Wanting to get back into a high quality/precision sports car, currently in a '03 Cobra, an '04 S is my top runner at this point.
If you know anything about the latest Cobra, you can see my concern about the lack of power oversteer, which I now can't live without - best thing about the Cobra!
The key word being POWER oversteer, as in power induced (driftable) 2nd gear oversteer.
Is there hope? 4 cylinder, no low end torque, wider 245 tires
(Someone save me from buying another Cobra (yes I've had 2) or worse the new Mustang GT, bang-for-the-buck that it is)

 

Yes, any year S2000 can induce power oversteer in pretty much any of the first few gears.

 

You have to urge it a bit since it's no torque monster but it certainly will drift nicely. Good for positioning in autocross and on the track. I don't bother with it on the street 'cause I'm not that stupid...

 

[QUOTE=aficionado,Jan 17 2005, 09:12 AM] The key word being POWER oversteer, as in power induced (driftable) 2nd gear oversteer.
Is there hope?

 

I realize it's a very neutral car which is what I want.

After reading Miata.net for 5 years I got a Miata; bought into the light car, lazer quick reflexes. It was very neutral as well - great at autocrossing, BUT I had to be cornering at 10/10s, full throtle, and max rpms to sustain any length of slide at all.

On most of my spirited backroad driving it was not fun and even dangerous. I don't want to get back into the same situation. I can place the back end of the Cobra wherever I want, whenever I want, for however long I want. I'm just tired of it being a pig in every other sense.

 

^^^ you WILL crash the S2000 IMO if you do that.

Some cars are easier to hold a drift on, the S2000 isn't the easiest in the world.

The RX8 is easy to hold the drift so it's nothing to do with torque, it's car balance and setup. Maybe the '04 is easier to hold than previous I'm not sure.

But from what I've read and seen, a mustang is easier to hold sideways than an S2000 for sure.

Anytime I get sideways in the S I get it straight ASAP before it goes the wrong way around.

 

it's not the balance, because the s2000's balance is perfect. it's in the steering and the suspension set-up. the rx-8 is looser, so it can hold a slide. the s2000 is set up for a track and to get through the turn faster, not to slide around. that's why they effectively make the RS*R s2000 drift car "sloppier" by using an RX-7 rack and pinion.

i've only ever been able to get the s2000 to slide during 1st and 2nd gear and that was due more to speed and angle, not "power-over".

 

I drove a Miata once, and it did not have the power to overcome the soft springs and break the tail loose. At least not easily.

I have not driven an '04 into oversteer, but I have driven my '03 (with less torque) quite a bit. It is not difficult to get into oversteer, but it can get tricky to get OUT of oversteer. The car will hold it's line VERY well, but once the tail comes out, it likes to keep going until it's facing the other way. (This is the voice of experience.)

I can powerslide my old 1997 Trans Am for BLOCKS and it will just hang there with very little effort.

My memory is not 100% today so I might get this backwards, but I know a change was made to the sway bars on the '04s. This was made to help keep the car from that "snap" oversteer all the magazines like to write about. You MIGHT have better luck powersliding an '04-'05 over an '02-'03, but I wouldn't expect it to be THAT big of a difference.

 

Honestly, research the RSR S2000 Drift car like someone mentioned earlier...they redid the suspension in it to upset the balance of the car. Traditionally it gets it's cornering speed through traction, so the goal is to always keep the tires hooked up. Breaking traction provides a near impossible to control drift...some may say that they can control it, but certainly not on the street. It's very easy to slip up if ur over 20 mph. My two cents...

 

Yes, speaking of the 02-05 models I can pretty much place the rear end wherever I want, whenever I want. To expand a bit upon wing's comments though, I believe he was talking about the "for however long I want" part of your statement. He's probably right, you'd probably end up with a wrecked S trying that too often. The thing is the S "wants" to grip and "go" somewhere. Like I stated I can pretty much get the thing completely sideways and be in complete control of it (as much as you can be "in control" of a car moving sideways anyway), but at that point it's either go all the way around or give it the corrective countersteer and once you do that it straightens up in a hurry. The car has great manners while doing so, it just does it rather quickly compared to what your coming from. Where the car really shines though is how crisp and well mannered it is while stepping the rear end out ever so slightly to "pivot" around tight bends.