Look guys, lighten up on this poster. I've driven sports cars for 48 years, and find that the Honda can be a handful, so imagine what it is like for an inexperienced driver. Yes, the car is dangerous, just as a Formula One racer is dangerous. It is not for everyone. There are cars that are just as likely to spin out as the Honda, but they give more warning, and there are others that are more forgiving. A demanding car is a dangerous car for the average driver. I'm just glad that the poster got a valuable lesson in driving at no cost to himself or others, and that is a good thing.

Anyway, I don't take offense at the characterization of the Honda as a dangerous car. Hey, that means that we are really macho! :-)

Zeiss

 

Yup! Gotta be careful in the rain with this little car!

 

learn how to heel toe. try driving at the track without heel toeing -- a mid turn down shift and cluth release will have you backwards on the track in no time... even with sticky tires and dry pavement. it's amazing how sensitive the car's balance is mid turn.

ppl underestimate the fishiness of the car bc they've never had it at it's limits and lost it or saved it. it is a very, very hard car to drive full tilt, and when you do get close to the limits it can be very hard to control. take it to the track and find out... but be safe on the street!

 

Now, but not always. I use to get a kick out of cranking hard into a tight corner and stepping the tail out a little, RIGHT OFF IDLE, when the car was bone stock. It takes very little torque to get the tail out once you're using all the grip up with lateral acceleration, and FI is most certainly NOT required. There's just so much grip available, and when it's all being used in cornering there just isn't any left for acceleration.

I also think the TC would make for quicker laps, but I'd end up turning it off, because I like to slide the car around, and the best place to do that is on the autocross courses. Where I'd probably benefit is on those occasions when somebody good shows up on street tires. I get more serious about it when somebody else on street tires is beating my times.

Besides, if I put TC on my car it would ultimately only serve to make me a bigger fool. The day would come when I'd turn it off to show my butt, and end up crashing; On that day, the TC would only help me belittle myself, and it's help I won't really need.

 

I have been doing autox for 40 years but since the early 80s I've been driving FWD Accords, so when I got my S, I had to learn how to drive spirited all over again. Now I can at the turn of the green light floor it and make a left or right turn and keep the tail under control just by aiming the steering wheel. It may sound scary but it works. You just need practice.

 

That works as long as you don't hang the tail out too far.

I got out of autocrossing entirely in the early 80's and didn't get involved again until 2004, so I was out of the scene for over 20 years. The month before we took delivery on the S2000 I decided that I wanted to get my feet wet in something easier to drive before autocrossing the S2000, so I ran my wife's E320. I figured that I was old, and out of practice, and could blame it on the inappropriate car if I drove like an ass, but to my surprise I ended up taking first place in F Stock, beating several regulars in Camaro's and Mustang's. Hahaha, I didn't make a fool out of myself until the next month when I showed up in the S2000.

It's really weird to be pushing 60 and still beating kids a third my age on the autocross courses. When I was a kid I could not have taken a guy my age seriously.

 

It was raining, you "pushed it".

You just didn't know how your car would respond to the condition of the road, that's all. I don't think it's your fault.

 

rain = no vtec for me

 

Kids these days

The nice thing about the RaceLogic unit (from what I read on here and their site) is the ability to select a variable amount of slide and know you won't get out of control unless you go too far an physics steps in.

 

I had a similar situation of doing a 180 in dry weather a couple months after I got my S2000. I didn't rev-match, and I was probably going too fast, but mostly becuase I didn't rev match and the engine broke the tires loose. I knew stick cars, but not RWD cars. I learned a good lesson that day to say the least.

Something I completely agree with is that many people here said to take your car to an empty parking lot or something like that. I've drivin my S2000 (2 of them) in the winter, through snow storms and such, for four years. Now, I generally do this at 3:00 AM when there is no traffic, but one of the first things I do when driving in bad weather is push the car hard to learn the limmits. Do the same for brakeing, as this can be an even bigger issue than acceleration in poor weather conditions.
Driving the car hard for a few seconds can "calibrate" your driving style to the current conditions. I'm not saying do 100 in snow and then see how well the car turns or brakes, I'm saying hit the gas from a stop or a slow roll, and press down far until the car brakes loose (in a straight line of course), then try it going around a turn, but where no traffic is. See where your car will let loose, and then back off. The same with brakeing. Slam on the brakes so ABS kicks in and see how long it takes for the car to completely stop.

Either in snow or rain, you can find where the tires will stop functioning. Again, NEVER do this at speeds greater than 15-20 MPH. That's all you'll need for "calibration". In fact I'd go as low as 10 MPH. Once you learn where the limmits are as far as engine rpm, brake time, and where the tires will brake loose in certain conditions, you can adjust that accordingly for higher speeds.

Obviously, drive safely and according to conditions. In case this is misinterprited that I drive my S fast in bad weather, I most certianly do not. . . . but many think I'm crazy for driving it in the winter. (but not anymore! )