Is S2000 a good drift car?

[DMC_S2000]

Is S2000 a good drift car?

[wowowox]

in the rain yes, on dry roads no.

[GTO]

Because I only have a car (S2K) since 3 weeks I don't now what it means to drift. And I don't want to ask my friends, because they already laughted at me when I didn't know what VTEC is.

Can somebody explain me please =o) and what I have to do?

thanks

[Halo]

Pretty good explanation here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_%28motorsport%29

Cliffs notes: Instead of going around a racetrack and trying to MAINTAIN traction to get the best possible laptimes, you intentionally induce oversteer and slide sideways through a turn. For this, you get style points. (If it was based solely on laptime, then the more you drifted the worse you'd do).

An analogy would be freestyle skiing compared to downhill skiing. I'll keep my personal opinion of it to myself.

[GTO]

I read throu all kinds of drifting.

Do you recomend ond ??? And please explain it to me easyly. I've never done it before =o)

[Java Junky]

Up front: I'm no driftin' expert.
'That out'a the way, it seems to me that Stewie's real power band is kind'a thin n' happens too abruptly to allow it to be a real contender as a "drift" car.
Maybe I'm readin' this wrong, but I have had some experience slidin' Stewie (n' a few other vehicles) but not to the point of the extended slide that I believe would graduate it to "drifting". What I think would make a good drift car would be somethin' with a wider power-band that would allow you to regulate the amount of wheel spin with more accuracy than is possible with Stewie.
Maybe I'm assumin' here guys, but if slidin' n' driftin' do share the basic "whut-makes-it-all-happen", subtle changes in powered wheel spin are what let you steer the car when in-slide. Stewie ain't big on subtle when the power rears it's head.
Be well.

[HELL_ON_WHEELS]

sorry java but why do you keep saying Stewie?

[Java Junky]

Sorry HOW.
S2 jus' wound up becomin' Stew-ie, n' I guess I liked it enough to keep usin' it. A personal preferance; nothin' official.
Be well.

[HELL_ON_WHEELS]

Awesome I have a nickname for her also the "S" my wife makes fun of me because I refer to my car as a person

[Java Junky]

As long's we don't come up with dweeby hats n' a special handshake we're doin' alright.
Be well.

[(-n0-)]

Why do you say the s2000 is not a good drift car? It is great! Check out this link to learn more about drifting. http://www.ukdrifting.co.uk/videos/the_drift_bible.htm

[RCduck7]

The Mazda RX7 is a very good drift car, the Honda S2000 isn't bad either when in good hands.

http://videos.streetfire.net/Comment...442401BF37.htm

[driftkid23]

i have a rx7 and a s2k. according to keiichi (the drift king) the s2000 is just a new more improved version of a hachi roku. if you don't know who keiichi is he's by far the best drifter in the world.

[Java Junky]

Okay. I've heard of this Kichi guy. But what the @*#& is a hachi riki that Stewie's an improved version of?

[driftkid23]

hachi roku is an 86 corolla. hachi means 8 in japanese and roku means 6. it's just a nickname alot of drifters use for it. suppose to be one of the best drift cars out there.

[Java Junky]

Thanks DK. On a good day there's only about a hundred r'so things that I ain't got a clue about. That's one less for today.
So, as I read this, our li'l Stewie's a more improved version of an '86 Corolla. Hmmm-m-m-m.
But I do godda tell ya that I'm surprised that it's as good a drift car as that. My money would'a been that it wasn't.
Learn somethin' n' be wrong about somethin' in the same day. Damn! It jus' don't get no better'n 'at.
Be well.

[Scott]

Ok, it's time for some truth in this thread.

I really can't see how the S2000 is like the new AE86, and is automatically a great drift car, for several reasons.

1. The AE86 Corolla is a popular choice for drifting because it was a cheap, lightweight RWD platform with affordable parts, and was easy to work on. It really isn't superior by any means. And on that note, the S2000 is not cheap, parts tend to be on the expensive side, and for it's size, it really isn't all that light.

2. The stock suspension characteristics of the AP1 S2000 work against drifting. If you look at the sway bar diameters and spring rates, you'll see it is in fact biased toward oversteer. However, the peaky power and short wheelbase often translate this into snap oversteer, and not incredibly easy to control.

3. The S2000 chassis was built through and through to negotiate turns with grip. It performs best when all 4 tires are holding traction. This also dispels the myth that drifting is faster than grip in a racing situation (barring abnormal racing surfaces such as dirt and ice).


So, can you drift the S2k? Most certainly. Is it "good" for drifting? That's a bit trickier. While, yes, it can be setup for drifting, it is hardly the ideal car if you don't want to put some time, tuning, and plenty of money into it.

[Java Junky]

Ahhh! So I'm not the only nay-sayer.

