= brown trousers time!

I have only had the S for 9 months and so far only 1 scary moment on about day three when I got a bit excited in the damp having had no previous RWD road experience .

This morning on the way back from the garage on a totally dry non icy road I almost lost it in a dead straight line as I changed up to 2nd! I can't believe how sidways I managed to get the car. The air temp was about 1 or 2 degrees max and I had only driven about 3 miles so the engine was warm but the tyres were cold. Seriously scary stuff, the people at the bus stop had a right old chuckle at my expense!

 

Consider yourself extremely lucky - cold tyres have caught lots of people out!

 

It sounds to me like it was probably an icy road. I think the cold tyres thing is a bit of a myth, sure they get better with some heat, but they do grip the road well enough when cold in my experience.

 

Depends how you drive. If you give it some welly you can practically guarantee some sideways action IMHO.

 

The other alternative wwhich I've noticed is just how much more slipery it is with salt on the roads

 

BTW takes a lot more than 3 miles to thoroughly warm the engine. Might be better if you give it a few more miles even though the temperature gauge is up to normal the oil will still be quite cool and thick.

 

Changing up into 2nd, straight into VTEC with cold tyres will get a twitch without it being icy.

 

I can get the car sideways well below VTEC on cold tyres. Even at around 10mph I can get the tail out no problem. Once they're heated up, the SO2's are great. But before that you need to be very careful when outside temps are near freezing.

 

You probably wouldn't have said that if you rode motorbikes

The SO2's are particularly prone to needing some heat in them for grip

 

I had a big lateral sway on going from 3rd to 4th at about 80 this afternoon going onto a dual carriageway from the slip road. I think part of it was a strong crosswind, but it put the frighteners on me a fair bit.

Car was definitely light on its feet all afternoon, both on A & B roads and the A34 and M4.

Hopefully just the cold and wind - the S02s are only 3500 miles old or so.