My previous sports/sporty cars have all understeered. That made it easy to get into a corner near the limit, then steer with the throttle. A little more throttle unloaded the front tires, causing the car to run wider; a little less throttle did the opposite.

With the S, I haven't really gotten the front tires close enough to the limit to steer this way. The problem is that the limit is quite high, and I'm thinking, quite abrupt. Does the S begin to understeer at all when at the limit under neutral throttle?

(Don't tell me about kicking the rear out with the throttle. I can do that easily, but the fronts aren't near their limit and they just keep their grip.)

Denis

 

The 00 and 01 cars had the most steering (oversteer according to the owners that spun it off a cliff...), in 02 and 03 Honda went to softer rear springs and stiffer fronts to take away some steering, in 04 and 05 they went even softer on the rear and stiffer in the front. Your 01 is not set up to understeer with the stock suspension and tires.

 

Yes. (Of course, it all depends on many factors, but yes the S in stock configuration understeers.)

 

It will do as you describe beautifully--throttle control works great near the limit on the track to adjust the turning radius. I've never really experienced it as much before as I did in the S, and I think combined with getting to be a better driver, the S is just balanced right. Little more throttle the car turns wider, a little less and car tightens up nicely.

 

His 2001 suspension is a bit different than yours. His springs are 10% softer in the front and 20% stiffer in the rear, giving him more steering.

OEM:
2000-2001 Front: 218 lbs - Rear: 291 lbs
2002-2003 Front: 240 lbs - Rear: 230 lbs*
2004-2005 Front: 256 lbs - Rear: 207 lbs*

*Calculated based on published % changes from Honda.

 

Try experimenting with more tire pressure in the fronts. Also decreasing the tire width/reduce the contact patch on the fronts.

This should give you the understeer your looking for.

 

Sure, it can understeer on corner entry on neutral throttle. Just have be going fast enough into the corner. It's just that the car has high limits and really needs to be in a track situation to be going fast enough to get there.

The car is already setup for mild understeer. Find a parking lot and do a skid pad test. Setup a circle and drive around holding the line. Slightly add throttle and you will notice the car start to push. You can control the understeer with mild throttle inputs.

 

Thanks.

These answers generally confirm what I suspected. I have to be going in somewhat faster to develop understeer. Damn! This car has a lot of grip.

I was on the track not long after I got the S. Now that I'm more used to it, more track time would undoubtedly be useful.

 

Turn in is one of the best things about the car, next to great feeling side to side transitions.

I also have to improve my driving skills, since I rarely get that kind of understeer and control when I'm in the "zone" on the roadcourse. Otherwise, my survival skills take over and I over brake. I'm much more prone to get the corner entry understeer in autocross, where the risks are much lower, but since the turns are tighter and more abrupt there is little chance adjust. It's just get the turn in or blow the corner.