Today I decided to drive my s2000 to work , I come outside to my lovely car start it up begin my trip . In the first few minutes of my drive it begins to rain , not too light not to hard. In the first part of my drive it’s fine , nice and planted like the go kart I know it to be . THEN I hop on the highway and have one of the most confusing driving experiences of my short 19y/o life . I’ve driven many cars and far more sketchy cars ( 240s with welded diffs ) in the rain quite foolishly . So , on the highway I’m barely even cruising along doing maybe 40-50 in 60-70 mph sections the the highway . My car begins doing this unexplainable swaying motion , became this twitchy attitude filled beast I had never seen before . The roads were wet on surface but no puddles or crazy down pour and I kept getting this twitchy/swaying motion , like the core was just pulling from under me and my steering input became much Moreno intense any slight motion of the wheel would cause some unsteadiness . This would go away but only once I drove in the 20s-30s ( on a highway ... ) .. I’ve never expiernced anything like this , Is this normal for an ap1 or should I do something to counter this ? My car is completely stock , suspension , wheels , etc I am on Yokohama s Drive tires stock spec . Any suggestions or input ?

 

How worn is your tires? Is your car stock? Mine has done that on occasion when the road transitions from asphalt to concrete in the rain. Seems to be worse when the rear tires are more worn.

Similarly to you, my other cars don't seem to do that. My S2k is lowered and has a aftermarket wheels which give it a bigger ratio of front to rear size. I always assumed it was due to being lowered, or the wheels and tires I chose

I've come to expect it, so its not scary anymore.


Cliff notes: Mine does this but its lowered and on aftermarket wheels, only does this on road material transition, mainly to concrete.

 

check your alignment.


rear needs zero toe. When I got my S it had slight rear toe in, and it was sketchy as **** on the highway in the rain(01 ap1)

zero toe and planted, but still don't like driving in the rain. lol

 

i also noticed it only happened or was much worse when the roads transitioned to the more newer parts of the highway , the older parts where it’s the like concrete material it seemed to handle much better but once I got on the newer sections of smooth asphalt I guess it got MUCH worse ; you think this may just be traction problem .

 

i plan on getting some coils and wheels so I may do that after that’s done , I’m not sure of the actual setup of everything at the moment . Have had the car a little over a month

 

As a sasoned motorcycle rider, how has learned the habit of "read the road" over the years, i may add that it sometiemes is just unavoidable, because of the lousy quality of the road. Especially the black bitumen - tar patches often used to repair potholes have alomst zero grip in the wet.
Maybe this is a part oft the problem?

And the Yokoham S drive looks to be not the best tire in rain:
https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Yokohama/S-Drive.htm

Add to this factors a allignenmt of the car that needs a readjustmend, and you have the reciept for Disaster.

 

I've had an AP1 and an AP2. I either keep good tires on mine or don't drive in the rain for the most part. I've been on pretty bald RE71s in the rain on the highway in my AP1 though and have never felt anything like what you're describing. Both of my cars have felt rock solid in the rain and have been completely predictable. I wholeheartedly disagree with the zero toe idea in the rear too. I ran between .5 and .6 degrees total toe in on the rear of my AP1 and it was great. I will say that I could feel some instability in the rear over significant highway bumps but nothing that ever scared me. Tires and alignment should fix what you are describing. If they do not, you need to get your care inspected much further as something is drastically wrong.

 

im sure it’s just tires because I take my car through mountain passes pushing pretty hard and it’s planted solid , I’ve never experienced this until this morning . I got new wheels coming and I think the new tires also should fix the problem . Also upon inspection I’m sure these tires could be replaced

 

You should get an alignment simply as a matter of best practice when putting on a new set of tires.

Tires (and maybe alignment) should fix it. My ap2 is absolutely planted in the rain. S04 tires in good shape, lowered slightly on stock shocks. Stock alignment specs.

 

I have experienced this with heavy rain and worn tires crossing over tar strips and even going over the painted lines on the road you could feel the rear end dancing(I assumed it was the lsd)