S2K in the rain...
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From: maui
Originally Posted by JeremyM,Oct 7 2005, 05:02 AM
this car will do what you tell it to, it's a matter of telling it to do the right things.
ive noticed this....it does exactly what you want it to. you better know damn well what your telling it to do though.
AWD doesnt help much with 450+ HP either. it likes to swap ends quickly too.
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From: Jenks, OK
+1 on different tires wreaking havoc...I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S out back and S-02s up front....really toys with the balance and handling of the car! I've already done a 765 getting of a highway...in the dry!
Sure, the S and AWD cars handle the same, if you drive slow and careful. Coming from an STi I can definitely say that they are two apart. I used to speed up in the rain in the STi, now I have to slow down....kinda scared, actually!
Sure, the S and AWD cars handle the same, if you drive slow and careful. Coming from an STi I can definitely say that they are two apart. I used to speed up in the rain in the STi, now I have to slow down....kinda scared, actually!
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From: Cary, NC
All of the pre-04 folks should keep in mind that the original poster is driving an 04+. The OEM RE050's on the 04+ are much better rain tires than the OEM S-02's on pre-04's.
Of course, once the RE050's start getting low on tread, your back in the same boat. There's no getting around the fact that this is a light RWD car with wide rear tires. Also, a typical S2000 alignment has quite a bit of rear toe-in. Great for taming the rear end a bit during high-speed cornering on dry track. Not so great for driving in the rain on the interstate.
The following is from the Tire Rack Alignment Info Page:
Anyway, the cold hard truth is that an S2000 with stock tires and alignment is not designed to drive at highway speeds during heavy rain. It is designed to corner magnificently in dry conditions, and I think most here would agree that it meets those design goals very well.
If you want better rain handling, you can get better rain tires and change to a less aggressive alignment. However, you will be sacrificing dry handling. You can't have both.
Of course, once the RE050's start getting low on tread, your back in the same boat. There's no getting around the fact that this is a light RWD car with wide rear tires. Also, a typical S2000 alignment has quite a bit of rear toe-in. Great for taming the rear end a bit during high-speed cornering on dry track. Not so great for driving in the rain on the interstate.
The following is from the Tire Rack Alignment Info Page:
Excessive toe settings often bring with them drivability problems, especially during heavy rain. This is because the daily pounding of tractor trailers on many highways leave ruts that fill with water. Since excessive toe means that each tire is pointed in a direction other than straight ahead, when the vehicle encounters a puddle that causes only one tire to lose some of its grip, the other tire's toe setting will push (excessive toe-in) or pull (excessive toe-out) the vehicle to the side. This may make the vehicle feel unsettled and very "nervous."
If you want better rain handling, you can get better rain tires and change to a less aggressive alignment. However, you will be sacrificing dry handling. You can't have both.
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From: Mt. Pleasant, SC
Originally Posted by DrCloud,Oct 7 2005, 07:44 AM
It's obvious to me that the rain-related crashes are purely cases of driver error. For all those folks, and for everyone who complains about this car: LEARN TO DRIVE!!!
HPH
HPH
Great "rant." Its not like the car crashes itself. 99.999999% of the time it is due to the driver who sometimes makes the idiotic move of coming here on the board to try to blame it on the car. You aren't telling us anything we don't know so get off your high horse...
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From: Dunbar,PA
Originally Posted by carpe diem,Oct 7 2005, 09:41 AM
If you can't give the car the "slightest" addition of gas to make a standing right turn, how the "bleep" do you handle the car at all. These threads are driving me crazy 
I think I'll trade it in on a Lincoln Town Car. Please, helpful advice would be appreciated. "Learn to drive" doesn't tell me how to make a right turn without the use of the throttle. Just me...nevermind. 
I think I'll trade it in on a Lincoln Town Car. Please, helpful advice would be appreciated. "Learn to drive" doesn't tell me how to make a right turn without the use of the throttle. Just me...nevermind. 
