oversteer as well as lifting the inside rear tire but the comparison holds.

Your particular problem of a very slippery condition (we still don't know what the actual problem is although, since you're the only one that has encountered this particular situation, it's obviously not the car or the stock tires) requires investigation of what REALLY happened. The inability to put power down at 3K RPM is not normal so something else must be the cause. Until that is determined, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Rest assured that in normal traction situations, the S2K is very much the equal of the MR2. Different characteristics, to be sure, but the end result is the same...

 

The LSD in a RWD car gives the rear end more tendency to step to one side in slippery conditions. Since your MR2 did not have an LSD, the one wheel that loses grip will just spin but the rear stays pretty planted. In a car with an LSD, the power gets transfered to the side with the grip - thus provides the side stepping feeling that you get.

 

I agree with S2Ktaxi;

We had this discussion and it is the LSD.

http://www.s2000online.com/forums/showthre...p?threadid=8294

 

I agree with the fact that having no LSD gives you more grip (but more snappiness). Though, I have been in a lot of cars with LSD and I never though that there was no rear-end grip (even in the wet). Also, what I had here was no "little side step" - I was getting some 'nice' lenghtly rear-wheel slides.

Though, as I said, hopefully it was just the roard conditions and nothing more.

 

We had some more rain here so I got to see how the S2000 does in the wet again. I'm pleased to say that things were nowhere as bad as I rememer them a week ago ... then, my back was stepping out in 2nd gear while pulling about 3k revs. Things were still spippery, but not to that extent. I could not get the back to step out in 2nd at low revs ... definatelly not at 3k. In 1st gear things are different - above 5k revs the back is all over the place ... though, that's understandale as the car is generating about 120kW (160hp) and that is more than enough power to break traction (in particualr in the wet). Though, bellow 3k things were pretty stuck to the road.

If I accclerated hard from the start (1st gear) then I could feel sometimes one of the rear wheels slipping as the tyres struggled for traction. Though, I wasn't standing still and spinning wheels like last time.

So, for the moment, I'd say that the roards must have been really spippery the 'other' day and that's why the back of the car was all over the place and that's without trying at all. Today in the wet the car was ehaving on the road unless I conciously tried to get the back out or had 5k+ revs and cornering reasonaly hard.

For anyone not used to S2000 in the rain I'd say be very carefull of the back when feeding the car moe than 5k revs ...rememer that you're pumping out 120kw+ (160hp) then.

 

David, definitely our slippery roads mate. By comparison purposes I find the Stook is pretty good in the wet. When I had my old live rear axle Pontiac all you had to do was rev to 2k and the back end would try to overtake the front in similar conditions.

Hopefully by today all the grease has ben washed off the road surface.