R.I.P. S2000
11-26-2007 | 01:26 PM
#81
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Abilene, TX
Guess I'll stick to the GTI on crap days. I remember when I would run up I-5 through Weed, Ca in a driving rain passing all the vetts and porchi in my '67 BMW 1600 back 35 years ago. Skinny new tires makes a world of difference. 
11-26-2007 | 05:04 PM
#82
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Joined: Feb 2005
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From: Sheppard AFB, Texas
This is why:
1. My shocks are set to full soft in the rear
2. I put on a bigger front ARB
3. I have 10" wide wheels out back.
4. Running Potenza RE750's (great rain tire)
I no longer have problems with snap oversteer. Just smooth and progressive. Even in rain or ice. The car doesn't rotate as easily, but you can't have it both ways.
Rotates very easily = potentially unstable. It's just 2 ways of saying the same thing...
1. My shocks are set to full soft in the rear
2. I put on a bigger front ARB
3. I have 10" wide wheels out back.
4. Running Potenza RE750's (great rain tire)
I no longer have problems with snap oversteer. Just smooth and progressive. Even in rain or ice. The car doesn't rotate as easily, but you can't have it both ways.
Rotates very easily = potentially unstable. It's just 2 ways of saying the same thing...
11-26-2007 | 05:07 PM
#84
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 764
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From: Sheppard AFB, Texas
Originally Posted by kstokes,Nov 26 2007, 01:15 PM
Dooohhhh =( Another S2000 down, due to bad tires, I'm sure 
Tires are really the only excuse - I drive mine in heavy rain all the time (I live in Vancouver, it rains half of the year).. if you replace them well before they're worn out, and buy ones that are decently suited to the rain, you should never run into problems like this.
Sad to see
Tires are really the only excuse - I drive mine in heavy rain all the time (I live in Vancouver, it rains half of the year).. if you replace them well before they're worn out, and buy ones that are decently suited to the rain, you should never run into problems like this.
Sad to see
Also, the S02/S03 is a horrible rain tire - brand new or otherwise.
11-26-2007 | 10:38 PM
#87
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From: Calgary
[QUOTE=RED MX5,Nov 26 2007, 11:23 PM] Frankly I've always been surprised that Honda was not afraid to market a car with the handling characteristics of the S2000, in a liability crazy nation like the United States.
11-26-2007 | 11:20 PM
#88
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Originally Posted by RED MX5,Nov 25 2007, 02:06 AM
When you over correct for a slide the way the car snaps back around the other way can be downright nasty, and this car is EASY to overcorrect, espcially when traction is degraded.
Millertown15, we spend most of our time here chatting about other things, but the most important thing an S2000 owner can learn is the lesson you've offered us here. I've been autocrossing for over two decades; I do a little play drifting with my S2000 sometimes, and I use to practice sliding our cars around on lake Huron in the winter when the ice was thick enough. I know as well as anyone how to handle a car when it starts to slide, but the S2000 can be a very unforgiving car, and it takes care to avoid trouble. The car makes us bold, becuae it does so many things so well, but once it gets out of hand it takes more than skill to gather it back up. It takes luck, and more of it than most of us have on tap. This kind of thing can (and does) happen to ANY of us, and the ones who think it can't happen to them are the ones who are most likely to exceed their skill level and get into trouble. Thanks for shareing your grief. I have to believe that threads like this do help remind us all that this kind of thing can happen to anyone.
Sorry to hear that you got so banged up, but I guess it could have been worse. Having a tree between the windshield and roll bars is SCARY. Six inches is WAY too close for comfort. Thank goodness it didn't smack your head. A good friend of mine was seriously injured in that very way about two years ago, and he's never going to recover fully. It does seem funny to say that you're lucky, when you're car is smashed and you're in pain, but you had a mighty close call, and we're lucky to have you here to tell us about it.
Cracked ribs can be a bitch. Make sure they give you a sufficient supply of pain pills.
