zeroptzero

Hi all, I noticed that the rear of the car can get a tad twitchy when I upshift on long sweeping corners, such as a freeway entrance ramp. It happens as you let off th throttle and disengage the clutch to shift.

This is the first rwd car that I've driven in many years, so I can understand that some weight transfer is occurring. I should probably avoid shifting in corners too, probably my bad. I just want to be sure that this is normal. The twitchiness isn't real bad, just noticeable. I've often heard that the rear end on this car can be twitchy at times. Just want to confirm that this is normal, I've only had the car a couple of weeks. Thanks for any replies.

Saki GT

Changing gears mid corner is definitely a bad idea, especially when you're pulling high enough Gs to feel the car twitch. You should be in the gear you need before you get into the corner, and just accelerate through that gear as you go through the corner. If you redline, hold the rpms until you clear the corner rather than risk spinning the car at speed.

Twitchiness can also be the tire tread pattern.

cenix

you are disrupting the balance of the car by doing this mid-turn. stay in gear and be smooth on the turn.

zeroptzero

yeah thinking about this a bit more, I'm likely the culprit here. I better learn to shift before or after the curved section of the on-ramp to be safe. I've take the same ramp a million times with other vehicles, I better pay more attention when doing it with this car and change my bad habits. Thanks for the quick replies, and helping me with this one.

Mark355

It's a good thing you posted here before you did this in the rain, or else the thread would have been about something much worse.

zeroptzero

yeah I hear ya on that. I wasn't taking the ramp very fast though, I was kinda short shifting a bit early instead of taking it the revs up higher. I was getting a light sensation of the rear end being twitchy. I don't think it would have gotten loose on me rain or dry as my speeds were pretty tame. But I've got to keep it in mind that this is a different animal than other cars that I've owned and driven. Driving fwd cars far too long numbs the senses. Thanks for the heads up and great replies, this site has been a blessing for me.

//steve\\

yeah these cars are a lot more sensitive in that aspect. Pick the gear you want to come out of the corner in before you go into it and you'll be good. It might seem slower at first but take away having to change gears and disrupt the car mid-corner and you'll end up being faster in the end. Of course the track is the best place to be doing this!

Jaydem

what does the car do if you are in a turn accelerating, and then lift off the gas? does it twitch then? mine does that and I think its b/c I need to tires.

B serious

The S2000 has bump steer. The mid corner twitchiness during shifting gets worse when you lower it.

Now that mine's lowered, even though it's aligned and everything is right.....even when I'm just hitting neighborhood curves at 30mph, if I accelerate or lift, it feels weird and twitchy.

I don't notice too much twitchiness at the track, though, oddly enough. For example, IIRC, at gingerman raceway I usually go into turn 7 in 2nd gear and then have to upshift into 3rd halfway through the sweeper. I can pretty much slam third even though the car is almost at the limit and it only twitches a little bit.

zeroptzero

hmmm, it seems fine when entering a corner and letting off the gas, but the twitchiness comes when I am accelerating through a long sweeper and as soon as I disengage the clutch is when I feel it sidestep slightly. Once I do the shift and release the clutch it is fine. My tires are still in decent shape, yokohama s-drives, stock ride height and suspension.

It happens consistently on one freeway on-ramp by my home that I use daily, I shift into 4th rather than take the revs up higher in 3rd, I think I will just leave it in 3rd and get the revs up higher as I enter the freeway. thanks for the info.