The Lincoln Town Car has traction control. There is no need to learn how to use the throttle... Unless you switch it off. 
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From: Irvine, SoCal
Originally Posted by UNC04SuzukaBlue,Oct 7 2005, 10:34 AM
All of the pre-04 folks should keep in mind that the original poster is driving an 04+. The OEM RE050's on the 04+ are much better rain tires than the OEM S-02's on pre-04's.
Of course, once the RE050's start getting low on tread, your back in the same boat. There's no getting around the fact that this is a light RWD car with wide rear tires. Also, a typical S2000 alignment has quite a bit of rear toe-in. Great for taming the rear end a bit during high-speed cornering on dry track. Not so great for driving in the rain on the interstate.
The following is from the Tire Rack Alignment Info Page:
Anyway, the cold hard truth is that an S2000 with stock tires and alignment is not designed to drive at highway speeds during heavy rain. It is designed to corner magnificently in dry conditions, and I think most here would agree that it meets those design goals very well.
If you want better rain handling, you can get better rain tires and change to a less aggressive alignment. However, you will be sacrificing dry handling. You can't have both.
Of course, once the RE050's start getting low on tread, your back in the same boat. There's no getting around the fact that this is a light RWD car with wide rear tires. Also, a typical S2000 alignment has quite a bit of rear toe-in. Great for taming the rear end a bit during high-speed cornering on dry track. Not so great for driving in the rain on the interstate.
The following is from the Tire Rack Alignment Info Page:
Anyway, the cold hard truth is that an S2000 with stock tires and alignment is not designed to drive at highway speeds during heavy rain. It is designed to corner magnificently in dry conditions, and I think most here would agree that it meets those design goals very well.
If you want better rain handling, you can get better rain tires and change to a less aggressive alignment. However, you will be sacrificing dry handling. You can't have both.
We had quite a bit of rain last winter in So. Cal. and my 04 handles on the rain soaked streets as well as my other rear wheel cars: E430 and LS400. On highway while it rained very hard, I was able to drive a little faster than traffic without any drama. On surface streets, I kept engine speed at 3000-3500 rpm or less most of the times and accelerated mederately, I had no wheel spin nor the tail tried to get out on me.
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From: San Diego
Having moved to Cali from Canada and having witnessed the idiotic driving I see out here during rain, I'm tempted to say it's driver error.
Most of the people I've seen driving in the southwest in bad weather continue to drive their cars as if it were 80 and sunny...
I've had lots of fun with my S in the rain and it handles just fine.
Funny how all the people who bitch about this are usually not from the northeast or Canada. Their S2ki info usually lists them as being from Cali or Az or TX...
When I drove out here 4 years ago, It snowed in Oklahoma and people where passing me on the highway. I remember thinking "I'm from Canada and used to snow and I'm going 75, how are these fools who've almost never seen snow passing me going 85" sure enough, down the road they'd be seesawing the center divider. I saw more crashes on a 50 mile stretch of highway that day than I have in my life. Amazingly one of the only cars that passed me and didn't crash was a Viper. That guy must have known what he was doing cause even I wouldn't be caught dead going 90 in snow in a Viper...
Most of the people I've seen driving in the southwest in bad weather continue to drive their cars as if it were 80 and sunny...
I've had lots of fun with my S in the rain and it handles just fine.
Funny how all the people who bitch about this are usually not from the northeast or Canada. Their S2ki info usually lists them as being from Cali or Az or TX...
When I drove out here 4 years ago, It snowed in Oklahoma and people where passing me on the highway. I remember thinking "I'm from Canada and used to snow and I'm going 75, how are these fools who've almost never seen snow passing me going 85" sure enough, down the road they'd be seesawing the center divider. I saw more crashes on a 50 mile stretch of highway that day than I have in my life. Amazingly one of the only cars that passed me and didn't crash was a Viper. That guy must have known what he was doing cause even I wouldn't be caught dead going 90 in snow in a Viper...
