Vista25

I read some scary posts a little while back and got me thinking a second time about whether it would be smart to get a S2000 somewhere it rains all the time (Oregon). The posts I read a while talked about how someone totalled their car in the rain (I think they basically hyrdroplaned off and hit a pole). And then the following replies all talked about their incidents. I got pretty scared after hearing about it all.

I would like to hear from more people to see whether these accidents were basically your everyday accidents in the rain, from bad driving, or if it really is the S2000's lack of ability to handle the rain well.

And if the S2000 is indeed worse than normal in the rain, what's the best way to handle it (besides driving 8 miles an hour every time it rains)? Special tires?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

Frank

Funny you should ask. Just yesterday i was telling some of the guys at the Limerock meet this story.
Yesterday on my way to Limerock it was raining on and off. I was following several cars at quite sedate speed and getting a bit anxious. As we came to a long up hill, the road opened up to two lanes. I downshifted and sped up to pass the 4 cars in from of me. At the top I was going about 85 MPH. I pulled to the slow lane and started to slow down when I noticed a 4WD Subaru right behind me. He passed and we both slowed down to about 60MPH for the curve marked 35MPH that was approaching. As we enter the turn, I see his ass sliding out, I got a bit anxious, but continued w/o touching the brakes or letting off the gas suddenly. Thankfully he was able to catch it, swung a bit the other way and kept going. I didn't slide it at all, but felt the car quite at the limit. I sure was glad he was a decent driver, cuz i would not have been able to avoid him, w/o also losing it. However, it got me to realize that our car handles no worse in the rain than a 4WD Subaru, which I think is pretty good. I think the problem most of us run into is that our limits are SO HIGH in the dry, that we lose perspective of the limits in the wet, when in reality they are still quite good. I must say my tires have about 4K miles on them, don't know about the ones on the Scooby.
Sorry the post is so long, but I wanted those who read it to get the full story, and not have to ask a bunch of questions re: conditions/circumstances etc...

[Edited by Frank on 05-27-2001 at 01:39 PM]

PariS2K

Vista25,

I have to agree, some of the posts in here got me quite scared too. The idea that the car can "lose it" for no apparent reason, in the wet or even in the dry, is a pretty worrying one. Many of the posts about accidents in S2000s here seem to suggest that it was car instability and not driver error that led to these accidents.

But dont forget, the S2000 is a rear wheel drive SPORTS car. And as such, if driven fast, in unsuitable conditions, it would be all to easy to find and exceed the limits of the car, with the inevitable consequences.

What I can tell you is that I have had the car for 4 months now, and have put 5000 miles on the clock. I live in Europe, so have driven it in pretty much all weather conditions. If you drive sensibly, and well within the limits of both you AND your car, there will be no problems. The stock tyres that come with the car have caused me no problems whatsoever, even in the wet. The general opinion of the people here would seem to be that while the stock tyres have plenty of tread on them, they are pretty damn safe in the wet (again, within limits). As with any tyre, if you run with them bare, your going to get into trouble.

As for the general speed and handling of the car, its all too easy for ANY driver in ANY car to overdo it and end up in trouble. I dont mean to be morbid, but ive just returned from a long weekend during which I did a lot of driving, and during that time, I actually witnessed 2 very serious road accidents, both on the motorway, on straight roads. One was fatal (Renault) and one ended in very serious injury (TVR Chimera). As far as im aware, there is nothing specific to the S2000 that makes you more likely to lose control if you are sensible.

Dont let fear of the rain put you off buying this car. Its way too wonderful for that. I can possibly imagine the weather in Oregon is any worse than that in Europe!

Rick Hesel

I agree with Frank. Over the past three days, I put 600 miles on the car in various wet conditions, ranging from pouring rain to drizzle. I ran on interstates and a variety of 2-lane twisties on the way to Lime Rock. Aside from my escapade at the track there, I found the wet weather handling of the car to be quite good, as good or better, in fact, than any other car I've owned, and remarkably better than my FWD Civic. The good handling on the roads led me to be a bit incautious on the track yesterday. But I should note that I have new Dunlop SP9000 tires, a notably good wet weather tire.

gdowsett-uk

Living here in England we have had more than our share of rain in the last year and I've found my S2k to be equal if not better than my prevoius BMW Z3 or Toyota MR2's. I think it's just a case of being smooth with the brakes and gear change and being a little restrained with the right foot.

If you do have any doubts a course at a good skid training centre helps to prepare you for what might happen, especially if you are coming from front wheel drive.

I also found from driving in Florida only a couple of weeks ago that certainly the roads there don't appear do have sufficient drainage adding to what I gather is often called "Florida Ice" in heavy downpours. The roads seem not to have the noticeable camber that we have here.

2x6spds

Never had a problem in the wet with my S2000 in 13 months. Like with any other high performance RWD car, drive smoothly, accelerate carefully (up or down) while changing direction, don't drive on worn tires, and have a ball.

2x6spds

s2kblk

Just get some good wet tires and don't mash it in the rain. In wet conditions, make sure to take it easy when you turn and accelerate and you should be fine. It doesn't rain that much in LA, but of the times it did, I had no problems.

s800

No one has had "accidents in RAIN cuz of s2000".

People have accidents because of people; either others or themselves.

Recall that most of the people here are enthusiasts and are more likely to be driving their car at the limits.

-R

N94247

I can tell when I'm close to the limit in wet conditions. The wet handling is vastly more predictable than the handling with cold tires, for example. I'd guess more accidents are caused by pushing too hard with cold tires.
I highly recommend taking the car to a wet parking lot and becoming familiar with the limits and with recovering from an incipient loss of control.

S2K Fan

I've not nor caused.