Nick Graves, think you got it spot on there.

Ive been experimenting with mine and started cornering hard in the dry. If you take a big roundabout quicky, and come to straighten up on the exit, you get catapulted side to side a bit. This isnt the diff or tres slipping or road surface, its the suspension setup IMO and akin to rear end body roll.

It can be quite bad to the point where the swingback can unsettle the car.

As the back is loaded up on the left side, for example - the spring and shocker will be compressed and there will also be some chassis flex. when you come out of the bend and unload the left side, it seems to be the setup is too "springy" and bounces over to the right, where instead, it should just stop.

I may be wrong but I think the cure would be to stiffen up both ends of the car with braces - and change the shocks and springs. Springs alone may well help, and im going to try Eibachs before long.

I find it great when pottering around, but not great on the limit.

MB

 

Shsikine, ive heard that before with a new STi - the dealers hadn't taken the transportation wedges out and the guy was ready to get rid of it because the ride was so bouncy!

MB

 

DBM,

What you are describing in anti-roll bar snap, I believe.

It can cause people to catch a breakaway one way, but by overcorrecting the steering instead of the throttle (RWS remember!) they lose it the other way.

It is a characteristic, not a defect as such.

I know some poeple speak highly of the Whiteline AR bar upgrades, which may help. Many feel the std. rear AR bar is too stiff, hence the sudden breakaway/oversteer tendency.

 

I thought the review was spot on. They highlighted the correct S2000 weaknesses and seemed impartial throughout.

I have had the bucking sensation in my 03, but my dealer told me this should have been corrected in the 04, so when I went on a testdrive I took it down the same road at the same speeds and it was gone. I did get a little more body roll, but on the whole I felt more confident driving the 04 car at highspeeds in corners.

 

Thanks Nick, will look into that.

MB

 

The 'bucking' sensation has always been most noticable on airfield circuits, especially at Keevil where we cross from the runway to the perimiter road and back again, but I don't recall experiencing it at any speed on any of the racetracks I have been on. The difference would appear to be that racetracks are generally smooth surfaces, wheras airfields and roads have lots of imperfections.
So it leads me to think that it's a combination of uneven surfaces, over aggressive springing (probably, as Nick says the AR bar) and poor rebound damping causing the car to push back too hard against compressed suspension, the passive RWS likely as not amplifies this into a 'side-to-side-up-and-down' sensation, almost like the back of the car is moving in a circle.

As I say, not a problem on billiard table smooth surfaces, but on British roads, bearing in mind the state they're in.......

 

Totally disagree - I thought the review was the same old that Autocar always churns out concerning the S2K - namely a lack of torque, practicality, snappy handling and cramped interior... Nothing new here then...

IMO the torque issue is solved by selecting a lower gear. Honda have taken a different approach to performance and provided a high revving engine and a drivetrain ideal for exploiting it. The fact that you have to drive the S2K differently to other cars is not a 'weakness'. I didn't see a comment regarding the relatively small rev range of the Crossfire and 350Z...9000+rpm is part of the joy of owning the car

A lack of practicality is also an unfounded criticism - for me (and no doubt every other S2000 owner) the practicality of the car is fine - good boot for a sports car and lots of cabin storage. No it perhaps doesn't have the room of a hatchback but then it's a sports car and if room was high on the list of potential buyer requirements the car wouldn't sell - but it does? I would also class a roof that drops/goes up in 6s far more practical than one which operates in 20s and a far more weighty consideration on a sports car! On a sports car this is a far more prevalent observation, yet gets very little credit in the article.

Snappy handling...hmmm...so you can't just get in and drive the nuts off it on your first drive and spend the rest of the ownership experience bored and searching for another car It's what makes the car interesting and enjoyable and more importantly a challenge (was one of the main reasons why I bought one). No credit in the article was given to this aspect of the handling. (In all seriousness it's never going to feel as planted as the 350Z which weighs nearly 400kg more is it )

Cramped interior - well yes, accepted, there isn't a lot of room. But then the car is small, and more importantly light (something that can't be said for the 350Z!). A Lotus Elise doesn't have a lot of room yet how many times has Autocar criticised this aspect of the Elise - no, in this case it's seen as character and in keeping with the ethos of the car... for the S2K if you ask me.

Don't get me wrong - I am not blind to the S2K's 'faults', but do not see how they detract from the car in any way. Seemed to me like the S2K was seen as the car to beat and Autocar just took the historic 'complaints' about the car and justified the 350Z against these measures rather than judging all the cars on their own merit on the basis of what they intended to be - I would even argue that the S2K should never have been compared to either of the cars in the article since it is arguably aimed at a completely different market sector i.e. the enthusiast.

The S2K was reviewed as a cabriolet, not a sports car, hence it lost - unjustifiably IMO.

Andy

 

[QUOTE=MarkB,Apr 1 2005, 09:50 AM] The 'bucking' sensation has always been most noticable on airfield circuits, especially at Keevil where we cross from the runway to the perimiter road and back again, but I don't recall experiencing it at any speed on any of the racetracks I have been on.

 

I had exactly the same experience when I first bought my car. Pushing reasonably hard on a corner I hit a bit of a dip in the road and the rear end started to 'wallow' a little. Not enough to come unstuck but a tad disconcerting at the time.

 

S2KPDQ,

I cannot disagree with any of your logic there.

I just think that the hacks are either too dim to understand the difference, or are too unskilled to be able to articulate it properly.

Ultimately the lardy Nissan will have the widest market appeal, so perhaps they're right.

I too, would recommend an MX-5 or 350Z over the S2000 for the average non-driver.