Blackie

It still pains me to see that there is so much controversy surrounding this issue... the motoring mags also seem to have varying opinions on the S2K's handling (not roadholding, which it has plenty of) and its twitchiness at the limit. Although I believe this might be attributed to either its alignment settings and the super-repsonsive steering.

Nevertheless, having a car which doesn't like to forgive is not a car I would like. Owning a '01 MX-5 for over a year now, I know exactly when my rear end is about to lose it and if I provoke it, it is catchable even my meagre standards. although if you drive like an idiot and unbalance the car mid corner, it will react unpleasingly but not uncontrollably.

I'm going for a test drive of the S2K tonite but am afraid I won't get the chance to test this characteristic of the car unless the salesman is a nut, so I am quite disturbed inside as to whether this is a car I would want next. sometimes I go just thinking about it. sorry had to vent.

Optional G

It's not just S2000, my old Lexus SC400 spun a 180 right after raining conditions in a 25mph turn (gassed a little too hard). Man, totally new found respect for FR cars. Just be careful, and maybe take some advanced driving school.

Blackie

you gassed a little too hard, which would spin just about any FR car in the rain in a tight corner, but remember these guys were only using 1/3 throttle and no VTEC.

1FastS2k

Personally I think it's definately the tires. The S02 are very quiet. One second it's fine, the next second they break loose without any noise or warning. Kinda the same with use. One day they grip fine, the next day you need new tires. It's wierd.

Globetro

I think a main contributing factor may be cuz the tires were still cold. It was around 50 degrees out in the middle of the night and I had only been driving for about 2 minutes before it happened.

I remember seeing a video a few months ago of an S2K with a caravan of Bimmers, and when it was taking a really slow right hander, it just completely spun 180. I had no clue how he could've lost it going that slowly, and in seemingly dry conditions... now that I've experienced sometihng similar, I'm still pretty clueless.

Colin

Let me chime in here, We've got 31K on or '00 and 12K on our '01 and NEVER hae I come close to spinning on the street. (knock on wood since today could be the day) Of course it is much warmer here in Hawaii, but we do get lots of rain. We've had the stock S-02s, RE-730s, Kumho Ecsta 712's, and BFG G-Force KDWs. These all exhibit varying amounts of grip, but none have ever uncontrollably spun the car. We do autocross our car, and have spun many times on the track, and I believe this allows us to find a safe threashold on the street.

In response to wanabe's feeling that the car is unrecoverable once it starts to spin, I must offer a dissenting vote. I've only owned RWD cars and the previous two were MR-2s (a '93 Turbo and '88 Supercharged) and these cars were much harder to recover. I'm sure it had much to do with my skill level at the time, but when we got our 'S, I was amazed at how easily I could recover from a loose condition. I'm sure more experienced drivers can elaborate, but to me the key is straightening out the wheel after your initial correction. If not, you will spin in the opposite direction. Naturally, I feel you need some track time and instruction to assist you in finding the limit and I heartily recommend everyone try out a local SCCA autocross at least once. The experience is one you'll never forget, and you will learn so much!

CG

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Colin
[B] Naturally, I feel you need some track time and instruction to assist you in finding the limit and I heartily recommend everyone try out a local SCCA autocross at least once.

jschmidt

Driver or car. This argument is as old as this board. Like most things, perhaps a little of both.

Change the tires and you can answer this question about yourself. The stock tires were redesigned by Honda. In the process, they ended up with a tire that is good on grip but not so good on feedback, progressivity, and linearity. Only the rears have these characteristics, BTW.

In addition, 50 degrees is about where they lose much grip and take forever to warm up. We have found that other ultra-performance tires give handling that is just as good with fewer surprises. Not all, of course, but certainly some.

Lastly, they only last about 6000 miles ON THE INSIDE. If you are checking your tires by what you can easily see as you walk by, you might be in for a surprise.

Bieg

There is a reason some people have problems with the handling and some people don't. If it was the fault of the tires everyone would be having problems.

The S2000 is a car that rewards smoothness (especially in the rain) and punishes abrupt unsmooth inputs. That is why it is called "A Demanding Car to Drive".

There are big differences in driver styles even among the elite race drivers, F-1 pilots. Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark were all masters in the rain. So good that they stood head and shoulders above the rest of the best drivers in the world. They all were SMOOTH.

If you just toss the S2000 into a turn with cold tires or in the rain you will have problems. If you enter slower and smoother and smoothly apply throttle to settle the rear and smoothly accelerate THROUGH the turn you will find the S2000 magically seems to handle much better.

Of course proper tire pressure is critical and if you don't check your tires with a certified accurate guage at least once a week you should.

Will other tires be more progressive? Maybe. Maybe they will just suit a certain style of driving better. Point is that some of us on this board have absolutly NO PROBLEM with the S02s on the S2000. I believe and of course this is opinion that the big difference between those who have problems and those who don't is driving style (or lack of ).

HondaS2k

That would be a cool thing to see