[(-n0-)]

Scott, you lay out some great facts which probably cannot be denied. I have to say that I love kicking the back out and sliding around turns in my s! While it is a bit difficult to control, I am getting the hang of it and without any modifications! But that is just me.

[Scott]

Don't get me wrong. It's not impossible to drift the S2000, even in stock form. The car is just not built with that in mind, in the way that some other cars are.

I've broken the rear loose at tracks like Gainesville Raceway and such. It's just not going to be nearly as stong at a competitive level of drift motorsport.

[passmans2kNY]

it is a good drift car, not stock, but it can become a great drift car, stock its possible but not great, ill agree its better in the rain just for the fact that u dont eat tires as bad, a turbo s2k would be a much better drift car, the aem s2000 drift car uses a rx7 steering for more tire angle

[Scott]

I'm afraid I have to disagree that turbo is the best option for an s2k drift car. I think as far as engine setup goes, it would be wiser to go with a stroker kit/ITB/proper EMS tune NA setup. While you wouldn't have as much power, you would have a MUCH wider powerband, which would make it easier to modulate the throttle properly enough to maintain a drift.

The F20 is an incredibly top-end-biased engine and a turbo is only going to reinforce that.

[(-n0-)]

so does anybody have any recommendations as far as a new LSD? I imagine that I will be wearing mine out eventually and if I upgrade, are there other parts that would need to be upgraded as well?

[passmans2kNY]

an turbo s2k with a small turbo would have very quick spool and a huge power band, spooled by 3500 all the way to 9000

[Java Junky]

Okay, we're jus' gettin' over a pretty good rain for the past few days. Lots'a taken opportunities to power-slide the corners where there was enough room . . n' I come back to the same conclusion:
with so many cars that lend themselves so much more readily to that kind'a thing, the only reason that I could see for chosin' Stewie for a drift car would be that it was all that was available, or someone had the resources of a very understandin' n' well-off sponsor.
I like how Stewie does what it was designed to do: get you to the edge quickly n' keep your interest while you just happen to be gettin' from point A to point B. So much so that point B always shows up way too soon.
(Bein' able to ride in the rain with the top down while stayin' dry is an important, but distant second).
Be well.

[RCduck7]

Is a stock S2000 a good drift car? Not sure...
What i do know, is that it easily provokes oversteer.
Sometimes becausse i turn in sharp or sometimes becausse i applied a bit to much power.
But that doesn't mean i was drifting.
Never tried it on a parkinglot that was big enough to do this safe to get the hang out of it(i regret not doing this now that i sold it).
I understand that drifting means to get a car in oversteer and hold it there... a bit longer than the sudden snap oversteer that only lasts a few seconds and most of us at some point encountered in a car like the S2000.
My current car, a vx220 (a lotus elise derivative as some call it) seems to have more understeer, at least when it's dry.
I really have to push it harder and further in the corners to oversteer and it seems this car mainly gets in oversteer by tuning it hard AND giving it more power.
That way it does feel like a more safer car for the unexperienced driver that doesn't have the guts to tetst it's limits.
Does that mean a vx220 goes faster around corners?
With my humble experience i'm not in a position to judge that.

[Banzai]

Originally Posted by driftkid23

hachi roku is an 86 corolla. hachi means 8 in japanese and roku means 6. it's just a nickname alot of drifters use for it. suppose to be one of the best drift cars out there.

Its called a Hachi Roku because AE86 is the body style designation assigned by Toyota, *not* the year of the car. It was on the market between 1984-1987. And you call yourself "Driftkid". Need to study up on your history.

As far as the S2K being a good drift car I'd have to say no - at least not in its stock form. Like anything else, if you pour enough money into it you can make it what you want, but there are far better platforms to start from. The two best choices being the AE86 or the 240SX. Cheap, readily available (but becoming less so with the growing popularity of drifting) and with plenty of tuners in Japan (and now the US) having laid the groundwork for just about anything anyone would want do with either car, little experimentation is needed to modify the car - in all likliehood someone's already done it and can show or tell you how.

AEM currently sponsors an S2000 on the D1 drift circuit, driven (I think) by Stephen Papadakis.

[Java Junky]

Ya know guys, it would seem to me that something as simple as lessenin' the grip of the front end would POSSIBLY (key word folks:POSSIBLY. As I've done this with other cars, but not Stewie, this is speculation) give a more easily-maintained slide/drift. Whether via a tire of lesser grip, more narrow rim/tire combination, whatever. SLIGHTLY less frontal traction
Understand: it's not something that can be properly done without a considerable amount of trial n' error (read: time n' $, as in "okay, so the money spent on THAT tire/rim combination was kind'a wasted").
That's somethin' fer you younger fellers to be experimentin' with. I already served my time.
Now I jus' wanna put the key in, push the big red button, light 'em up n' head for the corners.
Be well . . n' like the old knight said . . .