Millertown15, we spend most of our time here chatting about other things, but the most important thing an S2000 owner can learn is the lesson you've offered us here. I've been autocrossing for over two decades; I do a little play drifting with my S2000 sometimes, and I use to practice sliding our cars around on lake Huron in the winter when the ice was thick enough. I know as well as anyone how to handle a car when it starts to slide, but the S2000 can be a very unforgiving car, and it takes care to avoid trouble. The car makes us bold, becuae it does so many things so well, but once it gets out of hand it takes more than skill to gather it back up. It takes luck, and more of it than most of us have on tap. This kind of thing can (and does) happen to ANY of us, and the ones who think it can't happen to them are the ones who are most likely to exceed their skill level and get into trouble. Thanks for shareing your grief. I have to believe that threads like this do help remind us all that this kind of thing can happen to anyone.
Sorry to hear that you got so banged up, but I guess it could have been worse. Having a tree between the windshield and roll bars is SCARY. Six inches is WAY too close for comfort. Thank goodness it didn't smack your head. A good friend of mine was seriously injured in that very way about two years ago, and he's never going to recover fully. It does seem funny to say that you're lucky, when you're car is smashed and you're in pain, but you had a mighty close call, and we're lucky to have you here to tell us about it.
Cracked ribs can be a bitch. Make sure they give you a sufficient supply of pain pills.
i, too, find this car easier to over-correct than other MR/FR cars.
in addition, eveything seems to happen a bit quicker in this car as well...
To OP, hope you get better soon bro.
11-27-2007 | 06:16 AM
#89
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Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Longmont, CO
Originally Posted by RED MX5,Nov 26 2007, 11:23 PM
But ranting aside , you are right, in that there is a commonality, and it's just the kind of thing a guy like Ralph Nader or a hotshoe liability lawyer is apt to be all over, and frakly, I've been wondering when we were going to see it start happening. If it ever starts, there will probably be a flood of lawsuits, but Honda is already setting up the MY08 base car for understeer, and with that on top of VSA, they've pretty well addressed the "problem." Unfortunately, the thing that most of us love about the car, its neutral handling, is now only found in the CR. The car has changed, and now anyone can own and drive one with worrying nearly so much about losing control. Maybe in a few years Honda will make the car drive itself, but the people who bought early S2000's for the reasons I did, won't be interested. 
, you are right, in that there is a commonality, and it's just the kind of thing a guy like Ralph Nader or a hotshoe liability lawyer is apt to be all over, and frakly, I've been wondering when we were going to see it start happening. If it ever starts, there will probably be a flood of lawsuits, but Honda is already setting up the MY08 base car for understeer, and with that on top of VSA, they've pretty well addressed the "problem." Unfortunately, the thing that most of us love about the car, its neutral handling, is now only found in the CR. The car has changed, and now anyone can own and drive one with worrying nearly so much about losing control. Maybe in a few years Honda will make the car drive itself, but the people who bought early S2000's for the reasons I did, won't be interested. http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/...0608_466074.htm
Part of the argument is:
"No, Porsche should only be liable because this car was defective. It is defective, however, if the risks of its design outweigh the benefits. If its power and handling characteristics make it too dangerous for the average driver without training or instruction, then it is defective. Porsche should be liable because it sold a defective vehicle to Ben Keaton."
11-27-2007 | 06:48 AM
#90
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From: Calgary
Originally Posted by Elistan,Nov 27 2007, 09:16 AM
Part of the argument is:
"No, Porsche should only be liable because this car was defective. It is defective, however, if the risks of its design outweigh the benefits. If its power and handling characteristics make it too dangerous for the average driver without training or instruction, then it is defective. Porsche should be liable because it sold a defective vehicle to Ben Keaton."
"No, Porsche should only be liable because this car was defective. It is defective, however, if the risks of its design outweigh the benefits. If its power and handling characteristics make it too dangerous for the average driver without training or instruction, then it is defective. Porsche should be liable because it sold a defective vehicle to Ben Keaton."
You definitely have to think outside the box if you want to deal with some of these non-traditional law suits and maintain any credibility.