AndyS2

Ok here is the deal, my friend owns a WRX Wagon, he just bought it and in that car, if you pull the handbrake, the rear tires lock, stop moving, and start sliding on pavement. Same thing with most cars that I have driven. However in my s2000, if I pull the handbrake while the car is in motion, the rear wheels don't lock up, they just start slowing down, until the car comes to a full stop. I though the handbrake cable might be loose and its not grabbing hard, and i tighten the handbrake cable and its still the same results. I was wondering if there is something else, that I need to adjust, or its maybe impossible to do in this car, because of some reason that I am not aware of ( RWD?).

gabedude

Welcome to Honda weak handbrakes....

IMHO, the S2000 is tossable enough not to use a handbrake ever. Use the pedal, even when flippin a bitch....

Fongu

FWD and AWD cars inherently understeer into corners because the power is being put down on the front wheels, which quickly uses up all the available front wheel grip while turning. There is no way to cause the rear tires to have less grip with the regular 4 wheel brake or gas pedal that is reliable and fast (you can still suddenly slow while turning, but this is a low % move). The parking brake is used to lock up the rear wheels causing the rear wheels to slip, i.e. lose traction vs. the front wheels and turn the car.

You don't need to use the parking brake in a RWD car. All you have to do is give more gas, "spin/slide" the rear wheels, losing some traction and turn the car. Once you mastered "steering with the throttle" it is easy to control and very fun. This RWD feature is one of the biggest reasons for inexperienced drivers spinning their cars. It is actually harder to do the parking brake move on a RWD car, since once you do it the drive wheels aren't moving the car, so you have to rely on momentum to swing the car around. You can still do it, but WHY?

AndyS2

I wana do it because of drifting reasons. I am not trying to steer better or do better lap times. Just to showoff.

So is it possible to make the s2000 lock up reartires using the handbrake?

YOD88

i heard the rear wheels on rear wheel drive cars become "unlocked" if you are above something like 1700 or 2000 rpm, so say your are in 1st gear, handbrake up, if you go above like 2k rpm, the car will move a lil.. dunno if its true but maybe this is happening because the rpm is high enough, the the handbrake's power cant "grab" the rear wheels?

alexf20c

Use the throttle.

alexf20c

A supercharger wouldn't hurt.

xviper

We (in the snow belt) customarily pull on the handbrake to lock up the rear wheels to do those "Hollywood" park jobs. I'm not sure if the S2000 ebrake is strong enough to do this on dry pavement. You must also realize that unless you push in the clutch at the moment you want the rear wheels locked up, you will be fighting the brake with engine power. You don't have this problem with FWD since there is no power going to the rear wheels and with an AWD, once the car senses wheel slippage, it sends most of the power to the wheels that slip. If you pull on the ebrake on an AWD, it's like as if the front wheels were slipping and much less power goes to the rear, making it easier to lock them up even if you don't push the clutch in.
Traditionally, when you do a brake stand with a RWD automatic car at the dragstrip, power will easily over come rear brakes.

00CivicSi

You gotta think through this one. xviper already brought it up... But think about it. If you manage to lock the back wheels with the e-brake WHILE the car is still in gear on a RWD, you're gonna stall the engine. Depending on the gear you're in and the RPM you are running (low gear, high RPM) it may be difficult/impossible to lock the back wheels while in gear. I don't see the point in doing it anyway. Like people have said, use the throttle.

mikegarrison

Andy, using the handbrake for drifting is something that AWD and FWD cars do because they are not RWD. It is easier (and more showy) to drift a RWD car, and you never need to touch the handbrake.

Touch the brake pedal and turn in -- this loads up the front wheels and unloads the rears, causing them to start to oversteer. Then get back on the throttle just hard enough to keep the rear wheels slipping, but not slipping too much. If you start to rotate too much, ease off the throttle. If you want to rotate more, use a little extra throttle. But do it smoothly.

Practice in a parking lot or someplace with lots of room to spin until you know what it feels like. And expect to go through a lot of tires, The harder your rear tires, the easier it will be to become a driftin' fool.

Pro drifters also make a bunch of suspension changes to the car so that it is almost impossible not to drift through a corner. Not a great idea for a street car, though.