is the reason S2K don't perform well in rain....
12-02-2002 | 03:00 PM
#12
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
From: hartford county
The S2000 has a limited slip Diff which in dry weather gives you more traction to the ground accelerating out of a turn, in wet weather can also make the car fish tail and lose control, but still does provide more traction out of a turn. Your best bet is to be easy and smooth with the throttle all the time and more so when it rains. Also with a tight suspension makes it more likey to get loose. The car is tuned towards dry weather, if you want more safety in wet weather get wet tires, softer shocks, springs, swaybars.
12-02-2002 | 03:34 PM
#14
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,594
Likes: 68
From: Judo Town, USA
lostsol-
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the handling of the S2000, or the tires, when driven on wet roads.
The handling characteristics are typical of any light, balanced car with a strong horsepower to weight ratio. Light cars that use wide tires are the main culprits when it comes to hydroplaning. There is much less weight per cubic centemeter on the tire contact with the road. This is complicated by the larger surface area of the contact patch, which is also a major factor. I think the compound and grooving of the SO2s are lesser issues, as other tires on the S2000 hydroplane as well.
If you have ever seen someone use a "skimboard" at the beach, it is pure hydroplaning. You throw the board onto the shallow water, after the tide goes out, and jump on and hydroplane away. If the board were small, like a frisbee, you wouldn't hydroplane, but if you use a board as big as a trashcan lid, you can hydroplane a long, long way! It's the weight to surface area ratio.
My former car was a heavily modified and gutted Alfa Romeo GTV. It is lighter than the S2000, and had bigger tires. It also had the exact same handling characteristics in the wet. Once I hit a patch of water on a wet freeway and hydroplaned over 2 lanes (the whole time I was steering straight). Sometimes it can be downright frightening.
It takes a lot of practice to be a great driver in the rain, in a car like the S2000.
Keep trying, good luck, and be careful!
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the handling of the S2000, or the tires, when driven on wet roads.
The handling characteristics are typical of any light, balanced car with a strong horsepower to weight ratio. Light cars that use wide tires are the main culprits when it comes to hydroplaning. There is much less weight per cubic centemeter on the tire contact with the road. This is complicated by the larger surface area of the contact patch, which is also a major factor. I think the compound and grooving of the SO2s are lesser issues, as other tires on the S2000 hydroplane as well.
If you have ever seen someone use a "skimboard" at the beach, it is pure hydroplaning. You throw the board onto the shallow water, after the tide goes out, and jump on and hydroplane away. If the board were small, like a frisbee, you wouldn't hydroplane, but if you use a board as big as a trashcan lid, you can hydroplane a long, long way! It's the weight to surface area ratio.
My former car was a heavily modified and gutted Alfa Romeo GTV. It is lighter than the S2000, and had bigger tires. It also had the exact same handling characteristics in the wet. Once I hit a patch of water on a wet freeway and hydroplaned over 2 lanes (the whole time I was steering straight). Sometimes it can be downright frightening.
It takes a lot of practice to be a great driver in the rain, in a car like the S2000.
Keep trying, good luck, and be careful!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post