Quote:
Originally Posted by deejaylew
The S2000 is a more dangerous weapon in the hands of a pro. Most of us are going to drive the 86 better, Unless you can handle crazy amounts of oversteer on the track because that's what the s2000 will give you when you push it.
|
The AP1 with too much rear toe-in (which unfortunately was prescribed as a handling "fix" for many years!) *can* be a handful. I ran it that way twice, once intentionally, and once in an inadvertent "blind" test (rear toe adjustment had gradually slipped into a massive amount of toe-in).
Once I figured out that running minimal rear toe gave much better and more linear handling characteristics (better turn-in, MORE stable in a straight line) and *radically* longer rear tire life I had no major handling issues.
I have thousands of track miles (~10,000) on my S2000 and I can categorically say that the car does not exhibit "crazy amounts of oversteer" at the limit and beyond on the track. My '01 AP1, which has the most rear roll stiffness bias of any S2000, is very NEUTRAL at the limit. What the AP1 *does* do is exaggerate the oversteer you get when lifting off the throttle. AP2 does not do this.
Honestly, the AP1's rear toe shenanigans are annoying, but the car is easy to drive at the limit on the track. It's more of an annoyance, really, as when you do get the back end out it takes a little more to gather it back up, losing you time.
In my 11 years dailying and tracking the AP1, I only looped it once at the top of the uphill at Lime Rock, and did a lazy half-spin into the toe of the boot at Watkins Glen once.
The S2000's reputation for evil-handling is IMO exaggerated. The AP1 deserves it somewhat because the rookie mistake of giving a big LIFT off the throttle when spooked virtually guarantees a spin, but it's really not a problem even for intermediate level track drivers. Again it's unfortunate that so many AP1 drivers think that massive rear toe-in helps when in fact it exacerbates the issue...
The AP2 doesn't have the stupid rear-toe-change-with-bump feature, so no problemo, except for people who don't know how to drive a car that responds properly to inputs...
There's nothing about either S2000 that requires expert-level skill to hustle them around the track, given a proper alignment.
AP1 in the wet with 1° rear toe-in, however, is pretty diabolical...