I went on a track day at RAF Marham this weekend. It was excellent fun and a good opportunity to push the car and find its limits in a safe environment. One thing I did find is that the car does like to understeer - is this common? I have a 1999 model car which everyone keeps telling me is very twitchy and liable to lose the back end but it doesn't feel that way to me at all. On the track it doesn't feel like it has enough power to play with the back end through a corner, and the front wheels kept scrubbing wide.

Previously I've owned a couple of 200sxs and a couple of Skylines so I'm used to having more power than I need to break rear traction and offset understeer, but as I say the S2000 just doesn't have the power to do that.

As I said it's a 1999 car with the later 17" wheels on running 215/45 tyres at the front and 245/40 at the back, all Bridgestone RE050 with good tread. The Geo was done about 6000 miles ago and the car tracks and brakes true so I don't think it's out.

Anyone have any tips for addressing the issue or is that just how these cars tend to handle?

Cheers in advance for any advice...

 

You're running 245 tyres on the back that's why you're understeering. Watching videos of Tsuchiya on BMI he tends to jab the throttle as he's understeering to push the back end round just enough to balance out the understeer, masterful.

 

Geo settings will affect the handling, and yes, they can be set up to understeer a bit (certainly the recommended settings encourage this).

The twitchy reputation is more one of "when they let go, they really let go".

Have a look in the racing and competition forum if you want to start playing with geo, suspension, anti-roll bars, tyres and so on.

Cheapest options are to adjust tyre pressures and get your geo settings up here for the experts here to have a look at. A reduction in rear toe will enable easier sliding around.

 

When you understeer in an S2000 on track that is the prompt to floor the throttle pedal
People talk about it being a hard car to drive but when I took my old 99 jdm on track it was just steer on the throttle all day long.

 

Without seeing footage and knowing your geo settings, hot tyre pressures etc, it's difficult to comment.

But you can play with the throttle to get rid of it.

 

Mine understeers once really tight corners. Have to be slow in fast out.

Shouldn't be getting this at speed though. Any example scenarios? What tyres.?

On a track often the rear overheats so eventually it will slide as the rear tyre pressures go up

 

I found the S understeery on slow corners at my first track day. A geo with increased camber, and some tuition to teach proper cornering technique improved things no end, and eventually (after more tuition) some trail braking to get the front tyres biting and the rears unweighted. There isn't loads of power for easy power slide initiation, but if you're driving it properly, there is enough to change the balance to oversteer when you're near the limits of adhesion. I'd recommend a Motorsport Events airfield day with a limit handling tuition session. Ed or Nev are great guys to get your feel and confidence in the car up.

 

I did try and play with the throttle but it felt it needed more power to bring the back round. I did start clutch kicking mid corner towards the end of the day but obviously can't do too much of that before I'll have to fit a new clutch! Watched a couple of videos of Tsuchiya in an S2000, wish I had a tenth of his talent

Here's the geo settings:

Rear axle
Left camber -1°14'
Right camber -1°17'
Cross 0°03'

Setback -0°10

Left toe 0°16'
Right toe 0°15'
total 0°31'

Geometrical driving axis 0°01'

Axle offset -0°06'

Front axle
Left camber -0°30'
Right camber -0°31'
Cross 0°02'

Left caster 5°58'
Right caster 5°57'
Cross 0°01

SAI left 9°45'
SAI right 10°07'
Cross -0°21'

Toe left -0°01'
Toe right 0°00'
total -0°01'

Setback -0°08'

wheelbase difference -0°01'
track width difference 1°36'

Lateral offset left 0°54'
Lateral offset right 0°43'

 

He'll be donig this to scrub the excess speed off that's creating the understeer.

 

Agreed tuition is probably my best bet. I remember watching Clarkson on Top Gear complaining an Elise wouldn't get the back end out, so Lotus promptly sent down a test driver who was sideways for most of the circuit. I'm not trying to be a drift king or anything but I don't like the feeling of understeer so need to find a way round it. I'll keep my eyes out for a track session where there'll be someone who can show me how to do it properly!