I have a few questions about the s2000. I really want to buy one because I absolutely love the car, however I am concerned about a few things. First, how often does the car lose control? Like how often does it accidently skid or accidently "drift"? My only concern is driving with it and losing control of it. And second what is the best tires for it? Especially for in rainy and snowy situations? Excuse my noobness and not knowing a lot.

 

Sounds like you need to buy a 2006+ model to get VSA. Once you're comfortable driving the car, you can always turn it off...although I always leave mine on. Its actually pretty neat and saved me a few times but I also make close to 400hp to the wheels. I also leave it on at Tail of the Dragon and it doesn't interfere with any of the 318 turns in those 11 miles of twisties.

I will be honest, I don't drive my s2000 in the rain and snow anymore because I've spun out going 75 mph next to a semi in the rain from bad tires on my 04 non VSA model. Granted the tires were my fault....it was still a scary experience looking at those headlights coming toward you and bracing for the car to stop after I did a 180 turn.

Tires you can run 255s like I do on the back and keep them fresh.... Don't ride worn tires and always use summer or performance tires. Check the tires subsection to get good feedback.

Welcome and good luck on getting an s2000. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this kind of fun whether the car is stock or boosted :-) Go get one!

 

"Especially for in rainy and snowy situations."

IMHO, this is not the car you want if you are constantly driving in those kinds of conditions.

 

 

Having owned both an AP1 and AP2, I can say that the car as whole, regardless of the model,does not "accidentally" skid.
It will spin if you do something to cause it, like I did taking an off-camber corner at too high of a speed on worn out tires. (see the common theme here with pwrinxs's story?)
That was the one and only time I ever completely lost control in the AP1 and I'm a pretty aggressive driver.
I had a few other minor instances where the rear end kicked out for a second, but it came back in line mostly on it's own.

It's not an issue of "how often it loses control", it would be "how often will you drive it in a way that makes it lose control". The horror stories of it suddenly spinning out are often due to bad tires, or an overly aggressive maneuver.
If you get one, just drive it easy and give yourself time to get used to it. The more you drive it, the more comfortable you'll be and as you start to drive it harder, you'll start to develop a feel for how it reacts to various situations.
And as we've said, do NOT skimp out on tires. It's one of the more expensive aspects of owning the car - don't cheap out on them, and don't "save money" by driving them beyond their serviceable life.

As for your question about rain, if it rains often where you are, you'll probably want a good all-season tire. I haven't got any specific recommendations for you, but the new Michelin A/S3+ is supposed to be amazing for dry and wet. There is a review from Jim@TireRack in the wheels & tires section.

For snow, you will want a proper snow-tire. Blizzaks, Observes, or X-Ice. If you drive it gently, you can run snow tires during your winter season with/without snow. They tend to do "ok" in the wet also, but just be prepared to have them wear out fast when not driving on actual snow.

 

Tires
Tires
Tires

On any car, best bang for buck performance increase is Tires.

Its not just good tires, its correct tires for conditions, and for the car.

This car is more sensitive to tires than most cars. If tire pressures are off, especially in the rear, you can get all sorts of spooky handling. If tires are worn, you can seem to have good traction, and suddenly it all goes away at once. Notice I didn't say bald tires, just well worn is enough to cause problems.

This car also hates tires with soft Sidewalls. Sometimes you read people review a tire very poorly for this car, when same tire on other cars gets great reviews. Its not enough for tire to be rated well, it has to work for this car. Appropriate compound for conditions you will use it (street, track, summer, rain, winter, or eek, snow), and stiff sidewall appropriate for this car.

Tires move the car. Tires turn the car. Tires stop the car. Appropriate tires are the most important performance 'mod' you can make.

Sent from my SM-G920P using IB AutoGroup

 

A car doesn't lose control. A driver does.

Seriously...an s2000 doesn't have to be any more dangerous than your grandma's Camry. It's all up to that loose nut behind the wheel. Show it some respect, start out slowly, and over time build your confidence and skill handling the car.

If you go out trying to show off for your buddies the first weekend, you may very well have a decent shot at being the next guy to post pics of an s2000 wadded up in a ditch. But if you exercise a reasonable amount of caution and have a healthy self-preservation instinct, there's nothing inherently dangerous about driving an s2000. I've been driving mine for 14 years, and it's never "lost control" without deliberate driver intent. And mine's an '02, with no driver aids beyond ABS.