A few things to everyone here...:

I dun see why it's driver error when he/she drives down the road without doing any major sudden adjustments to his/her steering wheel and all of a sudden the car slips, rear comes around, and crashes into the middle divider on a warm night with the car warmed up and the tires warmed up.

I wouldn't say this thread is meant to point out that there is a need to "Dumb down" the car. My original intention is "what are some ways to modify or change the car a bit for the better" so that it won't have these funky sudden uninformed slips and crashes that people have posted here. Making the car more predictable, safer, and faster around the track is a sin?

Food for thought.. that's all. Let's try not to fight here.

Tks,
Jimmy

 

I've only noticed an increase in "rock throwing" in the last two weeks. Hmmm, I think I see a trend.



Not a very good nor helpful one at that.

 

reply to Jimmy 325

what happened (apparently) to you is exactly what happened to me on July 27th ... driving along at 55 in a 70 on wet pavement and ZAP .. the rear comes around instantly and slams into a retaining wall on the passenger's side of the car .. I've driven all kinds beginning with an old Renault starting in 1964 and this S2000 spin was a first for me. It's an amazing and fun machine, but it does have a quirky tail.

 

bebahru,

Interesting. I don't own an S2000 yet, but I love this little car.

I read this board and found a lot of these crashing stories so I started this thred.

Are you telling me you did nothing but cruize and then all of a sudden ZAP and wrecked?

Jimmy

 

that's pretty much it -- damp pavement -- a banked gradual curve in the road -- going 55 in a 70 and the S2000 began to spin like a top -- clockwise rotation

 

[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.

 

How many miles were on your tires? As I mentioned above, I drove in heavy rain through the mountains (BIG CURVES) on roads marked as 45 and 55 MPH at no less than 80-90 MPH with very fresh tires. Not once did the backend scoot out. I'll tell you one secret though- I had my wife in the car (130 lbs) and probably another 100 lbs in the trunk. That extra weight definitely made a difference in handling characteristics.

To add to that, We nearly did have a terrible accident on that trip. I told the story on another thread, but a big U-HAUL type truck failed to stop at a stop light at a little city in the mountains and barreled through it where we were in the middle- I drop down a gear and stepped on the throttled very hard when I saw it coming and did have the back end scoot out then, but to my advantage because I swung it out the way of the truck and continued driving with full control- the rear end slide was the most predictable and controllable I have felt in my 15 years of driving RWD vehicles. I'm used to driving large unbalanced 8 cyl RWD cars with high torque and high hp.

Where exactly were you driving that they have banked curves with a speed limit of 70mph? What was the Interstate number? And why were you driving 55 in a 70 if the pavement was simply "damp"? Slowing to 55 in a 70 would be a bit out of the normal for damp pavement alone.

-B

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GTRPower
[B]

That is a VERY good statement.

I would also like to add-

A "challenging" car is the last kind of car one would like to race in a wheel to wheel series, or any series for that matter.

 

hmm interesting...the stats sheets I've read in the past for various AutoCross clubs in the area always have the S2000 at the top of its class. It seems to do just fine in competition compared to other cars.

-B

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bguernsey
[B]

How many miles were on your tires?