This is an EXTREMELY hot topic among the S2000 guys.
Saying the S2000 is prone to oversteer is a little extreme, but mostly is based on opinion ( I've heard people say it alot ). I think its the "snap" oversteer people feel, which is the nature of any higher powered, low torque, RWD....Just ask the AE86 guys.
As for the S2000, You have to physically lock the tires up ( hand break or aggressive down shift ), clutch-dump, or yoke the hell out of the steering wheel while punching the gas at high rpm (power-over/power slide) for it to step out on you WITH THE STOCK WIDTHS AND OFFSETS.
The car has a tremendous amount of understeer ( for a rwd ) when on the throttle, but when off throttle, the car has a more ballanced feel. HONDA knew this when the car released. You think they didn't dumb the S2000 down for the not-so-skilled drivers of the world??? Anyone driving on long sweepers or entrance/exit ramps in normal or aggressive daily driving will vouch for the understeer to oversteer comparison. It's hard to tell on the smaller tighter turns do to the fact you are decelerating the majority of the turn. I however cannot vouch for the 05 up offsets. Never driven on them, but they are ballanced about the same ( just wider )
As far as 90civicboys SITUATION goes, its his fathers car. He doesn't have any plans, as of right now, to screw with the suspension ( atleast from what 90civ is telling me. ) Just looking to improve the handling. But Calesta is spot on about a nice suspension setup and matching offsets, which is proven (very well) by J's racings' S2000 that 90civ mentioned.
Stock wheel config; he's got the right idea. Stick with stock width out back and a little wider in the front. Afterall, isn't that what honda did with the AP2??
Our discussion however was on stepping up to 17"s. So I put together the most ideal package I could think of;
Same offset and width all the way around-approx. 45 offset, between 205 and 225 widths, choose height based on comfort vs handling needs :
Everyone ( who owns an ap1 ) knows the rear offset is less than the front- 65 rear, 55 front. Running the same offset, for example 45, pushes the rear wheels out 20 and the front out 10. This offset also fills the wheel-wells nicely.
Lets say the width is 225, you've gained 10mm of contact patch in the front and dropped 20 in the rear. You guys know math...see where I'm going with this?
My 205 to 225 idea was based on performance vs price. 205 in the 17" variety can be had for as low as $40 brand new, but won't offer the contact patch the 215 and 225's will. 225's may cost more than 205's but they don't cost any where near what 245's do. Not to mention, when the width of a wheel goes up, so does the price. 17x7.5-8.0 is an extremely common size and opens up his selection, while keeping the price low. this wheel size will also accomidate the tire sizes above well. Shop and compare suckas....
By the way, I hope we aren't forgeting he lives in Canada???^_^ I'd hate to pay all that money for a set of wheels and tires to see them get ate up with road salt or the tires dry rot from not driving it. Plus, if he decides to git rid of the wheels, its alot easier to sell unstaggered wheels than it is a custom setup. Keeping cost down seems like a must though....
On top of that, his dad isn't a race car driver, he's not looking for the most killer setup he can run. He's just like the majority of us, he goes out and enjoys the car.... when the weather permits it. There's alot of things here to consider, and this is exactly what I told him in our PM's.
Personally, I was running 225/45/17 @45 offset all the way around, with no suspension mods, and had no troubles with oversteer under any load. Yes it was easier to break the rear end lose, but the slide had to be INDUCED, never was it accidental. The majority of the on throttle push in turns was gone. My size is just an example though. When it comes down to it.... Handling is just like pus**, some like it tight, some like it loose. But we all like it
By the way... what the hell did you guys decide on, other than rebuilding the car/boat port???