[QUOTE]Originally posted by bebahru
[B]many of you fail to see the points that are made on these spin outs time and time again on this site --- they can and do happen when driving under the speed limit- not pushing the car-and doing nothing but having two hands on the steering wheel-- when it happens to you, your mind will be changed.

 

A short story:

It must be Honda's Fault
The temperature is 35 degrees Fahrenheit here this morning. I took the CRX-Si out of the garage to go for one last drive before the snow and salt. While driving along with all of the whopping 120 horsepower I noticed I was having problems getting traction. In fact I kept getting sudden severe understeer when I would yank on the steering wheel. And then later I was just driving along when all of a sudden my front tires lost grip. I know it could not have been caused by me tromping on the throttle or the fact that it is cold outside. Oh gee, it must be Honda's fault.

 

 

It's great that we have some many hero drivers out there, but one only needs to check out any of the other forums (under the hood, competition, etc.) and there is story after story of the rear tires loosing grip for many of the racers. The track and autox'ers have all experimented with caster, camber, tire pressure adjustments, larger anti-roll bars, x-bars, etc. to compensate for it. Professionial drivers have commented on the twitchy aspects of the car and the snap oversteer at the higher limits. Also the topic of bump steer issues has been discussed several times. The bulk of those topics were about dry pavement handling issues, so whats so difficult about accepting the fact that whenever a few other conditions are thrown in such as cold tires, rough pavement, wet pavement, icy pavement, curves, etc. that some unexpected things can happen to some experienced drivers. No doubt a lot of the accidents could have been avoided with slower driving, better understanding of the car's potential, driver's school, etc. Its been reported numerous times about how quickly these tires wear out if driven hard. One thing is clear, it's a car that demands respect or it can bite you. A lot of drivers learn that the hard way. Some drivers have never experienced hydoplaning before, some have no RWD experience, some have no idea what a tiger by the tail they have -- but that doesn't make their personal experiences any less important. If they believe its the car -- and it may be -- but, no matter, its their perception and reality. Those of us who have been more fortunate or perhaps more cautious still can't ignore the fact the this car has some handling characteristics that can challenge the very best drivers out there. Hopefully, by sharing these experiences others will benefit.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]It's great that we have some many hero drivers out there, but one only needs to check out any of the other forums (under the hood, competition, etc.) and there is story after story of the rear tires loosing grip for many of the racers.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bieg
[B]


Just because someone isn't big enough to admitt that they screwed up and they wish to blame the car does not mean it is the car's fault.

It IS a hard car to drive well.

 

Maybe -- just maybe we just might be getting somewhere in this discussion --- I'm no racer -- the rear end of my S2000 lost it doing 55mph in a 70mph curve (damp pavement) -- the car instantly spun 300 degrees into a concrete bridge retaining wall --
it happened so quickly it still amazes me 3.5 months later. It was a warm July afternoon -- the car had been on the road an hour -- nothing was cold about this situation.

I still do not understand the logic of those that always place the blame on the driver when it comes to this vehicle ... I've been driving all kinds of cars since 1964 and this was a first for me.
Yes, I do not pretend to be a race driver ... however, I did not see any warning sticker on this vehicle at the Honda showroom, nor was there any inkling early on that this was a car with a quirky rear.

Those that continue to blame the drivers will do so until this happens to them.

Simply, Honda needs to work with us on understanding what if anything can be done to stabilize the rear. It's not the 225 SO-3's.
I've tried that.

 

Well a 70mph curve I would guess is a quite gradual one. I'm having difficulty imagining the forces that would need to be acting on the car to induce a near 360 spin, or more, (The spin was stopped prematurely when you hit the wall presumably) if it was indeed a 70 mph bend and you were only travelling at 55 mph.

Did you lift off the revs I wonder when the back end went out?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]

"You can get some corners right, but if you're out just a little bit on the others, it gets nervous and jerky."

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bebahru
[B]

I still do not understand the logic of those that always place the blame on the driver when it comes to this vehicle ... I've been driving all kinds of cars since 1964 and this was a first for me.
Yes, I do not pretend to be a race driver ... however, I did not see any warning sticker on this vehicle at the Honda showroom, nor was there any inkling early on