Joined: Mar 2001
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And if he were to drive the S through a wet curve at 30 mph he would know right away that our beloved S2000 doesn't perform in the rain as well as an AWD vehicle would.
If the S2000, equiped in whatever way it is equipped at the time, can't go through ANY wet curve at 30 mph, then it should just MAYBE go through it at 26.5 mph or 23.8 mph or 20.3 mph. Of course, this becomes a decision that the DRIVER makes. Why in the hell would a sane driver want to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph when the car CAN'T do it in complete safety. If it's so important to you to do this, then drive the AWD through that curve. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT CARS!
If I had that same AWD vehicle, should I get all bent out of shape because it can't keep up with an S2000 at an auto-X? Should I be annoyed because on any given braking test on dry ground, it might not be able to stop in the same distance? Or should I blame the AWD car and kick its door panel in if it can't achieve the same lateral g's as an S2000? You speak as though it's your God given right to be able to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph regardless of what kind of vehicle you are in and regardless of the kinds of tires it has. Now please, remember that subject of COMMON SENSE that was covered earlier?
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From: San Diego
Originally Posted by TR-S2K,Oct 7 2005, 10:24 AM
We had quite a bit of rain last winter in So. Cal. and my 04 handles on the rain soaked streets as well as my other rear wheel cars: E430 and LS400. On highway while it rained very hard, I was able to drive a little faster than traffic without any drama. On surface streets, I kept engine speed at 3000-3500 rpm or less most of the times and accelerated mederately, I had no wheel spin nor the tail tried to get out on me.
My car (and it's tires) was brand new when we got all that rain last year. There was thread after thread of "lost" S2k's in Cali but I never had a problem with mine. I enjoyed the rain cause it allowed me to get the rear out more easily and have some fun, but it never got away from me by accident.
People just need to learn not to shift at redline in the middle of a sweeping on-ramp while it's raining IMO.
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From: Charlotte
Originally Posted by xviper,Oct 7 2005, 10:27 AM
You have just GOT to be kidding, right? Why would you even use such a lame comparison? I won't even go into the reasons why. I think most intelligent people here already know.
If the S2000, equiped in whatever way it is equipped at the time, can't go through ANY wet curve at 30 mph, then it should just MAYBE go through it at 26.5 mph or 23.8 mph or 20.3 mph. Of course, this becomes a decision that the DRIVER makes. Why in the hell would a sane driver want to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph when the car CAN'T do it in complete safety. If it's so important to you to do this, then drive the AWD through that curve. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT CARS!
If I had that same AWD vehicle, should I get all bent out of shape because it can't keep up with an S2000 at an auto-X? Should I be annoyed because on any given braking test on dry ground, it might not be able to stop in the same distance? Or should I blame the AWD car and kick its door panel in if it can't achieve the same lateral g's as an S2000? You speak as though it's your God given right to be able to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph regardless of what kind of vehicle you are in and regardless of the kinds of tires it has. Now please, remember that subject of COMMON SENSE that was covered earlier?
If the S2000, equiped in whatever way it is equipped at the time, can't go through ANY wet curve at 30 mph, then it should just MAYBE go through it at 26.5 mph or 23.8 mph or 20.3 mph. Of course, this becomes a decision that the DRIVER makes. Why in the hell would a sane driver want to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph when the car CAN'T do it in complete safety. If it's so important to you to do this, then drive the AWD through that curve. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT CARS!
If I had that same AWD vehicle, should I get all bent out of shape because it can't keep up with an S2000 at an auto-X? Should I be annoyed because on any given braking test on dry ground, it might not be able to stop in the same distance? Or should I blame the AWD car and kick its door panel in if it can't achieve the same lateral g's as an S2000? You speak as though it's your God given right to be able to drive through a wet curve at 30 mph regardless of what kind of vehicle you are in and regardless of the kinds of tires it has. Now please, remember that subject of COMMON SENSE that was covered earlier?
So when the original post said they handled the same in the rain I was just pointing out that they wouldn't. Outside of that I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
I'm not the one comparing the two, the original post did.