Having rear wheel drive experience is not enough. You need to have MID ENGINE (and short wheelbase) experience also.

This car sticks so well that when it does break loose it breaks loose at a much higher speed than some might be accustomed to. Also when it goes it wants to spin at a much faster rate (due to the mid engine) like a skater when they pull their arms close to their body.

As you say putting tires that break loose at slower speeds will feel like they are giving more feedback but in reality they are just spreading about the same amount of feedback over a longer period of time because you are going slower. Sure this will give you a higher margin of safety but so will putting a governor on your car. Less capable tires are like putting a governor on the handling capabilities of the S2000.

That being said there is something to be said for driving a "slow" car fast. You get most of the thrills of "driving on the edge" but at much more sane speeds than a car like the S2000 is generating. In effect your idea of putting less capable tires helps to reduce the limits of the S2000 to make the "edge" more accessable to the average driver.

I always tell people who want to get a motorcycle to buy a dirt bike first because (as far as vehicle dynamics) what is going to happen to the bike on pavement will happen to you on dirt but at a much slower and safer speed. The idea of practicing in an empty parking lot with your S2000 after a light snowfall is excellent.

 

LOL..I don't think there's anything wrong with the handling of this car......period. Accept that it's a no-compromise enthusiasts car that in ther wet and on the limit will bite you in the bum due more to your lack of skills than any shortcomings in the car .... I do!!

I've got no problem in slowing down in the wet, and the car satisfies all my performance needs without wanting to do any back end apex sliding on public roads.

Whether I'd have been the same in my 20's, 30's is of course another matter!

If I wipe out now next week though I will post....promise!

 

I'm not trying piss anyone off and suggest I'm sort of fantastic driver because I'm not. I do think as well that it's lot to do with the way you learn to drive in the first place. I saw a Sierra make one of those whippy 90 degree lane changes the other morning in the rain and end up sliding sideways before he managed to correct it. In three lanes of traffic. I see this all the while. The lane change should be anticipated well before hand and a much less acute angle taken to make the change. It's a quicker way of driving anyway, and all comes down to concentration and anticipation, avoiding the sudden steering inputs that caused this guys problem in the first place.

I'm out!

 

Wow, This thread is getting more popular.

Jimmy - If you upsize the wheel and make the tire wider. that might bring the car more unstable in bad weather. Since the contact patch is bigger, therefore there are less mass per fixed area pressing down to the road. It will makes it harder to cut through water puddle or worst SNOW. You are already thinking about getting another set of wheels, you might as well have one for the summer and one for the winter.

I drive my A032R everyday in the summer (except for several weeks when I practice drifting in Gingerman). They are very good tire in the dry. To my surprise, they perform quite well in the rain also. I have drove through thunder storm and heavy heavy rain. The car doesn't get light (I am sure it will with speed). A032R is a rain tire for most of the racing guys. So, it shouldn't be that bad for us.

I know there is one fellow in Grattan driving R1 in the rain. He and I have the same car (although, his is a four door, 325i), same mod (I don't find that very often). He laps everyone on street tire or racing tire. But, when he changed to street tire (late in the day, he wants to leave after that session), we have the same lap time when we both on street tire.

If he can drive R1 (almost no treat at all) in the rain on the track, you can certainly drive A032R in the rain in much slower speed.

Besides, A032R has really stiff side wall. It will stiffen up the suspension by A LOT. That will make S2000 fun to drive.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cedric Tomkinson
[B]I'm not trying piss anyone off and suggest I'm sort of fantastic driver because I'm not. I do think as well that it's lot to do with the way you learn to drive in the first place. I saw a Sierra make one of those whippy 90 degree lane changes the other morning in the rain and end up sliding sideways before he managed to correct it. In three lanes of traffic. I see this all the while. The lane change should be anticipated well before hand and a much less acute angle taken to make the change. It's a quicker way of driving anyway, and all comes down to concentration and anticipation, avoiding

 

RE: Tires & Weels. I had 17in Fittipaldi w Pirelli P7000. They lasted 10k with 4 autocross days of double runs. I replaced them with Dunlop 9000 and have no complaints at 25k miles.
As far as handling this is how I counter people who say the S is tail happy. Normal sports car, 40mph is find, 45 you start to feel the back end becoming unstable, 50 you spin. The S, same corner, 60mph is fine, 61 you spin. Better performance or more warning, take your pick. BTW, the X brace really helps, IMO. I can only repeat what everyone says regarding track time. I learned an awful lot at the autocross events. Get an experienced driver to go woth you and have him/her drive a lap. You will be amazed what the car is capeable of with an experienced driver.

 

Regarding the comparison between the S2000 and various high-performance BMWs, don't forget that all Bimmers (in the US at least) come standard with automatic skid control. This system clamps down fast to correct oversteer -- a little too fast, IMO, based on my test-drive of a Z3. Furthermore, you can turn it off but it resets on "on" every time you restart the car.

The ASC system exists specifically to spare wankers (like me) from demon oversteer, while giving experts the option of disabling it. Honda may add something like it to the S2000 someday.

 

I must speak. I've been yelling about front wheel drive for years to anyone that will listen. They all say "I love front weel drive!" I say "I hate it. I won't own a car that is front wheel drive!" They think I'm insane. The idea of playing with the car in the snow to learn is excellent and....duh? Who hasn't done this? I skipped school one very snowy day and spent the entire afternoon trying to get up an unplowed road on a steep hill just for the fun of learning to do it. Took me hours. l960 Ford Falcon. My scariest snow experience was in a borrowed front wheel drive, automatic, power steering. Bloody awful combination. So I agree, the front wheel drive nonsense is the origin of most of the younger driver's problems with the car. Along with not paying attention to the car's feel on the road. This is the best handling car I have driven. I have no problems in wet weather. But you must keep the thought in your head that over 50 MPH you are hydroplaning, which is riding on a cushion of water, no matter what you have for a vehicle or what tires are on it! This said, it's the best handling in wet weather too. I do pay attention to conditions though, and see SUV's barreling by me at 85 MPH in the pooring rain, and I just shake my head. This is why airbags and anti-lock brakes were introduced. Without those, much more dead dumb people. Such a shame. I'd rather the stupid just get it over with and off the road. Next we'll be putting mattresses around all the telephone poles to help the stupid survive. But I digress. This is a pissa car that does what it is told to do. Point and shoot. Ya just gotta know how to drive a "correct wheel drive" car.

 

uhhhh, pouring rain rather. Sorry.

 

i dont belive its an unusual number of cases, it is just that no one will report that they had a uneventful drive on their way back home from work. just because it appears that many sk2's are losing control and are crashing doesn not mean there is something else at work here. i say we start a new trend, we all post if we had a great drive, then compare the two numbers together and you will see that it is not a significant amount.